Oakland A's?

Question

Do you think the a's are goin all the way this year? i think so... i hope so

Answer 1

Nope, the pitching won't be as good as it was before.

Answer 2

Pitching has always been the backbone of the A's.
With Zito moving, across the bay, it will be hard for the A's to field a strong starting rotation that can intimidate the other teams.

The A's farm system has always come up with some great home grown talent, both hitters and pitchers. If they can do the same this year then they may still have a chance.

One of the things that I have always loved about the A's is that they are a small market team with a small payroll that keep making the playoffs (or pretty damn close) each year.

Answer 3

The moves they have made should be enough for them to make it far and actually win it. They replace Thomas with Piazza. Piazza hit 22 homers in 399 at bats. So as our DH he should hit atleast 30 homers b/c he'll get more at bats. Not to mention our hitting should imrove overall b/c I doubt we'll loss chavez, crosby, ellis, kotsay, and bradley all to injury again and as of right now they are healthy. Our bullpen is the same great bullpen, and our defense is the same great defense. As for our pitching we did lose Zito and that hurts. However Zito's k's have been going down while his walks have been going up and that's not a good thing. But all in all our pitchers should be fine. Haren and Blanton should both improve. Loaiza numbers down the stretch were great so he should be good this year b/c he wont have such a god awful start, and Harden should give us more than the 45 innings he gave us last year. All these combined should help offset the loss of Zito. Not to mention we don't know for sure who are 5th starter will be and how good they will be given the shot. So back to your question, Can they win?. Yes they are good enough to win now. Just remember they are always predicted to be 80 game winners or less, like when we traded both mulder and hudson, we still won 88 games, which everyone thought was impossible. We'll be fine and we will compete like we do every year.

Answer 4

no.

they lost to much and they didn't do enough to keep it up. they'll be in it for a few months but not down the stretch. i like the addition of piazza he'll be big this year i say. but as for their pitching staff..i dont know..i like their front two (harden and haren) but other than that they aren't gonna win a title with the rest of that rotation.

i know people keep yelling crosby is gonna be a star..but i don't know......is one full season wasn't even all that great so i can't say i'd believe that yet (irnoic enough all the people the a's passed up in the legenday draft from the money ball book..have had GREAT seasons so far. even prince fielder who beane said was to fat and not worth it)

i would like to see chavez have a big year..but seems to me that the money and the pressure of a big contract has gotten to him. he's not even a top pick in fantasy leagues any more (he's lucky if he gets drafted this year at all!). swisher is a solid player but not a great one. if that's who they are gonna relie on to win the division...god help the A's. but i doubt ownership and the front office cares if the a's do good this year. they are to busy trying to move the team...and in my opinion they want to lose not win simply because it gives them more of an excuse to move the team.

for sure though i'll say this. the A's won't win 90 games this year. lucky if they get to 80. but then again i dont think the angles did enough to win 90 either. i actually think seattle might challenge for the division. that's my opinion though.

by the way i'm a giants fan who lives in san fran. i like the a's as well.

Answer 5

I think so. Zito's not really going to be missed that much, his stats since he won the Cy Young have gone down considerably. The loss of Thomas sucks, but hopefully Piazza coming in and Chavez finding his swing will more than make up for it. Overall I think they had a pretty good off season, the addition of Stewart(if he stays healthy) could really help also.

Answer 6

I hope they would but think they might not this year. The loss of Frank Thomas, Barry Zito and others possibly weakened the team. Now, Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez' roles may have to include more leadership now to build their confidence up. We'll see how the preseason goes and maybe the critics will be wrong this year.

Answer 7

Absolutely they will.

They are due for some health this season. Even though they lost Zito and Thomas, they can make up with health. Last season, they broke some record with the DL. Chavez, Harden, Street, Duchsherer, Kennedy, Witasik, Bradley, Crosby, Ellis, Loaiza and Kotsay put in time on the DL. Having a slightly better season with the injuries should more than make up for the loss of the two big money-chasers.

Answer 8

I agree with champion1337. It is going to be an interesting year. Most important loss to me was Ron Washington to the rangers. The man was pure genius at turning mediocre talent into gold glove infielders. He helped us muddle through ellis and crosby's injuries for many years.

I do think we can win a lot of games. but win it all? that's big question mark.

Key things we must over come:

1) harden pitching more than 45 innings. he has brilliant stuff, but keeps getting hurt. reminds me off tim hudson in a lot of ways.

2) Crosby needs to be healthy...but keep in mind Scutaro has filled in brilliantly the last year or so. And is MR. CLUTCH at hitting.

3) Street needs to figure out how to do shut down innings. He struggled with the final out in games and had a lot of blown saves.

4) Chavez should be well rested and over the issues from last year that kept him from producing like we all know he's capable of.

5) We must pray piazza does not have the NL to AL transition problems that have plagued Kotsay and Kendall in their first years.

I think this year it is going to come down to the wire in this division like it did last year.

Answer 9

Replacing Zito and Thomas with Joe Kennedy and Mike Piazza? The party is over in Oakland. Stick to the Warriors.

For more on the A's and MLB, check this site out. http://www.factipedia.com/sportsblogs/mlb.html

Answer 10

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the A's - I'm a season ticket holder, but you don't replace Frank Thomas and Barry Zito with Mike Piazza and some Joe Schmoe off the waiver wire and repeat your success. Sorry, guys, but it's a rebuilding year. (PS - the farm system ain't what it used to be either)
Actually, they'll be lucky if they don't finish third. Texas got a new manager, remember???

Answer 11

I think the A's are going to be AL West champions once again. As long as Harden and Crosby stay healthy for the whole season we could go all the way.