Why do the Oakland Athletics suck this year?

Question

How do you go from ALCS contenders to 5 under .500 in the nexy year. I like the Angels, but I was expecting us to battle in out with Oakland. Its more funner :(. What gives. I miss the A's. Why aren't they good this year?

Answer 1

their pitching hasn't been as good as it has in the past....you can't lose pitchers like Zito and Hudson and expect to be good every single year

of course it doesn't help when your leading RBI man only has 69

Answer 2

Agree with Ryan. You cant keep losing your best starters and expect to compete with the deep pockets. If Rich Harden had been healthy and given them 30 starts (and if Loaiza could have done the same), it would be a different story. The offense has been anemic for most of the season. They also were really depending of Piazza, Chavez, and Johnson to stay healthy and give them the best offense that they were capable of-they didn't. Cust was a great find, but Swisher just cant carry the load by himself, and maybe suffered at the plate trying to do so. Oakland will always have a real tough time competing against the deep pockets on a regular basis; this wont change until or unless the economic situation in MLB more closely resembles that of the NFL, NHL, or NBA. NOW-having said all that-you guys have come up with some good young starters. You can really build on a rotation of Haren, Blanton, DiNardo, Gaudin-and who knows what Harden might bring to the table once they can keep him healthy? And getting Duchscherer back will help. Look forward to next season. If the pitching can stay healthy and they can SOMEHOW add one dominant bat, I say the As could be formidable next season.

Answer 3

Injuries abound - there have been at least a dozen differant people playing center field this year

Do you reconize these names?

Jack Hannahan
Dee Brown
Jeff DaVanon
J.J. Furmaniak
Kurt Suzuki
Ruddy Lugo
Lenny DiNardo

These are just some of the A's Active Players that were not with the team at the beginning of the season

Pitching is starting to come around but without run support they lose the close ones.

In my opinion - they should have hung on to Frank Thomas. Piazza has been hurt.. just not producing as he should be.
Kendell has been traded away - along with Bradley
Kotsay, Chavez and Crosby are hurt.
Kielty is playing for another team -

Zito is gone (the last of the big "3" from a few years back)
Harden, Louiza and Street were out most of the season


the A's will be back and healthier than ever next year!

E

Answer 4

You're an Angels fan and you're not having fun? If this dissection of the Mariners isn't doing for you, how about last week's little battle with the Yankees or the bicoastal 7 game series with the Red Sox that may well have been a preview of the ALCS. The Athletics have many reasons why they are a mediocre team, most of all their spotty attendance. No people equals no money equals mediocre baseball team. The Angels draw 38,000 to see a Devil Rays game and 44,000 for the Yankees or Red Sox. All that money buys you a well stocked farm system, a stingy bullpen and Anderson, Matthews and Guerrero in the outfield.

Answer 5

Beane gets all the praise but it's time for him to take blame. Moneyball worked when he had Tejada, Giambi and Chavez in the lineup at the same time. He undervalues guys who are run producers i.e. Tejada and Thomas for guys with high OBP like Kielty, Kotsay, Bradley, etc. Of all the guys he could have signed from those teams he chose the wrong one in Eric Chavez. Chavez is great defensively but isn't a real offensive force where he can put a team on his back. Plus the guys that were expected to fill in for some of those guys like Crosby and Harden simply aren't that good or are injured all the time like Harden. Cust and Dan Johnson may give them the run producing power they need in the future but for now they will continue to struggle.

Answer 6

The A's are still one of the best teams ,o.k maybe not right now ,but still we always have some of the best pitching and they've always done alot with what they have,which is not much.And yes i miss the A's too ,but still,don't count them out just yet.We have a few more games with your Angels ,Oakland's dreaded rival.

And hopefully they can improve for next year,and even take some teams out this year.

Answer 7

It's called injuries unfortunately there has been lots of them. Harden, Chavez, Swisher, Johnson, Crosby, Loiaza, etc.......Our pitching was great in the first half but slowly it went down hill after the all-star break. Haren has been the only consistent starter!

Answer 8

You name it the A's have or are going threw it. Injuries,freeagency,economics,and the good old bad luck.

Answer 9

Go A´s!