For Email Marketing you can trust

OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Ready For Prime Time?

By Jonathan Siegel

If you want to understand what a weird crapshoot of a season this is for Your Swingin' A's, you need only consider the monstrosity that faces me each morning on my way to work: A billboard touting the Oakland Athletics' possession of Eric Chavez.

In the 2007 off-season, the Oakland Athletics commenced dismantling their last arguable contender, ultimately shipping off the likes of Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, Nick Swisher and Marco Scutaro in return for handfuls of "prospects." Most credited Billy Beane with accumulating talent to build a contender ready to move into a new stadium in Fremont in 2010 or, at worst, 2011.

Well, its 2010, a lot of the acquired talent is still working its way through the minors and there's no new stadium in sight (although Bud Selig has a committee working on it). As for a contending team, the best we can say is maybe, a conclusion aided by the weakness of the division. Beane has constructed a 2010 team with terrific pitching, sound defense and not one player guaranteed to hit 20 homers. The A's fate this year will be determined by their ability to scratch out runs without anything like a classic three- or four-hole hitter.

Let's start with the positive, the A's pitching staff. Oakland added two veteran All-Stars, Ben Sheets and old friend Justin Duchscherer, to last year's youthful rotation, which featured at least two pitchers who had to ask teammates to buy them beer. Of course, this being our A's, they were comparative bargains because both missed all of last season with injuries. They are joined by Brett Anderson, a power lefty who is a genuine ace in the making; the redoubtable gamer from Stockton, Dallas "I can't feel my toes" Braden (he apparently lost sensation in a portion of his left foot as the result of a cure the legendary A's training staff concocted for an infection); and lefty Gio Gonzalez. As the season has dawned, all have been promising or better. They are backed by two talented youngsters from last year's staff, Trevor Cahill and Vince Mazzaro. This is a very solid rotation, whether or not any national media have noticed.

The bullpen, one of the best in the majors last year, should be fine as well. It features reigning American League Rookie of the Year, closer Andrew Bailey, and returnees Michael Wuertz, Brad Ziegler and Craig Breslow. The big news, though, has been the addition of 22-year-old hometown rookie Tyson Ross, who attended Bishop O'Dowd and Cal. Extremely tall, he manages to hit 95 on his fastball while "throwing across his body" and not using his legs at all, causing the fanatic A's fans over at athleticsnation.com fits of high anxiety as they obsess over the prognosis for his right shoulder.

The infield is solid. Catcher Kurt Suzuki is the A's best all-around position player. First baseman Daric Barton finally seems to be coming into his own as a strong hitter and defender, and the team's oldest player, 32-year-old Mark Ellis, remains a superb second baseman with consistent clutch-hitting ability. The left side features newly arrived Kevin Kouzmanoff at third, a strong defender who seems likely to hit at least 15-20 homers, which on this team is positively Ruthian. Shortstop is second-year player Cliff Pennington, the apparent embodiment of the cliché "scrappy."

Beane's other big off-season acquisition was center fielder Coco Crisp, whose last season ended with surgery on both his shoulders. Had he not broken a finger this spring, he would have started in center, with Ryan Sweeney in right and Rajai Davis in left. All are superb defensive players with little or no power. Davis needs to prove he is not a half-season wonder, Sweeney needs to add some power to his .293 average and Crisp needs to show he can stay in one piece. Any or all might make nice complementary pieces, but none is the big bopper you want in the corners.

At DH, the A's startled the faithful by sending Jack Cust down to start the season in Sacramento, despite being the one guy on the roster who might hit 30 homers (albeit while striking out 200 times). Instead, they handed the job to Eric Chavez, returning, allegedly, in one piece after three injury-plagued seasons. Anyone who thinks Beane is right that "the fans root for the uniform, not the player" should check out the women in the stands when Eric walks to the plate. Whether he can still hit, however, is anyone's guess.

Besides Cust, Sacramento has two other possible solutions to the A's power shortage in hot prospects outfielder Michael Taylor and power-hitting first baseman/outfielder/DH Chris Carter. Carter draws Frank Thomas comparisons at the plate, but Cust comparisons in the field, and might yet give the lie to the cliché "too young to DH."

Meanwhile, of course, we are all waiting for the verdict from Bud Selig's venue committee. As for me, I'm betting on San Jose. Oh, and second place, say 86-76.

Jonathan Siegel is a senior partner at Siegel & LeWitter, an Oakland employment law firm. Email: jsiegel@sl-employmentlaw.com