2009 Oakland Athletics Season Thread:Rickey Henderson in Cooperstown...No. 24 Jersey Retired 8/1

[49ers650]

We're doing the same thing as the Giants, blowout on Thurs, win on Friday and a horrible loss today.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

It feels like our pitching can be good in one game and then our offense will disappear the same game, and vice versa.

Sucks

 

[49ers650]

Well, at least Holliday is on a roll and Giambi showed up big time with those two homers.
Hurry Inoa

 

[49ers650]

 

[eagle 0n]

First series sweep of the season

 

[GreenNGold89]

Man, that was a long month...

Yesterday's game was

. I wasn't able to catch it, but 4 errors??

I really hope this team can get it together soon. There is A LOT ofbaseball left to be played, but if our defense plays like yesterday, and our offense doesn't step up, this season will be over real fast.

 

[49ers650]

ugh

 

[GreenNGold89]

This $+%# is sad...

I don't even know what to say anymore.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

I think I'll officially give up on this season by mid June if the team continues to play the way it has.

Billy Beane, my critical eye is beginning to focus on you.

 

[marionthebarberian]

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

(lurking... lurking)

 

[marv machamp]

7

 

[supersic97]

7 in a row. Hottest team in baseball

 

[johnson1]

fa sho

only 4 games under

B. Anderson keep it rollin tommorow...

 

[lb510]

Originally Posted by Th3RealF0lkBlu3s

(lurking... lurking)

What a joke fans coming out of the wood works after hibernation

 

[japanair21]

Originally Posted by LB510

Originally Posted by Th3RealF0lkBlu3s

(lurking... lurking)

What a joke fans coming out of the wood works after hibernation

You know it.

I been in school, and NBA Playoffs (TO ME!) > MLB regular season.

But I'll be watching a lot more frequently now that summer's starting.

7 straight.

Reminiscent of our 20-game streak in 02.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Originally Posted by LB510

Originally Posted by Th3RealF0lkBlu3s

(lurking... lurking)

What a joke fans coming out of the wood works after hibernation

Honestly, I'm more active on other message boards when it comes to the A's (like scout.com). On here there are so few of us that supportthe team that it's hard to keep the thread consistent.

But I keep tabs on all my teams, so don't jump to any conclusions about my loyalty, at least.

 

[GreenNGold89]

Casilla.

What the +@!* is wrong with this dude? He has been HORRIBLE this year. I didn't want to post during the win streak.

Anyways, hopefully wecan continue to play better baseball. There is a lot of time left in the season and the AL West is wide open.

 

[GreenNGold89]

Originally Posted by LB510

Originally Posted by Th3RealF0lkBlu3s

(lurking... lurking)

What a joke fans coming out of the wood works after hibernation

Why are you here?

at questioning someone's fan hood by how much they post.

 

[GreenNGold89]

I've been mad busy with finals but I just wanted to post this article about the kid we picked up from USC.

A's go shortstop in Draft's first round
Oakland snags Southern Cal's Green with 13th pick

OAKLAND -- A year after selecting a player they hope will be their second baseman of the future, the A's on Tuesday went after what they think might be their shortstop of the future.

Some think they might have landed their third baseman of the future.

With the 13th overall selection in the annual First-Year Player Draft, Oakland nabbed University of Southern California junior Grant Green, who's been compared to Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and Rays third baseman Evan Longoria.

"I'm not in the scouting department, but I know people who have seen him play," A's manager Bob Geren said of Green. "I know our front office is excited, and so am I. He's a big, physical shortstop with athletic ability. That's what you want."

According to MLB.com's scouting reports, Green, a 6-foot-3, 180-pounder who bats from the right side, "has five-tool potential at a premium position. He's capable of hitting for average and a little power while playing a fine shortstop."

Green, 21, was advised before the Draft by elite agent Scott Boras, with whom the A's have been reluctant to deal in the past, in part because Boras clients have often been difficult to sign.

Green said he hasn't talked numbers with Boras, who also represents Oakland free-agent-to-be Matt Holliday, or the A's.

"I really haven't thought about the whole business side," Green said on a conference call with the Bay Area media Tuesday night. "Right now I'm just focused on celebrating the day's accomplishment with my family.

"Let's just take tomorrow when it comes."

A's scouting director Eric Kubota didn't seem overly concerned with the club's ability to sign Green before the Aug. 17 deadline. If Green isn't signed by then, he'll go back into the Draft pool for 2010.

"The bottom line is we think Grant is ready to get his professional career underway," Kubota said, "and we're ready to try to find a way to make that happen."

With five of the top 13 players on their Draft board still available, the A's took a shortstop in the first round for the third time in nine years, and for the second time in five years.

Oakland selected Cliff Pennington of Texas A&M with the 21st overall pick in 2005, and while Pennington made his big league debut late last season, several scouts project him as a second baseman or utility man at the Major League level.

In 2001, the A's used their first-round pick in the annual First-Year Player Draft to select shortstop Bobby Crosby out of Long Beach State in 2001. Crosby went on to be named the 2004 American League Rookie of the Year, but thereafter he was beset with injuries, and he has since been turned into a utility player.

A free agent at the end of the season, Crosby is unlikely to return in 2010. His replacement at shortstop, Orlando Cabrera, also will be a free agent at the end of the year. Given Eric Chavez's injury history, Oakland's future at third base is cloudy as well.

Green said he hasn't been "in tune" with the A's needs, which are fairly obvious: They need long-term help on the left side of the infield. Their shiny new Draft pick, who wouldn't speculate on how long it might take him to make it to the Majors, would prefer to help fill the void at shortstop.

"I know I can stay there," Green said. "It's just a matter of letting the game come to me and not trying to do too much."

Kubota waved off any notion of moving Green.

"He's athletic and he played shortstop at USC for three years," Kubota said. "We generally look at what guys can do, and our general feeling is that this guy can play shortstop.

"I think we always try to look at the draft as a vacuum and try not to take organizational needs into too much account, but we do think we filled a need, and he was probably the top college middle infielder in the draft.

The star-crossed career of Crosby obviously didn't dissuade the A's from again looking downstate for a shortstop. Green was born in Anaheim Hills, Calif., and attended La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif.

Selected in the 14th round of the 2006 Draft by the Padres, Green instead opted for college and was a star right away at USC, earning Freshman All-America honors in 2007. His best year with the Trojans came in 2008, when he batted .390 with nine homers, 46 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 56 games.

After shaking off a slow start to the 2009 campaign, Green batted .374 with a .435 on-base percentage -- tops on the team in both categories -- and hit four homers with 32 RBIs in 54 games to earn All-Pac-10 honors for the second consecutive season.

Said to have excellent range and a strong, accurate arm, Green struggled defensively in the prestigious wood-bat Cape Cod League last summer, making 17 errors in 41 games. That performance, along with his 18 errors and .929 fielding percentage for the Trojans this season, has prompted talk that he might be better suited for third base down the road.

"I'm sure a lot of that came from beginning of this season instead of how I ended up," Green explained, adding that he didn't deal very well with the hype that followed him into his junior season.

"At the very beginning I did terrible with it, and I suffered," he said. "I wasn't trusting my teammates or myself. Once I started trusting, my [defensive] play started going up and up, and I started hitting the way I can. From that, I kind of learned how to have that pressure on me.

"I know that even if I make an error, it's not the end of the world."

Green didn't struggle at all at the plate in the Cape League, batting .348 with six homers, 21 RBIs, 10 stolen bases in 13 attempts and a .451 OBP in 161 at-bats against some of the top pitching prospects in the nation.

At 12th overall last season, Oakland selected second baseman Jemile Weeks out of the University of Miami. After admitting that he didn't know a ton about the A's organization, Green mentioned only Weeks -- and Mark McGwire -- by name.

"I'm just stoked and relieved to be with a great, tradition-rich organization," he said.

Asked to assess his strengths as a player, Green sounded a lot like Crosby did on Draft Day 2001, emphasizing his work ethic over any "wow" factor associated with being a first-rounder.

"I consider myself a baseball player first," Green said. "I'm not gonna be one of those prima donna-type players I'm going to go out play hard, get dirty and play the game the way it's supposed to be played."

The A's didn't have a second-round selection this year, having surrendered it to the White Sox as compensation for signing Cabrera as a Type B free agent. Nor did the A's have a pick in either of Tuesday's compensation rounds, leaving them with plenty of time to kill before making their only other selection of the day.

Round 3, Justin Marks, LHP, University of Louisville: Marks, 21, was the Big East Conference Freshman of the Year in 2007 and a First-Team All-Big East selection in 2008 before going 11-3 with a 3.77 ERA this season while helping the Cardinal to the conference title and a spot in the NCAA Super Regionals. Marks, who is 6-foot-3, 195 pounds and earned the nickname "Big-Game Justin" at Louisville, struck out 129 with 35 walks over 105 innings this year, but he picked a bad time to have one of his worst outings of the season. A 37th-round pick of the Red Sox in the 2006 Draft, Marks gave up six runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings of the Cardinals' elimination game against Cal-State Fullerton on Saturday. It was his first loss since March 27.

 

[grusumm18]

got exciting when it was clear that one of matz, crow, or greene would be there at 13...of course we get crosby 2.0

at least leake was picked early
the only recycled pick ive wanted was danny schlereth

this loss goes solely on bartons return to the starting lineup

 

[eagle 0n]

Originally Posted by bbllplaya23

Casilla.

What the %%%+ is wrong with this dude? He has been HORRIBLE this year. I didn't want to post during the win streak.

Anyways, hopefully we can continue to play better baseball. There is a lot of time left in the season and the AL West is wide open.

Exactly how I felt

Anyways if we get above .500, I'll start bumping and editing the thread. I'm still here and been keeping track of the team. I've been experiencesome cpu problems as of late and I don't like posting from my phone.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Aww man, now you guys are making me feel guilty for bumping the thread back to the front.

Forgive me!!

 

[eagle 0n]

Aww man, now you guys are making me feel guilty for bumping the thread back to the front.

Don't trip bro.

Glad to see ppl still have interest in this team.

...
Billy Beane Q&A (Long Read)

http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/cohn/...tate-of-the-as-and-the-state-of-his-mind.html


edit:
I'm also glad we didn't draft a pitcher

 

[johnson1]

Tough loss

but hey if any of the youngsters are the shakiest it's Brett Anderson, oh well

Daric Barton is my least favorite player in the entire A's organization



Dollar day tomorrow, I'm goin