Ziegler is Amazing

Brad Ziegler extended his scoreless innings streak to 30 today. He pitched 3 innings of perfect baseball. It's astounding how a pitcher can continue to put up zeroes especially with how good major league hitters are. Ziegler is plain and simply the best reliever in the A's bullpen right now. In my mind he deserves to start pitching in the 8th inning and maybe even close a few games. 30 scoreless innings is an amazing feat that should be rewarded, and I hope the A's management make him a more vital part of the bullpen.

Angels get better :(

The Anaheim Angels acquired 1B Mark Texeira from the Atlanta Braves for 1B Casey Kotchman and a minor league reliever. Personally I feel this is a great trade for the Angels, because although Kotchman is having a great year, Texeira is simply better than he is. The only negative side of this is that Texeira is a free agent at the end of the year and Kotchman will not be until 2011. Texeira a Scott Boras client has been hinting that he would want 20 million dollars a year for about 8 years. I like Texeira a lot but personally I don't think he's worth $20 million a year.

However, I can't blame the Angels for doing this; first of all they are going to win the Al West and have a chance at having the best record in baseball. If ever there was a year to go for it all, this year would be it. As an A's fan I will hate this trade if Texeira resigns with the Angels, however, if he leaves then I will be happy because it will leave the Angels without a 1B in the future. Hence, giving the A's a better chance at winning the division. Although I hate to say it, I think with this move the Angels are the team to beat and they are my pick to win the World Series this year.

Trade Talks

With the trade deadline less than a week away, many major league teams have to decide whether to be sellers or buyers.The Yankees and Dodgers recently made deals and I wouldn't be surprised if more teams decide to become buyers. There are many names rumored to be available, including Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Huston Street just to name a few. My beloved A's have obviously made the decision to be sellers, with the trades of Rich Harden and Joe Blanton. They have also been rumored to be shopping Street for the right price. I do like Street but knowing how negatively Beane thinks of closers I wouldn't be surprised if he did trade him.

If Beane were to trade Street I would hope that he could bring back a SS, or 3B prospect due to the A's lack of production from that side. One interesting prospect that I would be in favor of would be Matt Gamel from the Brewers. The Brewers have shown that they're buyers with the addition of CC Sabathia and Ray Durham. Street would be a perfect fit for them, as they do not have a proven closer. This deal makes sense for both teams and I'm hoping it gets done.

Another team that has shown interest in Street are the Dodgers. There closer is hurt and might be out the rest of the year. Street makes perfect sense for them and if there closer does come back that would give them a very good 8th and 9th inning combination. Throw in Broxton in the 7th and there games could be over by the 6th. For a team that's only a game out, they should definitely try and get Street. However, Beane may be asking for too much. I think Beane really wants Matt Kemp, but I'm almost positive that Coletti would never give him up. Another possibility for beane is 3B Andy LaRoche. He has not lived up to the hype that the Dodgers had for him, but he hasn't gotten the opportunity in my mind. Obviously I'm hoping Beane could somehow get Kemp, but I wouldn't be dissapointed if we got LaRoche.

Down on the Farm

Last night the Midland Rockhounds defeated the Frisco Roughriders by the score of 8-1. Trevor Cahill the A's highly touted pitching prospect and recent pick to be on the US Olympic team had a rather impressive start. He only went 5 innings, and gave up 5 hits and 4 walks, but he didn't allow a run and had 6 strikeouts. The player of the game without a doubt was Jon Zeringue, he went 2-4 with 2 home runs, giving him 16 for the season.

Other notables from last night's game:
A. Recker: 2-4 with a double
T. Everidge: 1/4 with a double and 3 Rbi's

A. Bailey: 2ip, 1h, 1bb, 1k
C. Farley: 2ip, 1h, 1er, 2bb, no K's.

Down in Single A the Stockton Ports were defeated by the Ranch Cucamonga Quakes by a score of 7-2. On the mound for the Ports was henry Rodriguez, fresh off his impressive performance in the furtures game where he threw 100 mph a couple times. He had a rough start tonight as he gave up 9hits, 6 runs, 5 of them earned in 5.2 innings. Hedid have 7k's and only allowed 2bb's which is an improvement for him. If Rodriguez can get his control issues solved,he has the potential to be a dominant pitcher. The A's have talked about turning him into a closer, which I don't really like, becasue I see HRod as a Rich Harden type of pitcher. If HRod develops a changeup, his chances of being a dominant starter is a near certainty.

Also for the Ports, Chris Carter had a good night going 2-4 with a triple, he did have 2 K's which is something he has struggled with all year. However, I can live with the K's as long as he keeps hitting the long ball. He currently has 27 Hr the most for any A's prospect. I'd like to see him in AA, to get him a head start for next year.

AAA Report:
The Sacramento Rivercats had their game suspended after only the 2 inning due to a downpour in Albuquerque. Gio Gonzalez was on the mound and he went 1+ ip, allowing 2h and 1 run. This game will resume today at 4:30 pm.

Ziegler sets Al Rookie scoreless streak

Brad Ziegler set the AL Rookie record for consecutive scoreless innings tonight in the A's 8-1 victory over the TB Rays. He is currently at 23.2 scoreless innings and the Major League record is at 25. Yet he seems to get very little recognition from anyone except A's fans. He's a side-armer who struggles to reach 90 with his fastball. However, he has really good offspeed stuff that continues to baffle Major League hitters. If he were to throw 100 mph's an hour with a devastating breaking ball, he would be seen as the next big thing. But he doesn't and never will, hence, he will never receive the recognition he deserves.

I feel it's a shame that he doesn't receive more attention, just because he doesn't throw 95+ doesn't mean he's not a good pitcher. And the fact that he's doing this as a rookie is absolutely incredible to me. I hope Ziggy as many A's fan like to call him, continues his dominance as an elite reliever. I hope he gets some national attention when he breaks Orel's scoreless streak, ok he'll probably never do that but I can dream can't I. Too bad breaking Orel's streak is what it would take for him to get the attention he deserves.

Agonizing A's Offense

Not surprisingly the A's were shutout yesterday night by Scott Kazmir and the Tampa Bay Rays. Sure Kazmir is a dominant pitcher, but the A's didn't even make it hard for him. Kazmir was in control the whole night and when he did get in trouble which was only once, he was able to pick off Mark Ellis at second base. You can't really blame Ellis, seeing as though the A's never seem to have runners in scoring position all that often, they really don't know what to do once they are in scoring position.

I miss the old days when A's hitters would make the opposing pitcher work for his outs. They didn't always score many runs either, but at least they made him work. I'm tired of our guys going up to the plate without a gameplan. They seem to just go up there and swing at anything. That is not A's baseball, how about trying to work the count at least that makes the pitcher fatigued quicker. I know Kazmir is really good but there is no way we should be striking out that often. It's not always about hitting home runs (Cust) sometimes a soft single can get a team going as well. It sure as hell is a lot better than striking out. I guess I can't blame Cust too much, seeing as though he does have a gameplan of hitting a home run everytime up.

On a brighter note our bullpen was pretty solid last night. Andrew Brown went two innings and did't give up any hits and struck out three, although he did walk three. Santiago Casilla went one inning and gave up two hits and a walk, but he didn't surrender a run so that's always good. Also last night's game saw A's fans get their first glimpse of Brooks Conrad, a 28 year old infielder get his first action as a big leaguer. Although he went 0-3 with two K's, it's always nice seeing someone get thier first shot. I personally feel that Conrad will be quite successful here with the A's and is definitely an improvement over Donnie murphy. Now if only we could get rid of Emil Brown.

Wes Bankston deserves to stay

For those of you not familiar with Wes Bankston here's a quick profile. He's 6'4'' 215 lbs and is from Dallas, Tx. He was called up to the Athletics on July 3 and in his first game he went 1 for 4 fagainst the White Sox. He followed that up by going 3 for 5 and 2 for 3 in the next two games of the series. He is currently hitting .308 with 1hr and 3 rbi's.

However, he was demoted back to Triple A eventhough he was producing on a team desperate for any kind of offensive help. The move really puzzled me and I was very upset. All he did was come up and rake and they send him down. Here's how I think the demotion went. (Bob:) Hey Wes thanks for everything, but your just not cut out for the typical A's hitter. (Wes:) How do I become that. (Bob:) You have to hit below .24o. (Wes:) But.
(Bob:) No but's Wes that's just the way it is. Billy, I mean I think this is the best for the team.

Bankston took the demotion pretty hard saying he felt he was doing everything he could and didn't understand it. Who could blame the poor guy, he did everything they asked of him and it still wasn't enough. Fortunately for Bankston, Daric Barton had a freak accident in which he split his head open when dove in his friends swimming pool. Really, how do you do that?

I'm proposing that Bankston stay in Oakland for the rest of the year, even when Barton comes back. Hopefully Bankston continues his tear and becomes a constant fixture in the A's lineup.