Should the A's pack it in.

As it stands right now the A's have nothing left to play for, except to give the rookies some experience for next year. The popular consensus is for the A's to lose most of their games in order to ensure a better draft pick. Right now the A's are in line for the 11th pick. However, with a couple of losing streaks they could right in line for the 5th pick. As a fan I find myself conflicted with this situation, on the one hand I'd like for the A's to win, but a pick at #5 would sure bring in a very valuable player for the future. This decision in the end comes down to pride, and if I had it my way I would hope for the A's to win most of their games even if it means they pick 11th instead of 5th.

If fans keep waiting for tomorrow instead of focusing on today, they might be disappointed if and when tomorrow never comes. The future is never a sure thing, the present is. The A's have a lot of young players making an impact on the big club right now. Aaron Cunningham, Ryan Sweeney, and Joey Devine all have bright futures, so fans should enjoy the players who are here now not players who are still years away such as a draft pick.

Rivercats and Ports win Championship

The Sacramento Rivercats defeated Oklahoma yesterday to win the PCL championship. Carlos Gonzalez drove in 4 runs, and Brett Anderson pitched 7 quality innings. The Rivercats are now back to back champions of the PCL a pretty amazing. Gonzalez should be recalled to the big club and try and pick up where he left off with Sacramento. I wouldn't be surprised if Brett Anderson made a start in the big leagues, however, this is very unlikely.

The Ports defeated Lancaster yesterday 9-3 to win the California League Championship. Chris Carter hit 2 HomeRuns and Donaldson continued his great pace in the playoffs by hitting a triple. Carter ended the yera with 44 HomeRuns, a great accomplishment for a 21 year old kid. Hopefully he will have a successful transition to AA and maybe even reach AAA next year. He should be up in Oakland by 2010 at the latest.

Stockton Ports win game #2

The Ports pulled off a stunning upset last night as they rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth, to pull away with a 7-6 win. Tyson Ross a draft pick this year made his High A debut and went 5 innings allowing only 3 uneared runs. The errors committed behind him did not affect him at all, a lot of young pitcers could have let down after the errors. However, Ross dug deep and kept making quality pitches. That was very impressive especially for a pitcher who was just drafted. Josh Donaldson the Catcher who was acquired in the Harden deal continued his tear of the playoffs, hitting his second homerun in as many games.

The Ports will host the next two games of the playoffs, starting tonight at 7:00 pm.

Qoute of the Day

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

-Thomas Jefferson

Quote of the Day (Money)

There is some magic in wealth, which can thus make persons pay their court to it, when it does not even benefit themselves. How strange it is, that a fool or knave, with riches, should be treated with more respect by the world, than a good man, or a wise man in poverty!

-Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1764

Stockton Ports in Playoffs

The Ports the single A team of the A's, have made the playoffs and will be taking on the San Jose Giants. The first game is tonight at 6pm and the second game is tomorrow at 5pm both games at San Jose. Ther Ports are led by Chris Carter who was aqcuired in the Haren deal, he hit 39 homeruns this year and he hit 2 homeruns in the three game series vs the Modesto Nuts to see who'd make it to the playoffs. Carter has excellent power, but he strikesout way too much. He's done a little better job of limiting his strikeout rate in the second half, but not much better. Carter is drawing a lot of comparisions to Adam Dunn, which I don't really agree with. Sure they both have excellent power, and both strikeout a lot, but I feel Carter has the ability to hit for a higher average than Dunn does. He's only 21, so he has a lot of time to improve his contact. I'm thinking he's more like a Frank Thomas. Either way Carter is an intriguing prospect and should have a productive rest of his career. He'll definitely help the Ports in this series vs the Giants.

I'm predicting the Ports take this series in 4 games.

Game 1 of DoubleHeader vs the Orioles is postponed

The first game of the doubleheader has been postponed due to heavy rain. As of right now it looks really unlikely that the second game will be played as well. That is a shame, because Josh Outman was going to make his first major league start. Outman aqcuired from the Phillies in the Blanton deal is 23 years old and is a hard throwing lefty. He seems to lack quality second pitches, but if he can locate his fastball I feel he'll be fine. Hopefully Outman is able to make a start before the end of this season, it would be nice to see how he handles starting in the majors.

Quote of the Day

Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision.

- Muhammad Ali

A's lose doubleheader opener

The A's lost for the second consecutive time to the lousy Kansas City Royals, by a score of 5-4 in 10 innings. Dana Eveland went 6 innings allowing 10 hits and 4 runs. He didn't walk anybody, which is encouraging considering that was the reason he was sent down. His new delivery that he developed in his brief stint in Sacramento, has been working wonders for his command. I'm very high on him and feel he will be on the staff next year again.

Aaron Cunningham hit his first triple of his short career, and ended up going 1-3 with a walk. Jack Cust drove in 2 runs, Barton hit a solo shot as he continues his recent hot streak, and Crosby drove in a run as well. Devine ended up getting the loss, but he's been solid since he's come back from his injury and I see him starting next year as the closer.

Let's hope the A's can get the back end of this doubleheader.

Qoute of the Day

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

- Abraham Lincoln

Josh Outman impressive in Debut

Josh Outman made his major league debut yesterday and pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out two as well. He was consistently hitting 95 mph on the gun, which is very impressive coming from a lefty. Outman was acquired from the Phillies along with Adrian Cardenas and Mathew Spencer in the Joe Blanton deal. Outman has been used as both a starter and a reliever, he says he prefers to be a starter but that he has liked pitching in relief as well. I would like to see Outman as a starter, not because he can't be an effective reliever, but I think he has too much talent and is far too young to be turned into a reliever right now. He has a plus fastball, a good slider and a decent changeup. If I had to compare him to a major league pitcher, I would say he's like Jeff Francis (Colorado Rockies Starter) they're both hard throwing lefties with good secondary pitches.

Hopefully Outman gets the opportunity to start a game or two this year, so he can gain some experience from starting at the major league level. Outman is not even in the top three pitching prospects for the A's (Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez) are all above him, this demonstrates just how impressive the A's minor league pitchers are. As an A's fan as hard as it is to watch them struggle right now, I have faith that they will be a really good team come 2010 if not next year.

Gio still looking rusty

Gio Gonzalez had another unimpressive performance yesterday against one of the worst teams in the American League (KC Roayals) He gave up a three run homerun on a high fastball to Billy Butler and a solo shot to Ryan Shealy. All in all he went 4 innings, gave up 4 runs, 3 of them earned and struck out 5.

It's clear that Gonzalez has not gotten off to the start he was hoping for, however, I am not giving up on him just yet. He has the stuff to be a quality pitcher at the major league level, his strikeout rate is very good. His velocity is not what all the scouting reports had on him. I read that he threw around 93 mph and was consistently in that 91-93 area. However, since being called up he has constantly been in the 88-90 mph area not what I was expecting. It is late in the year so he may be a bit tired, so I'll wait until next year to see if he can really throw 93 mph consistently. I hvae been really impressed with his curveball, it is definitely one of the best in the game, if he learns to command it he will be very successful.

The biggest issue I have with Gonzalez is his inability to throw strikes consistently. Not only does he not throw strikes, but his pitches are usually nowhere near the strikezone, which keeps the hitters from swinging at them. Gonzalez needs to figure out how to throw strikes in a hurry if he ever wants to be successful.

Quote of the Day (Leadership)

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

-Martin Luther King, Jr

Aaron Cunningham makes impressive debut

Aaron Cunningham was called up on Sunday after Frank Thomas was placed on the 15 day d.l. Cunningham struckout in his first two at bats, however, he hit a ground rule double to rightfield, and hit a single up the middle to drive in two runs. Cunningham can provide the A's with a righthanded bat, something the A's have always seemed to lack. He's only 22 years old so he has a lot of time to grow, but I can see him becoming a very solid player. He doesn't possess the the dynamic tools that top prospects do, however, he is solid in all of them. Think Eric Byrnes and Aaron Rowand like. Not too shabby.