Matt Holliday to A's: Furcal, Giambi next???

The A's officially acquired Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Greg Smith, Huston Street and Carlos Gonzalez on Wednesday afternoon. Billy Beane has been saying all off-season that his #1 priority would be to improve the A's lackluster offense. He certainly did so in acquiring Holliday, however, is Mr. Beane done.

Avsolutely not, I know Billy is not crazy enough to think that holliday by himself is enough to put the A's in the playoffs. There have been many rumors that Beane would be interested in signing Rafael Furcal and even trying to bring back Giambi after his stint with the Yankees. I would love to see someone like Furcal with the A's, he would provide a quality leadoff hitter, something the A's have lacked for quite sometime. However, overpaying for Furcal would be the wrong thing to do and if it takes a 4 year contract worth an excess of 40 million to get him, then I say pass.

Giambi on the other hand would be quite interesting, he's been here before and he has always been a favorite of Beane's. I think a two year deal would be extremely fair at somewhere around 6 to 8 million a year. If Giambi and his agent decide they want three years then I don't think that's smart. It may be only one more year, but Giambi turns 38 in January and he is already way past his prime. Two years is a perfect fit for the A's and hopefully Giambi can realize that. Plus if he does came back to Oakland, he will have an In-N-Out burger right across the street from Mcaffee Coliseum, and it was well documented how much Giambi loves those double-doubles.

Giambi in 09

Jason Giambi will be an Oakland Athletic in 2009, something just tells me that it's going to happen. Giambi has always loved In-N-Out so maybe the A's can work out a deal with In-N-Out to give him free food for life if he signs with the A's next year. Just some food for thought.


P.S. Giambi will be an Oakland Athletic, GUARANTEED!!!

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