A's Anatomy: WHEEEEEEE!!!! A’S BASEBALL IS HERE!!!!
Ahem......
Perhaps you would like a preview of the upcoming season from a totally official source? Well, you’re obviously not going to get that from us, but we are pleased to bring you the very first installment of A’s Anatomy; where the green and gold will be dissected all season, and no one will be spared, even if you’re Billy Beane and his BFF. (Just kidding, Bob Geren; welcome aboard!)
In case you have been living in a cave or following football, you may have missed the several off-season revelations that have left the 2007 Oakland A’s a dramatically different team than last year, which, if you remember, saw them all the way to the ALCS before being annihilated by the Detroit Tigers and Kenny “PineTar-Gate” Rogers.
The first change the team made (and it was done roughly five minutes after the A’s got on the plane back to Oakland) was the very public firing of manager Ken Mache, a move that we’ve been trying to spearhead for years. After a long and arduous process to find a replacement, during which the A’s lost potential managerial candidate and former A’s third base coach Ron Washington to the Texas Rangers, Bob Green emerged from the fray as the A’s new manager. We love this move. Although to be fair, Billy Beane’s chair would have done a better job of making pitching changes than Macha (Game 161 of the 2004 season, anyone?), but really, let’s not rehash the past. Geren has something that Howe and Macha never did; he has a personal relationship with the enigmatic Billy Beane; it’s probably as close as we can get to Beane actually managing the A’s.
By Christy, contributing
The two biggest losses of the off-season have left little holes in the team similar to the little hole in Arizona called the Grand Canyon. The A’s were shocked when their entire offense--in the person of Frank Thomas--up and left for the artificial turf of Toronto, where we predict he’ll play a total of ten games out of his three-year contract. The other loss came as no surprise; we’ve prepared ‘good-byes’ to Barry Zito for years now; he accepted a ridiculous contract to play for San Francisco and the other Barry. Wonder how the free-spirited, ‘I sometimes forget to eat...and also how to pitch’ Zito will fare in the much more ‘traditional’ baseball team across the bay? At least it’s the NL; Zito’s steadily declining numbers pretty much forecasted ‘will be hit and hit hard’ had he stayed anywhere in the AL.
The A’s have done their best to patch the holes. Now playing the part of Frank Thomas will be Mike Piazza; one of the best hitting catchers of all time, now turned DH, and replacing Zito will be the oft-injured Rich Harden, once described as having the best stuff of any of the ‘Big Three’. It would be nice if he could complete two starts in a row, though. We hear that ‘actually starting games’ is a big part of ‘being a successful pitcher’. Will those moves allow the A’s to break even? Who else needs to step up for the A’s to go anywhere in ’07? Who’s going to have a huge year, and who won’t make it through May?
Upcoming: Breaking down the potential 2007 A’s position by position - Stay tuned!