Oakland Athletics

It was during the 1990 Major League Baseball season that I gained a reputation among friends for my ability to predict the future. And all for what, at least to me, was just plain and simple logic.

A few days before the season got under way, I made a series of predictions as to how the season would turn out, including the final standings, league leaders in various categories, and who would win the major awards.

With May in full swing and roughly two months before the first trade deadline, it's no longer early for the Oakland A's 2009 reunion tour with Jason Giambi to take off.

So far Giambi's return to the team he broke in with is a bust.

The San Francisco Chronicle's best columnist, Bruce Jenkins, described it as "pangs of regret surrounding Jason Giambi, Nomar Garciaparra, and Eric Chavez."

Garciaparra and Chavez, and their bagful of injuries, was to be expected. They were both pennies tossed into a wishing well at best.

Oakland Athletics designated hitter Jack Cust knows a thing or two about hitting home runs through the thick bay air in Oakland Coliseum. Last week, he said sometimes all you can do it wait for the weather to warm up.

Perhaps he's right, as the A's relative surge in power this past week or so has come just as Oakland enjoyed sunny skies, less wind, and warmer evenings during this homestand. After showing some signs of life sprinkled with awful at bats, the A's busted loose last night on the surge of a three-run homer by Cust to crush the visiting Royals, 12-3.

I don't know of any other general manager other than Billy Beane to allow for their team to play with no sense of direction or purpose.

It doesn't matter that the pitching is their for the Oakland A's.What matters is the lack of runs and hitting the A's have shown the past two-plus seasons under the leadership of manager Bob Geren. A's fans get the same exact excuse over and over again: The season is still early and the team will start hitting.

The Oakland Athletics entered the 2009 season with some serious bullpen questions. After 27 games and an 11-16 record, some of those questions remain unanswered while injuries have taken the focus off of some solid developments in the Oakland bullpen.  

Entering the season, Oakland manager Bob Geren had two legitimate options at closer. The submarining Brad Ziegler, who saved 11 games in 2008 after replacing Huston Street, held a tenuous hold on the position.

Although college sports prospects are typically young, they must be mature. Today’s society is much different than it was 30 years ago, when I was a prospect. 

Today, student athletes are forced to develop personal management skills to balance their hectic schedules.

Beyond the high school playing experience, now, there are a multitude of private club options. 

Billy Beane needs to take responsibility for his putrid hiring of Bob Geren he should say "I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for the hire and now I'm going to fix the problem."

What this really means is that Beane should be firing manager Geren as soon as the A's return home on Monday. Geren could go down as the worst manager in Oakland history.

The Oakland A's have a problem, and it's a good one, but the question that Billy Beane and manager Bob Geren are going to have to answer is what are they going to do with Mark Ellis once he gets off the 15-day disabled list?

Since, Gregorio Petit has filled in nicely for Ellis in his limited time in the big leagues. Last year Petit proved he belonged in the majors and in fact should have been one of the young players the A's kept on the big league roster instead of sending him down.

Since 2005, Billy Beane and his Oakland Athletics have been auctioning off their best pitchers each season in an attemp to stay young, competitive, and fiscally responsible while playing in the monstrosity that is McAfee Coliseum.

The Oakland Athletics loss can be blamed on their horrendous defense. There were three key plays that cost the A's.

The first was on an easy ground ball to Orlando Cabrera that went under his legs. This was the start to a big inning for the Texas Rangers which allowed the the Rangers to over take the A's 3-1 lead and bring it to 4-3.

Luckily for the A's Ryan Sweeney hit a solo home run to tie the score 4-4.