I've been doing alot of reading here this year and almost no posting.

I was thinking about this season and found that perhaps the best gauge for my '08 fandom is how long it is taking me to watch a Tivo'd A's game.

Pre All Star I was watching every inning of every game. Probably investing a couple of hours on each game. I now find myself (yesterday is a good example) starting the recording and moving through it on the fastest fast forward ( I watched Gio's first inning though). The game took about 15 minutes to "watch".

My 12 year old son's reaction to the A's is another gauge. Early in the season he'd ask if the A's won, what the Angels did, and how many games behind we were. That morphed into "did the A's win". Now he just asks "another loss?".

I've been trying to explain Beane's strategy to him--and I've managed to get him excited about Gio and Carlos and to a lesser extent Patterson and Pennington. He now also knows about Anderson, Cahill, Carter, Mazzaro etc.

We've gone to a couple of River Cats games.

But, none of this really addresses just how bad this season has become.

The A’s lost their 10th consecutive series on Sunday, tying an Oakland record set in 1979.

Since the All Star break, Oakland is 5-23, a winning percentage of .179, putting the team on pace for the worst second half ever. The 1943 Philadelphia A’s went 15-61 in the second half, a winning percentage of .197.

If we continue to start Braden and insist on continuing to reinforce to Dan Meyer that he is less than a Major league pitcher, if we continue to try to find some magic in Jack Hanahan's swing, to bat Jack Cust 3rd or 4th, to trot Emil Brown out there as a "cleanup hitter" etc. my finger will remain firmly on the fast forward button--in fact, if I could find a faster speed for it.....

This is the time of the season when teams decide whether they are "buyers" or "sellers" as the trade deadline nears. It was interesting to see Omar Minaya and Kenny Williams talking in the stands at the All Star game earlier this week. When asked whether he was a "seller" or a "buyer" this year, considering the White Sox weak first half, Williams said "we are both...we are always both."

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From ESPN today:

The A's, however, are 38-24 when Bradley starts games and 34-31 when he doesn't, a difference of 84 percentage points. Last year, the Dodgers were 36-37 when Bradley started, and 35-54 when he didn't, a difference of 100 percentage points. Coincidence?

Pretty amazing stat. A switch hitting presence in the middle of the lineup certainly has an effect.

The NY Daily News has an interesting article this morning about the Yankees problems with the Angels. Here are the last few paragraphs:

"The Yankees' ongoing struggles with the Angels are worth bearing in mind as the season plays itself out, since tonight isn't the last time they will face each other.

Besides the fact the Yankees have a three-game series in Anaheim Aug. 25-27, there remains a chance the teams will meet in the postseason. If the Yankees win the AL East and Boston takes the wild card - as has happened the past three seasons - the Bombers likely would face the West winner.

Oakland (65-52) leads the West by 4-1/2 games over the Angels. Clearly, the best-case scenario for the Yankees is for the A's to hang on, given that they've never won a playoff series (0-4) since Billy Beane became general manager in 1998.

Nothing ever seems to change in the West. The A's always make a second-half run. They never go deep into October. And the Angels never make it easy on the Yankees."

This is from SI.com. The A's are ranked first in injuries suffered but the summary is GREAT:

"The big problems: The A's have one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball, and they've needed every inch of it to stay afloat in the middling American League West. Rich Harden, Joe Kennedy, Esteban Loaiza and Justin Duchscherer all are sitting on the disabled list right now. Closer Huston Street was nursing a muscle strain in his chest earlier this season, though he never made it to the DL. The A's have had some hurting hitters, too, including Milton Bradley, Frank Thomas and Eric Chavez.

How they've handled it: Brad Halsey and Kirk Saarloos have filled in as starters with less-than-mixed results (3-4 between them, with a combined 5.06 ERA). Still, it's a measure of the team's pitching depth that the staff still is ranked fourth in the AL with a 4.47 ERA. That has kept the A's around .500.

Bottom line: Most of the pitchers should be back by the end of June. In the AL West, that makes the A's huge favorites."

I am really excited about this--stay healthy Frank!
Let the lineup debate begin:  Ellis, Kendall, Chavez, Thomas, Bradley, Crosby, Kotsay, Payton, Swisher?

From espn:  The Oakland Athletics and longtime Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas have agreed to a deal, sources told ESPN.com's Buster Olney on Wednesday.

Thomas is expected to sign a one-year contract.

 Bill James introduced similarity scores for players nearly 15 years ago in his book The Politics of Glory (p. 86-106). To compare one player to another, start at 1000 points and then you subtract points based on the statistical differences of each player.
Batters

    * One point for each difference of 20 games played.
    * One point for each difference of 75 at bats.
    * One point for each difference of 10 runs scored.
    * One point for each difference of 15 hits.
    * One point for each difference of 5 doubles.
    * One point for each difference of 4 triples.
    * One point for each difference of 2 home runs.
    * One point for each difference of 10 RBI.
    * One point for each difference of 25 walks.
    * One point for each difference of 150 strikeouts.
    * One point for each difference of 20 stolen bases.
    * One point for each difference of .001 in batting average.
    * One point for each difference of .002 in slugging percentage.

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Halfway through the first post-roids baseball season we are beginning to get a clearer picture of who the (potential) abusers might have been (like the self-indemnifying language?).
  Here you go, this years stats are followed by last years:
  Carlos Beltran  9 HR, 38 RBI, .265, 1 SB; 38 HR, 104 RBI, .267, 42 SB.  Playing "injured" all year??

  Todd Helton  6 HR, 31 RBI, .261; 32 HR, 96 RBI, .347.  Not getting pitched to because he's surrounded in the lineup by rookies?

  Aubrey Huff  5 HR, 38 RBI, .252; 29 HR, 104 RBI, .297  Notorious slow starter...but THIS slow?

  Jim Thome  7 HR, 29 RBI, .215; 42 HR, 105 RBI, .274.  Another slow starter but 7 HR??

  Adrian Beltre  5 HR, 34 RBI, .257; 48 HR, 121 RBI, .334.  I know, Safeco, but was he really just a one year wonder? If you're going to 'roid up wouldn't it be in your walk year?

  Ivan Rodriguez  5 HR, 29 RBI, .294; 19 HR, 86 RBI, .334.  Canseco mentioned him...could be?

  Victor Martinez  8 HR, 32 RBI, .238; 23 HR, 108 RBI, .283.  Sophmore jinx or lack 'o cream?

  Mike Lowell  3 HR, 29 RBI, .222; 27 HR, 85 RBI, .293.  Lowell is getting older, but 3 HR??

  Sammy Sosa 9 HR, 26 RBI, .235; 35 HR, 80 RBI, .253.  Say it ain't so Sammy.

  Aaron Rowand  5 HR, 32 RBI, .280; 24 HR, 69 RBI, .310.  Maybe not...

  Randy Winn  2 HR, 22 RBI, .279; 14 HR, 81 RBI, .286

From Rotoworld this morning:

The Tim Hudson deal is looking like a complete mess for the A's now that Juan Cruz has joined Charles Thomas and Dan Meyer at Triple-A (with Meyer on the disabled list). However, the Mark Mulder deal is looking better and better. Dan Haren is doing an excellent job stepping into Mulder's spot in the rotation, posting a 4.14 ERA in 87 innings. Mulder had a 4.43 ERA in 225.2 innings for the A's last season and has a 4.30 ERA in 83.2 innings for the Cardinals this year. Haren got off to a slow start and has a poor record because the A's don't score him any runs, but he is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA and 25-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his last five starts, dating back to May 26. Plus, he's costing the A's about $6 million less than Mulder would have.

We know it can't go on much longer. Some of the A's have to break out of this ugly slump. I hope some home cookin' helps this weekend and next week.  Here's a note from Rotoworld:

Exactly how bad has Oakland's offense been this season? They collectively have a batting line of .235/.313/.338. Among active players, the guys whose career numbers most closely resemble the offensive awfulness that the A's have put up are ... drumroll please ... Keith Osik (.231/.309/.323), Paul Bako (.240/.312/.332), and Andy Fox (.239/.324/.338). In other words, try to imagine a lineup full of nine Paul Bakos for a moment and realize that's what Oakland fans have been watching all year.