Almost all the other clubs have their 2010 fan days scheduled and ready to go.  I have always wanted to go to one and I am hoping this is the year, but I need to get the time off of work way in advance.  I checked around the website and the facebook postings and could not find anything.  I know last year was in April, but before they were always towards the beginning of the year.  Any help or news would be greatly appreciated. 

I was just curious what his contract looks like and how long the Giants have him "locked" up for.  I was very excited when he got traded because if he can get the AB"s I think he is a 25 home run guy.  I know that one of the reasons the Indians traded him was that he was probably not going to be cheap for too much longer (and that they have a log jam at 1st).  Just hoping someone can shed some light.  Thanks, Chris

I am a big collector of A's cards and am selling off my double and extras of game-used and autographs.  Over 100, and all are certified by the major card companies.  All are in mint/nm condition.  Here is the link...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=310139753461

If this isn't cool to be on here let me know, I was just hoping to find these a good home and they are fairly cheap as a bulk lot. 

Take care,
Chris

P.S.  If you have ?'s e-mail me at crosherefan@yahoo.com

We love him...we hate his injuries.  However, thanks to A-Roid getting a cyst (which I am sure has no relation to his steroid use...chortle laugh), the Spankees need a 3rd basemen and quick.  Buster Olney in his infinite wisdom tossed out three names: Garret Atkins, Andy Marte, and Eric Chavez.  

So, putting it out to you fellow A's fans, what would it take to give up Chavy?

I would love to get Swisher back for RF and try to get Hughes for our current rotation and give up Chavy and Mazzaro.  It is obvious that Hughes has been coveted in the past, but I think those days are gone.  Plus desperation makes clubs (especially the Yankees) do strange things.  You help the rotation, add Swisher to shore up a solid OF, and then wonder who in the hell you can trade for to get a 3rd basemen.  The Yankees might try to give Nady instead of Swisher, but neither the Indians or the Rockies would want Nady so it is not like they can deal him to another club instead.  The Yankees would also get Mazzaro who is more of a prosepct than Hughes, but can help them in a year when they really need it. 

Thoughts?

The goal of this is not to look at what Oakland did, but what they didn't do.  Obviously most Oakland fans were very pleased at the activity of their GM, and are glad that his name doesn't end in Sabean.  However, there seems to have been some opportunities missed and with my 20/20 hindsight I can pretend to be smarter then Beane, emphasis on "pretend".

Starting Rotation - How can you hope to contend against the Angels with such a terrible rotation?  Not that it won't be there in another year or two, but going in with Duchscherer, Eveland, Gallagher, Braden, Pitcher X (Probably Gio); you have to realize how fragile that group is.  I am not sure if Beane had wanted Sheets before he realized that he was damaged goods, but it appeared that starting pitching was not a concern.  A small effort was made to acquire Randy Johnson, but at the price he signed for combined with the fact that he signed with a terrible offense suggested that Randy REALLY wanted to stay in the NL West or that the A's didn't try hard enough.  While I don't believe the answer was in free-agency, I felt a trade for a reliable starter on a bad team (i.e. Gil Meche) was in the cards.  Oakland has a great young staff, but it does need some guidance.  Sometimes trading a prospect is the right answer.

Relief Pitching - I hate paying good $$$ for relief, although I understand its importance.  Ziegler, Devine, and Casilla are all great options and adding Russ Springer was a solid move.  The A's had the money to spend and I feel pretty good with our options once our starters get the pat and hand the ball over.

Outfield - Left field was given the biggest boost it could.  Sweeney in center is great too.  The problem is in right field.  Bobby Abreu & Adam Dunn - Obviously both do not fit into the same Oakland roster together, but both came at amazing bargains and letting Abreu sign with the Angels might be enough in a close race to give them the edge they need to win the West.  With the Giambi signing both would be slotted into RF (or maybe to DH with Cust), but your overall line-up would become:

Sweeney CF

Cust DH/RF

Holliday LF

Giambi 1st

Dunn/Abreu RF/DH

Chavez 3rd

Ellis 2nd

Suzuki C

OCab SS

Mmmmmm.....

Abreu or Dunn would provide anywhere from 10-25 more HR's and a much higher OBP than a full season of Buck, while providing worse overall defense (although sometimes Buck can be pretty bad). 

Infield - No complaints.  The organization did everything it could to sign Furcal.  Meanwhile, although we did not know it we were being used as "the other woman".  OCab is more than acceptable, while Nomar is a great back-up choice for his bat, glove, and experience.  Ellis came cheap and is great in the clubhouse and Giambi is just what this club needed.  If Chavez/Nomar prove to not be healthy and we are in need of a 3rd basemen to be competitive, Scott Rolen (if healthy) would not be a bad option in July.

Overall, the lack of a good, reliable starting pitcher and letting Dunn/Abreu slip by was really hard.  With Duke already having problems a young rotation will need to really step up.  Hoping the community can point out where I am wrong/right and help me understand the moves NOT made more.

Okay...as my handle implies, I love the Swish.  I admit the man-crush, and still from an Oakland perspective I wonder if the A's could get Swisher from the Yankees and be better for it.  With the Teixera signing the Yankees really don't need Swisher at 1st.  That relegates him to either DH or corner outfield.  However, it would seem that the corner outfield is locked up with Nady, Matsui, and Damon...with CF being manned by Melky since the free agent CF class is pretty bad.  The problem I see is that Matsui and Posada are going to probably split the DH role leaving Swisher with nothing but being a 5th outfielder.  That sucks.  Same old story for Swisher when he was in Chicago...no position, and odd man out. 

Well, even I would not give a gem like Cahill or Andersen for Swisher at this point, but I am wondering if the Yankees would take anything else...maybe a few prospects (since we are loaded) to replenish their dead farm system. Or maybe they will take a better middle reliever then they have right now. 

Just wondering what the community thinks...

I just read this article from the always amusing Ken Rosenthal. 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8143654?MSNHPHMA

Basically, it points out that if the Rockies were to trade Holliday, the A's (among other teams) could make good use of him.  I know were still in-between on how much to compete now, but can you imagine how amazing Holliday could be for the A's?!?!?  Of course the Rockies would demand a haul of prospects which would go against the whole point of trading Swisher and Haren.  However, a nice aspect would be that the A's could try to make him their franchise player for the future.  Or they could always flip him after the 08 campaign if it doesn't work out.  Lots of options...and its always fun to speculate. 

Let's look at the facts...

Miguel hates Baltimore.

We hate Crosby

We need a RH bat with a little pop

Sounds like a match made in heaven...

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