ESPN is reporting that Miguel Tejada has been traded to the Astros for 5 players.  This is obviously newsworthy in that the Angels are/should be searching for a SS/3B and unless the Astros trade him on to the Angels this is one less player the Angels will be able to get to fill that hole.  First Cabrera and now Tejada.  Interesting news to say the least.  Go A's!

for 5 years for an enormous $50 million price tag.

Is anyone else here as excited about this signing as I am?  Gary Mathews Jr., a 32 year old one year wonder for 5 years and $50 million.  Or is this some sort of pre-cursor for the Angels unloading some of their young talent to get another power bat?  They talked all of last season about needing a power bat and I don't see Mathews as shoring up this 'hole' in their ball club.  At the very least this signing will improve their horrible defense, but I see it in reality as the Angels pissing away $50 million on a player who had his 'breakout' season last year after having played for 7 teams in the previous 6 seasons.  Holy Toledo. As a side note, the folks over at HH (or at least the Rev) were praying last night that someone swoop in and steal Mathews Jr from Stoneman. Looks as if their Thanksgiving prayers were NOT answered!

Justin Morneau was just named the MVP of the American League.  

I thought I would post this otherwise lame diary to express my jubilation in the fact that jeter (also known by ESPN pundits as the best player to ever set foot on the baseball diamond) was NOT voted the MVP of the American League.

Justin Morneau is the AL MVP.

Could this be the national media finally standing up to that joke of a network ESPN and telling them to shove it - (it referring to their man-love for jeter) or conversely, does Morneau truly deserve the MVP?  I know this has been debated on AN many times before, but during an otherwise dissapointing off season to date (in my opinoion), this is great news.  Derek Jeter - HA HA!

I know the BlogFather Blez mentioned this in his article of the day and someone else posted a pll but I don't think this subject is getting the attention it deserves.  Chavez is clearly hurting, and it brings up the question as to what the A's are waiting for.  If Chavez is adament about playing do the A's have the determination to tell him to shut it down?  Are his injuries overstated? The list of questions goes on.  Here is my take on the Chavez to the DL 'issue.'

The statistics do not lie.  Chavez got off to a blazing start and now with the accumulation of his injuries - forearm tendanitis, hamstrings, and back - he is not only hitting poorly but his defensive range is suffering as well.  I think it would heed the A's to place him on the DL and stop the more recent trend of giving him a day off here and there.  A few days off here and there is not sufficient time to let Chavez recover from the type of injuries it is reported that he has.  It is clear that he has been playing poorly and his numbers just keep getting worse.  The season is not quite half way over and it isn't worth it/possible to ride him all the way until September and expect him to get fully healthy and play at the level we all expect our corner stone player to play at.

That being said, I know 15 games now are just as important as 15 games in September, but if we keep riding an injured Chavez his productivity will be nill by the time August/September come around.
Maybe the A's are waiting for Big Hurt's Return so we don't have to go completely without a big bopper in the line up?

In light of this, I'd like to give a tip of the cap to Chavez for showing us his heart and playing through all of these injuries.  I don't think it's possible for ANYONE to question his heart anymore.

I'd like to hear where all of you chime in on this issue and whether you think:
    1) that it is a good idea to put him on the DL   and 2)if you do, what would be the proper timing  
         a) when the wheels fall completely off
         b) when the Big Hurt and Bradley come  
            back
         c) some other time

Go A's Go Bears (#6 preseason ranking somehow in Street and Smith's)

As a tribute to
B-town's Secret Asian Man
beat those dodgers yeah

Derek Lowe what a
joke, we remember game five
of two thousand three

it's happy haiku
friday, i bid adieu
secret asian man

In a tribute to all you AN'ers out there cheering on those A's and especially YOU SECRET ASIAN MAN, i thought all of us working stiffs out there on this georgeous friday could take the time out of our schedules to cheer on the A's number one fan and honor secret asian man by posting our own haikus.  I'm gonna call this HAPPY HAIKU FRIDAY.

Secret Asian Man - say it aint so, not a girlfriend or school to keep you from contributing to the wonderful world of AN?

Give me your best shot oaktoon.  Is there a creative side to your analysis or are you simply auditioning to be Billy's right hand man in the future?

This one's for you secret asian man.

Let's go Oakland

As a tibute to
B-town's Secret Asian Man
beat those twinkies yeah

Cuddy-Bear what a
joke, nick punto what a chump
lets go oakland a's

it's happy haiku
saturday, i bid adieu
secret asian man

In a tribute to all you AN'ers out there cheering on those A's, i thought all of us losers stuck at home (or wherever we may be) on this georgeous saturday could take the time out of our schedules to cheer on the A's number one fan and honor secret asian man by posting our own haikus.  I'm gonna call this HAPPY HAIKU SATURDAY.

Give me your best shot oaktoon.  Is there a creative side to your analysis or are you simply auditioning to be Billy's right hand mand in the future?

This one's for you secret asian man.

Let's go Oakland

Where is Quannan Au?

Thata' boy kid.  You gotta love these young guys we have coming up - the future is bright.  

On an unrelated matter.  I had posted this previosly, but it didn't seem to get many answers.  I've seen surveys about "where in the world" are AN'ers from and many other interesting unscientific surveys conducted on this site.

I was wondering how many A's games you make it to a year and how many different stadiums/cities you are able to make it to a year to watch the A's.  Unfortunately, I'm stuck out here on the [L]East Coast, more specifically Washington DC.  This year I have been fortunate enough to see the A's play in four different cities and have had the pleasure of meeting AN'ers at some of those games.

To date I have seen:

1. 3 games in Baltimore (A's went 2-1)
   
2. 1 in Boston (A's lost on Veritek's walk off homer off "hotel" dotel)
   3) 3 in Cleveland (A's went 0-3)
   4) 3 in DC (A's went 0-3)

1) How many games are you able to make it to a  
   year? and
2) How many cities have you seen the A's play in
   in one given season?

Let's go Oakland

I'm sorry, but I miss the guy. Can anyone fill me in on why he is stuck doing ESPN broadcasts and not with the A's broadcast team anymore?  The new joker they have in the booth is almost as bad as Rex Hudler and Steve Physioc.  Speaking of Physioc, how the hell is that guy the Pac-10 announcer for just about every big game.  Ah, I miss the era of Vin Scully, Chick Hearn, and the greats.  Now we are stuck listening to a bunch of Joe Buck clones....

Just a thought, anyone have an answer to the Greg Pappa question?

Rock on "Thunder Dan Johnson"