Interested in the Warriors? Golden State of Mind is holding one of their huge events on Friday January 8th. There's a rumor of a great special guest. Thought I'd pass it along...

via farm1.static.flickr.com

Decade posts are all the rage lately, so we're going to do our own. You may have seen this post from Big League Stew on Yahoo, naming their MLB All-Decade team. It is pretty much what one would expect; Posada (C), Pujols (1B), Kent (2B), Jeter (SS), A-Rod (3B), Bonds (LF), Ichiro (CF), Vlad (RF), Manny (DH), Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson (SP), Rivera (Closer). I can't really argue those names, but I thought we could make up an all-decade A's team, and share favorite moments of 2000-2009.

To refresh your memory:

2000 Roster
2001 Roster
2002 Roster
2003 Roster
2004 Roster
2005 Roster
2006 Roster
2007 Roster
2008 Roster
2009 Roster

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More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP

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In case you missed yesterday's news, the A's have offered Justin Duchscherer arbitration.This means that Duke has until Monday to accept or decline the offer. Should he decline, the A's will receive a compensatory pick in the 2010 draft. According to Urban:

It's highly unlikely that Duchscherer, a two-time All-Star who made the American League team as a reliever in 2005 and as a starter in 2008, will accept Oakland's offer because he'd run the risk of taking a pay cut. In arbitration, the A's can propose up to a 20-percent decrease on his 2009 salary.

Duchscherer, whose agent has been contacted by several teams (including the A's), likely will get a raise on the open market, but given his injury history -- his 2007 and 2008 seasons were cut short by hip injuries that required surgery -- he'll probably have to accept a contract that features incentive clauses based on how much he pitches.

How do we feel about this?Is there even a chance he will stay?

In other news, the A's Holiday Caravan begins tomorrow at the Walnut Creek Holiday Parade of Lights and Tree Lighting at Broadway Plaza. Rajai Davis, Brad Ziegler and Stomper will be there to take photos and sign autographs. They will be in San Ramon on Friday, Emeryville and Pleasanton on Saturday, and San Jose on Sunday.

Is anyone from AN going to an event this weekend? And on a side note, am I the only one who now has to double-check the spelling of "Holiday" each and every time I type it?

It's that time of year again! Spring Training tickets for the A's will be on sale December 8th. The schedule can be found here.

If you haven't yet been to Spring Training, I would encourage you to take a weekend this year and go, especially with the way the A's are rebuilding. The young players in the system all have a real shot to make an impression on the big league club, and there will be real competition for both starting pitching roles and everyday positions.

So AN, when are you going to Spring Training?

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Team USA third baseman Brett Wallace snags a ball that bounced into the air hit by World Team's Jesus Montero during the first inning of the All-Star Futures baseball game at Busch Stadium on Sunday, July 12, 2009, in St. Louis.

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Nothing like articles like this to start your Friday off right! (But Happy Friday, almost holiday, everyone!)

From The Hot Stove Blog on Wednesday:

In his most definitive comments to date about his offseason plans, A's GM Billy Beane on Tuesday -- two days before the free-agency frenzy kicks off in earnest -- suggested that whatever money is available to upgrade the team's talent might stay in the coffers unless it's used to pay the salaries of young players brought in via trade.

Beane, now more than ever, is committed to going young. If he doesn't think a current need -- third base, first base, shortstop and left field are unsettled -- can be filled by a prospect from within the organization, he'll be looking for swap partners.

Ideally, top prospects such as third baseman Brett Wallace and first baseman/outfielder Chris Carter will quickly blossom into the positional equivalent of A's closer Andrew Bailey, who on Monday was named the AL Rookie of the Year.

"We're going to look at young players to fill spots, first and foremost," Beane said. "If those players we'd like to acquire aren't obtainable, we'll consider bringing in guys who can hold the positions down. We're going to stay disciplined and try to do everything we can to fill those spots with young players.

Are we really going to say goodbye to free agent fun and speculations this off-season? From this report, it looks like the A's are holding steady with the group of youngsters they already have in the system (or trading them for other young players who play different positions). I also thought the "positional equivalent of Andrew Bailey" was an interesting choice of words; we aren't really banking on this, are we? I'm all for positive thinking, but Andrew Bailey was almost the pitching equivalent of Mariano Rivera and Joe Nathan this season. I can make the reasonable assumption that Wallace and Carter will not be A-rod and Pujols.

Quite honestly, I fear for our offense. All signs indicate that the pitching will be stronger, as our young pitchers continue to develop, but if we thought the 2009 offense was bad (even with Matt Holliday), what can we expect from 2010? What will our lineup look like?

Give me a reason to be optimistic, because "holding positions down" does not mean "putting good players in positions". The 2010 season screams "rebuilding" right now, and it would take nothing short of a miracle season for the A's to be competitive.

Who do you want to see make the team in 2010? Do you think we'll pick up any extra help? Who is going to break out this season? Who is the rookie you are most excited to see?

More photos » by Ed Zurga - AP

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And the awards continue...

For all of my complaining in recent years about how the baseball writers ignore even the most basic of stats (ERA, WHIP) in favor of Win/Loss records and team standings, I think they got it right this year with Zack Greinke's Cy. It's not like I made up the bias out of thin air; I'm pretty sure the 2005 voting jaded me on these awards. Bartolo Colon's 21 wins overshadowed both Johan Santana's (who placed third!) and Mariano Rivera's seasons, despite Colon's deficit in all other categories.

But this year was something different. Greinke won the SB Nation voting by a landslide, but I figured that was a blogger thing, and we haven't yet bridged the gap to the baseball world. I was wrong.

Zack Greinke was voted the Cy Young award winner yesterday by a similar landslide; and he did it all with a W/L record of 16/8, on a very (VERY) bad team. Maybe that's why the sixteen wins were so impressive? But more importantly, he beat out a pitcher with 19 wins. Would it have been the same vote had Felix managed to secure the magic 20th win? I'd like to think so, but again, see 2005.

Today's awards will be the Managers of the Year. I've already written in Scioscia; adversity and all that jazz. But as many have pointed out, how hard is it to win the AL West, really? Jim Tracy should take the NL. And the people who probably care most about this award are the ones who think managers make a significant difference overall in the season. [Update] Both Scioscia and Tracy have won their respective awards.

So, are we seeing a shift in the way baseball pitchers are evaulated in MLB itself? And what are the qualities of a winning manager?

Today's award results will be announced in about an hour. Let's pretend that Bailey wins the ROY again!

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!

In the interest of being fair, I thought I'd post the rest of the awards, picked by SB Nation, even though it's likely that A's fans will just tune into the AL Rookie of the Year voting for Bailey (and Anderson, too). No one wants to hear how Derek Jeter is going to win the MVP, right?

Let's start with the AL MVP. From what I remember, and from the clear winner here, I'm sure I voted for Joe Mauer, who you would think is the obvious choice, right? (If you cannot see the entire table, simply click on the post's title, or "Continue Reading This Post" below.)

Just for fun, I included NL voting, as well, and if you think that Mauer is an easy MVP pick, take a look at the NL. There is only one real choice in the NL MLB category, unanimous in this poll, and probably pretty close in the actual voting.

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I'm technically a day behind the SBN sites who participated in the voting, but yesterday's fantastic post deserved its own full day. If you are a Rays fan who just registered for AN for the trade discussion, please feel free to participate in the post below.

This year, SB Nation took a vote on the major baseball award categories and I thought Rookie of the Year would mean the most to AN. Obviously, our very own Andrew Bailey is up for the award, which will be announced next week.

Here are the results of the SB Nation poll; Bailey received the highest number of first place votes, but ultimately lost out to Elvis Andrus.

One of those first place votes was mine.

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More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

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Well, the trophy comes back to the American League with the Yankees win tonight. The Bronx Bombers take home their 27th World Championship after a rather disappointing game six. Hideki Matsui drove in six runs as Pettitte outlasted Pedro in the dubious pitching duel; the final score was 7-3. There isn't much left to say about Mariano Rivera that hasn't already been said, but wow, does he still look good at 40!

So ends the baseball season of 2009. Here's to 2010!

The Phillies look like they have wasted their last chance; Chase chased a ball outside to strike out with two on. The Yankees hang on to a comfortable 7-3 lead, going to the bottom of the seventh.

More photos » by Matt Rourke - AP

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Okay, I know I say this all the time, but just watch it.You know you want to.

It will be one of the last baseball games of 2009 (possibly the last game), and it has Pedro Martinez going up against Andy Pettitte. The Phillies have their backs to the wall for yet another night, looking to tie the series with a win. Yankee Stadium is commanding an average of $1,000 to attend tonight's contest. It's the highest grossing event in StubHub history.

Pedro allowed three runs in six innings in the loss last week, but he will have the advantage of five days rest. His competition will be pitching on just three.

So who will be the hero tonight? Will the Phillies take it to Game 7 or will the Yankees celebrate yet another championship; the first one in their new park? The Game starts in thirty minutes.