I know this is not going to be a popular opinion here but why don't we just keep Cabrera?? I know all the trade scenarios concerning him and maybe I'm completely off base but we don't have an imminently ready shortstop waiting in the wings do we?  Cabrera is also proving that he is not nearly as bad as his haters seem to think. In fact, I'd say he's pretty damn good.

I still remember Jason Giambi on Letterman treating Oakland like a doormat when he left,  Rafael Furcal basically using us only to leverage his value and then bad-mouthing Oakland on his way out the door. And I'm sure  Matt Holliday breathed a sigh of relief when he found out he was traded to St. Louis. He didn't seem to like Oakland from Day 1. I'm sure he never even unpacked his bags!

With Crosby and Garciaparra coming off the books and the option on Giambi obviously not being picked up, don't we have the flexibility to keep Cabrera for a couple 3 years? I like his glove, I'm starting to really like his bat, and I love his attitude. And get this, he LIKES Oakland!! Who were the last players we could say THAT about?! Swisher? Tejada? And they has success here too! Maybe liking your job has some correlation to how well you do it? I don't know but  what a novel concept.

Michael Young is being shopped by the Rangers.

I don't know any of his metrics or his peripherals and I know his contract is gi-normous. But I remember every time the Rangers played the A's, the guy can flat out rake.

Is this a possibility after losing out on Furcal?

Does it even make sense considering the disdain everyone has for Crosby?

What would it take to get him? Texas wants young pitching and we have plenty of that. Simmons? Ross? I'm ok with losing those two for Young if that's what it would take.

Rafael Furcal?

Crosby's really worn out his welcome in Oaktown I guess. But anything that gets him packing is all right by me.

But Furcal signing as a free agent? I can't remember the last time I even heard of the A's spending so extravagantly.

Maybe it's too good to be true. Or just wishful thinking?

Is Billy moving up the timetable? Maybe 2009 won't be such a lost cause after all.

Nick Swisher might be coming back to Oaktown?

I would love to see him back and playing his natural position at First Base but what happens to Barton? What about the Giambi rumors now that the A's have re-hired his personal trainer? Isn't the outfield crowded enough? And most importantly, who do we have to give up to get him back?

Wasn't Gio Gonzales acquired by Williams, traded, re-acquired and traded again? Maybe he makes a third trip back to the Windy City?

Summer is over and so is baseball season. And unfortunately for those of us who make a living in the teaching profession, so is our vacation. Back to work and back to school. And in my case it's the Ho Chi Minh University of Industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

I guess I'm just curious as to where the farthest reaches of the earth you can go and still find an A's fan. I like to think I get the title of A's fan in the most obscure place. But I'd love to hear where else some A's fans might be. And who knows? The next time the A's get Boston in Tokyo maybe we can represent AN.

In my A's gear in a Viet Cong tunnel in Cu Chi, Vietnam

In front of a burned out Sherman Tank in the Iron Triangle

The A's need some bats this off season...

And it won't be Frank Thomas or Mike Sweeney

Oh, there's a big surprise. That's an incredible... I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die, from that surprise.

Alan Embree thinks he only pitches well in odd numbered years.

Now maybe we can get him to throw firecrackers at people and spray Susan Slusser with bleach, we might get a couple Cy Youngs from him too.

And Billy Beane feels our angst. And here I thought he was just a sadist enjoying our pain. Why do I feel when Beane talks about his long term goals, it's like Vladimir Putin talking about Russia's withdrawal from Georgia?

A's could have had Jason Bay

How would the season have looked today if we kept Harden and made that deal huh?

Last week my brother and I were invited to a corporate sponsored "teaching clinic" that treated us to free lunch and personal baseball instruction by the A's coaches. It's kind of a cool deal for everyone that was lucky enough to go. The kids get to learn actual baseball techniques from big-league coaches and the adults (most of us anyway) get to meet, greet and ask questions of our favorite team's coaches.

After lunch, we go down to the field where we're promptly divided into 1 of 3 groups. One group was for the kids, another group was adults/A's fans and the last group was the douchebag group which for some reason my brother and I were forced into.

Our first "instruction" session was hitting with Ty Van Burkleo and Don Wakamatsu. The first thing I notice when they come out of the dugout is Wakamatsu and Van Burkleo are HUGE! I never thought if myself as a short dude before (I'm 5'10) but Van Burkleo must be at least 2 heads taller than me!

My brother, The Jolly Green Giant and me.

Reverse order with Wakamatsu

While my brother and I are pretty jazzed about being on a major league field and getting a chance to chat with Major Leaguers from our favorite team, somebody in the A's marketing in their infinite wisdom decided to place us with a couple numbnuts who treated the entire session as if they were talking to their peers.

Before I'm even finished taking pictures with the coaches, Douchebag number 1 jumps to the front of the "class,"  *spits* and introduces himself, "Hi, I'm John Wannabe Baseball Player and I played Division One baseball at Fresno State." *spits* Then Douchebag number 2 chimes in, oh I forgot, he needs to spit first, "I'm a Wannabe Wannabe Baseball Player because my brother played at Fresno State so never mind my bowling ball physique, by association that kinda makes me, like a Division one player too." *spits*

I've never played any kind of organized baseball before in my life but is there some rule that I don't know about that requires you to spit as soon as you step on a baseball field?

Of course my brother and I didn't get to ask a single thing about the A's nor about hitting because the entire "session" was monopolized by the douchebag twins and what great hitters they are/were and their incredulity that somehow they weren't drafted by a MLB team. I felt like Mumble Happyfeet at the back of the class. Oh well, I figured if there was one session I was going to get nothing out of anyways, it would have been hitting.

That's the physique of an athlete right there

That's Wannabes 1 & 2 swinging Travis Buck bats there in the pic above. Interesting note when I found out it was a Travis Buck bat, I commented, "Well he won't need it anymore anyways," Van Burkleo heard me and said, "Of course he'll need it. He'll be back. He's a great ball player." So there's hope for all the Buck fans out there. At least some in the A's brass still believe in him. I just don't see any room for another left-handed hitting outfielder with no power. But what do I know?

My brother, Curt Young, me and Ron Romanick

Next we get to go to pitching and in my opinion, the best session of the whole afternoon because I was going to be damned if my time was going to get wasted again. I took charge early and snapped my pictures and fired off a bunch of questions before our 2 resident ballplayers could join in (I honestly think they were asking Van Burkleo for a tryout or something.)

Curt Young is a genuinely nice guy and seemed enthusiastic (or at least he pretended to be) to be mingling with the fans. He and Ron Romanick compliment each other very nicely and both were very patient and very indulging for a bunch of corporate babysiters.

Curt Young started off by explaining the four seam fastball and the difference in the movement you get with a two-seam fastball. He then goes on to explain the cut-fastball and specifically Duke's cut-fastball and then the 12-6 curveball and the similarities between Duke and Zito's mechanics. Of course, I couldn't let go by the opportunity to chat with Curt Young and Ron Romanick and not ask about Harden.

Me: "So what does Rich Harden do that makes him so tough to hit?"

Curt: "Rich actually only throws two pitches, a four-seam fastball and a circle change. But his change gets so much movement it's almost impossible to tell which way it will move."

Me: "How does it do that?"

Ron: "Well he tucks the change way back into his palm and he gets full extension off his fingertips and thus the ball rolls off with decreased spin *something, something, something* and the ball dives as it approaches the plate."

Me: "Wow. He just throws 2 pitches?"

Ron: "Yeah. He's a special pitcher. Real, real special."

Me: "So next question, Why'd you trade him?"

(laughter from everyone, including Curt)

Curt: "Well, it's just timing I guess."

Me: "You guess?"

Ron: "Yeah." ::shrugs:: "We guess"

My inference. And NOTE, my inference ONLY, is I don't think Ron Romanick and Curt Young are that enthusiastic about losing Rich Harden neither. I guess it kind of echoes the theme we heard-a-plenty on AN huh? At the very least it confirms that we are NOT all idiots. Makes me wonder if Beane even confers with his coaches before he jettisons our best players.

Me, Ty Waller and my brother

In the outfield "session" we got to chat it up with Ty Waller. While I think Curt Young is the nicest of the A's coaches, I think Ty Waller has to be the funnest. He spent the whole session laughing and cracking one liners. Because of his personality, I know right away I could probably push the limits with him.

Me: "Hey coach, can we take a picture with you?"

Ty: "Sure thing."

::snaps picture::

Me: "Thanks coach."

Ty: "No problem guys."

Me: "Why on earth is Jack Cust playing left field?"

Ty: Laughs "I had Cust in San Diego with me and they didn't want him to play the outfield either."

Me; "I don't blame them."

Ty: "I've been working real hard with him everyday. Trust me, nobody shags more flyballs in all of baseball then Cust. But what do you want me to do? They tell me he has to play, what am I gonna do? What would you do? You want his bat in there don't you? Don't you?"

Me: "Me? Personally? No. I don't think he can hit neither."

We go on like this for pretty much the entire session. Ty refuses to even talk to me about Cust's hitting because he says, "...whether he hits or not is not what I'm responsible for. I just worry about his fielding. I don't worry about the other two (Gonzales and Sweeney ) Those two are just fine. It's Cust I have to worry about. All I want is for him to make the routine plays. That's all I ask for."

You and me both brother!

My inference? There are some on the A's enamored of Cust about as much as I am.

My brother doing his Jack Cust impersonation, back to home plate watching what the Central Gardner is doing

Our last session was on the infield with Tony DeFrancesco. This session was actually the only REAL session of the afternoon as Tony D wasn't going to put up with neither mine nor the douchebags' B.S. We actually received instruction on positioning, fielding and throwing. But since I have neither the aspiration nor the delusion of being a major league ballplayer, I just kind of tuned out and watched Patterson (who came out early) do his calisthenics and warm-ups for that long trip back to Sacramento.

With Tony D

All in all it was pretty fun for my brother and I though I don't think we made a particularly good impression with the coaches. Before we left, Ty Waller actually said to me, "No more Jack Cust questions. I'm not answering them."

We probably won't get asked back.

Ken Korach mentioned during the pre-game that Ryan Sweneey's ankle is swollen like a balloon and Donnie Murphy felt a pop in his elbow last night and Carlos Gonzales' hamstring is still bothering him.  The A's actually have just one player on the bench, Kurt Suzuki.  This roster is getting worse by the day.  I think some moves have to be made and you can't play this day-today crap because you can't have just one extra player (and he being your 2nd catcher at that.)

In case I wasn't completely assured that Angels fans were the biggest dillweeds, well this just confirms it.  Between this idiot and the guy who threw the water bottle at Mike Piazza last year, I think I've probably made my last game to the Big A, which I'm quite certain now stands for BIG ASSHOLE!  What else is new eh?

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080702&content_id=3050808&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

Maybe the A's brass has to accept the possibility that Cust's 2007 was an anomaly or an aberration.  He wouldn't be the first. Chris Shelton?  Kevin Maas?  Why don't we go ahead and sign Barry Bonds?  Love him or hate him, I think he would bring a major presence to the batting order.  Or even bring up the Marabino Patrol Craft?  I'm tired of the strikeouts I know is inevitable every time he's up in a crucial situation.  In fact I wouldn't be surprised to see opposing pitchers start to pitch around the guy in front of him just to get to him!  I don't know about you but I like a Bonds, Thomas, Chavez middle of the lineup.

While we're at it I have a few more ideas. 

How about playing Davis everyday in center field and leading off.  We'll have an excellent lead off hitter with speed and solid defense to compensate for Cust (Bonds?) in left.  I don't think he can be any worse then Ryan Sweeney or Chris Denorfia.  And so far I like what I've seen from him.  Emil Brown could be the other corner outfielder, send down Ryan Sweeney and Buck and Denorfia could be the backups.

We could keep Mike Sweeney to backup Barton and provide a lively bat off the bench and start against the occasional left handers.

And finally, I'd switch Huston Street and Santiago Casilla's roles.  In fact I would only like to see Street come in to get the occasional tough right handers and back him up with Embree, a la Gene Nelson - Rick Honeycutt style.

I never expected us to be in contention at the end of April, much less in first place, but we have a chance to actually make a run at it now, why not go for the whole thing?