Without a doubt in my mind I would vote for 25-year old righty reliever Andrew Bailey of the A’s as the Rookie of the Year in the American League this season. He wasn’t even on the radar when this season began as Brad Ziegler was expected to close after Joey Devine’s injury. But, when the A’s got a good look at Bailey on the mound they knew he had closer’s stuff. He has pitched in 56 games (0 starts) this season for the A’s and he is 6-3 with 20 saves, a 1.90 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. Bailey has whiffed 75 batters in 71 innings this season for the A’s while only allowing 43 hits which shows just how nasty his stuff is. Bailey made the All-Star Game this season and no other rookie can say that so I would definately vote for him as Rookie of the Year in the American League.

28-year old righty swinging outfielder Rajai Davis had been a backup player his whole major league career…..that is….until now. With the trade of Matt Holliday to the Cardinals the A’s needed someone to step up in the outfield and Rajai Davis has answered the bell. Davis has now played in 93 games for the A’s this season and he is 73 for 252 (.290 avg, .755 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 2 homers, 29 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. The A’s “Moneyball” system doesn’t believe much in using the stolen base but Davis is starting to change their thinking as it’s his main asset. Look for Davis to continue to start as long as he keeps hitting well.

The Oakland A’s are aware that 29-year old righty swinging infielder Bobby Crosby wants out of town but they can’t even give him away because he’s just not a good baseball player. He has played in 87 games for the A’s this season and he is 47 for 211 (.223 avg, .659 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 6 homers and 27 RBIs. Crosby has been with the A’s for 7 years now covering 667 games in which he is 562 for 2,364 (.238 avg, .684 OPS) with 317 runs scored, 61 homers, 261 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. When he came up he was supposed to make A’s fans forget about the departing Miguel Tejada. What a joke! I say don’t let the door hit you in the ass when the season’s over Bobby.

The A’s have acquired 30-year old righty reliever Scott Patterson from the Padres for a wad of cash. Patterson has pitched in 54 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he was 3-3 with 1 save, a 4.07 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. He whiffed 67 batters in only 59 2/3 innings in the minors this season but he did walk 40 and that’s way too many. Patterson has also pitched in 4 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. The price was right for the Padres to take a chance on Patterson.

The A’s have lost 40-year old reliever Russ Springer to the Rays on waivers. Springer pitched in 48 games (0 starts) for the A’s this season and he was 0-1 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. The A’s were o.k. with letting Springer go for nothing as they will save approximately $1 million dollars this season.