26-year old switch hitting Cliff Pennington came into this season as the full time starting shortstop for the A’s. He has played in 47 games this season and he is 37 of 169 (.219 avg, .635 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers, 17 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Pennington’s bat is causing the A’s to rethink about the P.T. at SS. That’s because 27-year old righty swinging Adam Rosales did such a good job filling in for Mark Ellis (who is back) while he was injured. Rosales has played in 44 games for the A’s this year and he is 41 of 146 (.281 avg, .748 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 4 homers and 19 RBIs. The A’s just can’t afford to carry Pennington as the starting SS if he’s not hitting so look for Rosales to steal P.T. from him and he could eventually bump him to the bench.

The Oakland A’s have lost 32-year old righty starting pitcher Justin Duchscherer for the season as he needs hip surgery. Duchscherer started 5 games for the A’s this year and he was 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. This could be the end of his career with the A’s which would be a shame. He has pitched in 219 games (30 starts) in his seven years with Oakland and he is 32-24 with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP.

I just don’t see the A’s having the type of offense that G.M. Billy Beane wants right now. He has done a great job of rebuilding the pitching staff with talented young pitchers. But unless he can find some hitters soon it’s going to be a very disappointing year for the A’s. I have a feeling that the A’s wouldn’t mind trying to trade catcher Landon Powell and outfielder Travis Buck (currently on the D.L.) to the Dodgers for outfielder Xavier Paul. The A’s also signed Ben Sheets with the idea of trading him in July if things weren’t going well. I think the A’s would consider trading him to the Nationals for Roger Bernadina or Justin Maxwell. The A’s will also likely move either Craig Breslow or Jeremy Blevins as they are loaded in the pen with lefties. The Yankees, Red Sox and D-Backs would likely be the most interested and maybe even the Rays. The A’s would also like to probably move Rajai Davis who isn’t a “Moneyball” kind of player. The Padres and Marlins would likely be the most interested in Davis.

The A’s have signed 38-year old lefty reliever/starter John Halama to a minor league deal. Halama pitched in 26 games (23 starts) in AAA+Indepenent ball last season and he was 12-8 with a 3.39 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors in 2006 with the Mariners. Halama has pitched in 262 games (119 starts) in his major league career and he is 56-48 with a 4.65 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. It never hurts to sign lefties to stash in the minors so I like this signing for the A’s.

The A’s have placed 32-year old lefty swinging DH Eric Chavez on the 15-day disabled list with neck spasms. Chavez has played in 33 games this season for the A’s and he is 26 of 110 (.234 avg, .610 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 31 whiffs. 31-year old lefty swinging Jack Cust will replace him as the starting DH and he might not give the job back. Cust has played in 7 games for the A’s this year and he is 7 of 21 (.333 avg, .773 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. The A’s have activated starting 2B Mark Ellis off the D.L. to replace Chavez on the active roster. Ellis has played in 8 games for the A’s this year and he is 10 of 31 (.323 avg, .769 OPS) with 8 runs scored and 3 RBIs. The A’s are getting closer to full power with Ellis & Crisp coming off the D.L. so we’ll get a closer look as to what they really look like soon.