The A’s have placed 26-year old closer Andrew Bailey on the 15-day disabled list with a strained intercostal muscle. Bailey has pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the A’s this season and he is 1-3 with 20 saves, a 1.56 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. 31-year old righty Mike Wuertz and 29-year old lefty Craig Breslow will likely share the closers role until Bailey returns to action. Wuertz has pitched in 31 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 2-2 with 3 saves, a 5.01 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Breslow has pitched in 50 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 4-2 with 1 save, a 2.81 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Breslow has been outstanding this season whiffed 49 batters in 48 innings while only giving up 32 hits. The A’s will miss Bailey but Wuertz/Breslow will likely do a decent job in their place. The A’s have activated 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Brett Anderson from the D.L. to replace Bailey on the roster. Anderson has started 6 games this season for the A’s and he is 2-1 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.

The Oakland A’s have placed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Ben Sheets on the 15-day disabled list with a elbow injury. This could only keep him out a couple of weeks or possibly the rest of the season. His elbow has swelled up badly after each of his last two starts. Sheets has started 20 games for the A’s this year and he is 4-9 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He has given up more than his fair share of gopher balls as he has given up 18 homers in 119 1/3 innings this year. This could be a catastrophe for the A’s as Sheets was signed to a 1-year, $10 million deal with the full intention of trading him at the deadline. The A’s have called up 32-year old lefty reliever Cedrick Bowers to replace Sheets on the pitching staff. Bowers has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 0-1 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.

UPDATE: (7/29/2010) - Sheets will miss the rest of the season as he will need a second flexor tendon surgery. This could end his career.

31-year old lefty swinging OF/DH Jack Cust was the final cut of the A’s this spring as they decided to give Eric Chavez another chance. Cust wasn’t happy with the decision of the A’s front office and that was understandable. In his first three years with the A’s, Cust played in 421 games in which he was 335 of 1,389 (.241 avg) with 226 runs scored, 89 homers and 229 RBIs. He led the A’s in homers in each of his first three years with the A’s. He is off to a solid start this season for the A’s as he has played in 49 games in which he is 44 of 152 (.289 avg, .856 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 6 homers and 26 RBIs. If Cust keeps getting a lot of P.T. I’m pretty sure he will lead the team in homers for a 4th consecutive season as the A’s don’t have much power.

The Oakland A’s won’t be big time sellers at the trade deadline but I still see them making some moves. First off I see the Cardinals dealing 3B/OF Allen Craig and SS Tyler Greene to the A’s for Ben Sheets. After that I would trade lefty reliever Craig Breslow to the Red Sox for outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin. I would trade lefty reliever Jeremy Blevins to the Padres for lefty reliever Cesar Ramos who I think has a nice upside. Finally I would send outfielder Jack Cust to the Giants for outfielder Nate Schierholtz and infielder Matt Downs. Craig, Lin, Greene and Ramos are solid prospects with nice upsides. Schierholtz and Downs could help the A’s off the bench in the near future.

The A’s have lost 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Ryan Sweeney for the rest of the year due to right knee surgery. Sweeney played in 82 games for the A’s this season and he is 89 of 303 (.294 avg, .725 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 1 homer and 36 RBIs. Look for Rajai Davis and Gabe Gross to see a bump in playing time with Sweeney out of action. Davis has played in 79 games for the A’s this year and he is 76 of 282 (.270 avg, .695 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 4 homers, 28 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. Gabe Gross has played in 64 games for the A’s this year and he is 41 of 167 (.246 avg, .596 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 1 homer, 18 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The A’s won’t likely miss Sweeney too much as Davis is a solid player too.