Oakland Athletics MLB News - A's Baseball Blog

The Oakland Athletics place Brandon Inge on the D.L.

chinmusic — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:01:22 +0000

The A’s have placed 35-year old righty swinging 3B Brandon Inge on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 13th due to a groin strain. Inge has played in 11 games so far this year for the A’s and he is 10 for 44 (.227 avg, .845 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 4 homers and 17 RBIs. The A’s have called up 28-year old righty swinging infielder Adam Rosales to replace Inge on the active roster. Rosales has played in 36 games in AAA-ball for the A’s this year and he was 36 for 130 (.277 avg, .753 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers, 19 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He got into last night’s game as a defensive replacement for the A’s. In his first two years with the A’s, Rosales is 75 for 316 (.237 avg, .651 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 9 homers, 39 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Rosales will likely share time with rookie Josh Donaldson at 3B until Inge is ready to return to action.

The Oakland Athletics have claimed Travis Blackley off waivers

chinmusic — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:05:08 +0000

The A’s have claimed 29-year old lefty reliever/starter Travis Blackley off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. Blackley pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Giants earlier this year and he was 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. Blackley has pitched in 12 games (8 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 1-3 with a 9.30 ERA and a 2.04 WHIP. I’m not quite so sure what A’s GM Billy Beane sees in Blackley. In his defense though, Blackley did pitch well in AAA for the Giants this year. He pitched in 4 games (3 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he was 3-0 with 1 save, a 0.39 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP.

The Oakland A’s replace Grant Balfour as the closer

chinmusic — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:14:16 +0000

34-year old righty reliever Grant Balfour is out as the A’s closer. He has pitched in 17 games (0 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 1-1 with 7 saves, a 4.41 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. 36-year old lefty reliever Brian Fuentes will be the new closer going forward for the A’s. He has pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 2-0 with 2 saves, a 3.86 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Fuentes has a better makeup to handle late inning pressure situations than Balfour does, so he should be a better fit as a closer going forward.

The Oakland Athletics place Yoenis Cespedes on the D.L.

chinmusic — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:36:42 +0000

The Oakland A’s have placed rookie CF Yoenis Cespedes on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 7th, due to a strained muscle in his left hand. Cespedes has played in 28 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 26 for 106 (.245 avg, .753 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 5 homers, 21 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The A’s have called up 26-year old righty swinging 3B/C Josh Donaldson to replace him on the active roster. Donaldson struggled earlier this year for the A’s, appearing in 9 games in which he was 3 for 32 (.094 avg, .188 OPS) with 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. He played really well after his demotion to AAA. He played in 13 games in AAA-ball and he was 21 of 47 (.447 avg, 1.339 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 5 homers and 14 RBIs. The A’s hope that Cespedes can return to action when he is eligible to come off the D.L.

Derek Norris is looking good in AAA-ball for the Oakland A’s

chinmusic — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:44:36 +0000

23-year old righty swinging catcher Derek Norris is looking good so far in AAA. He has played in 29 games so far this year in AAA-ball and he is 33 for 110 (.300 avg, .849 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers, 19 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Norris has now played in 460 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 386 of 1,529 (.252 avg, .861 OPS) with 297 runs scored, 73 homers, 251 RBIs and 39 stolen bases. Norris could push Kurt Suzuki out of a job at some point this year.

The Oakland A’s release catcher Petey Paramore

chinmusic — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:17:07 +0000

The A’s have released 25-year old righty swinging catcher Petey Paramore. Paramore played in 8 games in A+AAA-ball last year and he was 7 for 30 (.233 avg, .670 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He played five seasons in the minors with the A’s, playing in 336 games in which he was 262 for 1,104 (.237 avg, .689 OPS) with 135 runs scored, 22 homers, 136 RBIs and 1 stolen base. This wasn’t much of a loss for the A’s as Paramore isn’t a legit prospect.

Jonny Gomes needs to start playing more for the Oakland A’s

chinmusic — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:32:39 +0000

31-year old righty swinging DH/OF Jonny Gomes should start getting more P.T. for the A’s. He has played in 18 games for the A’s this year and he is 13 for 51 (.255 avg, .975 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 5 homers, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Gomes has walked 9 times while whiffing 23 times already this year, so it has been all or nothing so far this year. With the utter lack of hitting on the A’s, it just doesn’t make sense that Gomes is only playing part time right now. He is tied for the A’s lead in homers (5) with Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes, and he’s tied for #3 in both runs scored and RBIs with 10 apiece.

The Oakland Athletics place Coco Crisp on the D.L.

chinmusic — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:30:48 +0000

The A’s have placed switch-hitting starting LF Coco Crisp on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 3rd with an inner ear infection. Crisp played in 18 games for the A’s last year and he was 13 for 67 (.194 avg, .469 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers, 5 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The A’s have called up 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Michael Taylor to replace Crisp on the active roster. He came into this season as the A’s #6 prospect according to Baseball America. Taylor has played in 23 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 33 for 95 (.347 avg, .938 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers, 18 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He got his first taste of the majors last season with the A’s when he played in 11 games in which he was 6 for 30 (.200 avg, .614 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. The A’s hope that Taylor is better this time around for them.

Grant Green is getting close to ready for the show for the Oakland A’s

chinmusic — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:24:29 +0000

24-year old righty swinging OF/SS Grant Green came into this season as the A’s #4 prospect according to Baseball America. Green has played in 23 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 25 for 94 (.266 avg, .698 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has played only in the outfield this year in the minors, but he can handle SS if he is needed in Oakland there. Green now played in 286 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 359 for 1,191 (.301 avg, .807 OPS) with 197 runs scored, 31 homers, 166 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. If Green starts to get hot at the plate in the near future, the A’s are going to have to consider calling him up for his first shot at the show in 2012.

Ryan Cook is off to a blazing start in his career with the Oakland Athletics

chinmusic — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:21:23 +0000

24-year old righty reliever Ryan Cook struggled in his first taste of the majors in 2011 with the D-Backs. He pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA and a 2.48 WHIP. But, GM Billy Beane saw something he liked in Cook as he was part of the return in the big Trevor Cahill deal over the winter. Cook has been electric for the A’s so far this year. He has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. Cook has only given up 2 hits while whiffing 13 batters in his first 12 1/3 innings so far this year. The only negative has been his control as he has walked 7 batters so far this year, but that’s nitpicking considering the way he has pitched so far this year.