Only months into assuming ownership of the Oakland Raiders, Mark Davis has struggled to win over fans and live up to his father’s lofty expectations.One of the NFL’s most visible and contentious owners, Al Davis became as famous for his public battles as for his team’s play. He fired coaches, drafted indiscriminately, and employed the subpoena with equal abandon.Yet, for every benching of a crowd favorite (Marcus Allen) or trading of a franchise quarterback (Kenny Stabler), Davis won legions of fans through his irreverence. Less than five months after Al’s death, Raider fans have been reluctant to embrace Mark with ...
In an effort to improve their moribund offense, the Oakland Athletics announced earlier this week that they had signed Manny Ramirez to a minor-league contract valued at around $500k. One of the most enigmatic characters in the game, Ramirez is widely regarded as one of the finest pure hitters in MLB history. However, his reputation has taken a serious beating over the past few years thanks to a pair of positive tests for PEDs. Some viewed this as a low-risk, high-reward move that could give Oakland an effective DH at a very low cost. Others believe that the Athletics—or any ...
With each passing day, it looks more and more likely that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace is going to hit the open market when free agency opens on March 13. The cap-strapped Steelers may simply be unable to keep him.The three-year veteran, who had 72 catches for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago, is a restricted free agent. This means that the Steelers would have the right to match any offer that Wallace receives. However, with the Steelers in one of the most precarious positions in the NFL in regards to the salary cap, there may just ...
It wouldn't feel like a Raider offseason without the drama of their annual salary cap conundrum. This year will be no different. Even after releasing Stanford Routt, the Raiders are $11 million over the cap.While the salary cap is rarely an issue for teams, assuming players are willing to restructure, there are always guys like Routt who end up being released. In Routt's case, the issue was as much about the ludicrous money he would make down the road as it was the $5 million roster bonus he was due on February 10. Assuming the Raiders stray away from their predominant bump-and-run coverages under Dennis Allen, Routt's value in the secondary had ...
The period for NFL teams to designate players with franchise tags began yesterday. Each team is allowed to apply the tag to one player, who, as a result, will receive a one-year contract, avoiding free-agent status. This year, however, is different than in years past. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the franchised player will no longer earn the average of the top five highest-paid players at his position. Instead, the league uses a formula that takes into account franchise-tag contracts from the previous five seasons. The Oakland Raiders find themselves in a bit of quandary with regards to the ...
It was an up-and-down 2011-2012 season for the Oakland Raiders. Owner Al Davis died and Hue Jackson coached the team to an 8-8 record. Mark Davis took over the team and hired Reggie McKenzie to take over the football operations. McKenzie will begin to process of changing the Raiders football operations to more closely align with the rest of the teams in the NFL.McKenzie has a lot of work to do and this offseason tracker has been created to keep you up-to-date on every roster move.We'll review the Raiders' salary cap situation, the most glaring roster holes and the options to ...
As a Giants' fan of 20-plus years, many people—Athletics' fans chiefly—have openly wondered why my favorite player of all-time is Rickey Henderson.He is best known for his 12 seasons with the cross-bay rival Athletics. A San Fran devotee with an Oakland idol isn't quite the sacrilege of a New Yorker worshiping David Ortiz, but it's close.Truth be told, I would have loved Rickey no matter what uniform he wore—given the chance. Ironically, it's because he played for Oakland, not despite—that I became a fan. Living in the Bay Area meant plenty of local-Rickey coverage, and I soaked it all up—his ...
It's been a confusing offseason for the Oakland Athletics.First, it looked like they were going through an extreme fire sale as they traded Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey for prospects.Then, it took a crazy turn last week when the Athletics signed Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes and Manny Ramirez.So it would be easy to question just which the direction the Athletics are taking. Don't worry, baseball fans. You shouldn't be fooled.While on the surface it looks like the A's are filling the holes on what they expect to be a surprising team in the American League West, the reality ...
A week ago, the Oakland Athletics shocked many with the addition of 26-year-old Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes.Naturally, ESPN, being the biggest sports source on television, ran a story covering the signing. What's surprising, however, is that the only footage they were able to show of the Cuban was a single home run highlight, on loop. There's a lot of mystery surrounding the young Cuban outfielder, which is why it's so surprising that a team like Oakland would throw so much money his way, $36 million to be exact. Coming into the 2012 season, Cespedes will be expected to immediately produce for ...
It’s certainly not that I am not intrigued by the idea of “Manny being Manny” in Oakland and what it could mean to an offense that finished 12th in the American League in 2011. It’s also not that I don’t agree the A’s needed a threat in the middle of their lineup; they certainly needed to replace the offense lost with the departure of free agents Josh Willingham, David DeJesus and Hideki Matsui. The signing of Ramirez to a very affordable $500,000 salary is certainly the ultimate no-risk, high-reward signing by Billy Beane, but what does it mean to a ...