With the Oakland Athletics 10 games back in the AL West coming up on the halfway point of the 2012 season, it's never too early to look at who will be in the lineup next year. Typically, the A's are sellers. It's not uncommon for the team to ship a player or two out around the trade deadline, then make a few more trades around the winter meetings. Then there's the matter of who among the arbitration eligible players will be offered a contract and who will be allowed to walk. The 2013 season could literally go either way; per the norm, ...
Hope springs eternal for the 2012 Oakland Raiders with training camp set to open in about a month.Oakland enters this season with a new general manager in Reggie McKenzie, a new head coach in Dennis Allen and a talented roster bursting with potential. McKenzie inherited a roster that was created based on questionable decisions. He quickly put his stamp on the team by releasing players like Stanford Routt, Chris Johnson and Kamerion Wimbley. With his work in free agency and the draft, McKenzie has created competition and excitement on this team.That competition and excitement should bring the best out of the ...
Last night Jarrod Parker was once again brilliant for the A's, going seven strong innings against the Seattle Mariners, allowing only one earned run while racking up nine strikeouts. Barring any arm problems (knock on wood) he figures to be a constant at the top of the A's rotation for some time, but in A's terminology that unfortunately turns out to be only a few years.One thing's for certain however, by now Billy Beane has been through this situation more than enough times to know exactly what the best course of action is to ensure that Parker remains in the ...
Much like the first game of this series, the Oakland Athletics did not do very much offensively for a long stretch of their matinee against the Seattle Mariners. But thanks to another great start, this one from Jarrod Parker, the A's won 2-1 to take the series at Safeco Field.Parker got the win because Yoenis Cespedes hit a laser out into the left-center field seats in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie. His ninth home run, Cespedes' hit was one of only two that the A's had in the game, but they were both home runs.Ryan Cook overcame ...
With the expansion of the offseason rosters to 90 players, there is an even larger group of players vying for a spot on the roster and practice squad.While only a few Raiders have a shot to make the roster, a few more have the opportunity to make $5,700 per week on the practice squad.Of the 37 players potentially eligible for the practice squad, six were 2012 draft selections who figure to make the roster. That leaves 31 players competing for eight spots.There are an additional four players—Alex Parsons, Travis Ivey, Rod Streater and Kaelin Burnett— who have a good chance ...
The Oakland Raiders are entering part two of their 2011 midseason acquisition of Carson Palmer. Palmer, who had retired after the Cincinnati Bengals would not trade or release him, was eventually traded to the Oakland Raiders who needed help at the quarterback position after Jason Campbell broke his collarbone. The Raiders, who gave up their 2012 first-round draft pick and a conditional 2013 second-round draft pick that can turn into a first-round pick if the Raiders make it to the AFC Championship game in 2013. They better hope that Palmer will pan out for them in 2012. However, Carson Palmer ...
We’ve reached the second-worst time of the sports year (only the horrific doldrums of February are worse), as only baseball is around to keep us company.The NBA season has ended with LeBron finally getting his ring, and now all we can do is sit around and wait for the glorious football season to return. To paraphrase Green Day, wake me up when September begins. In the meantime, we can continue to speculate about what to expect from the 2012 NFL season, especially regarding the greatest of all football teams, the Oakland Raiders.If you believe in Vegas odds-makers, the Raiders aren’t ...
It’s about one month before the July 31 MLB trade deadline and the Oakland A’s are one of teams known throughout the league to make deals as the time comes close. Billy Beane would be crazy to split this A’s squad, especially when it’s won 10 of the last 13 games and is just two games below .500 with 12 games left until the All-Star Break. Even if the A’s have the lowest batting average in the majors, even if they struggle to finish off saves (Google Brian Fuentes) and even if they can’t finish five-run comebacks in the ninth ...
Normally a run on three hits will not win you many games, but tonight it did as Seth Smith's solo home run was the only tally in the A's 1-0 victory over Seattle.Despite being shut down by Seattle starter Erasmo Ramirez, Oakland won because Tom Milone threw seven shutout innings against Seattle's punch-less lineup. Grant Balfour and Ryan Cook closed the door with Cook notching his fifth save of the season.Early on, Milone wiggled out of a couple of jams.In the first, he induced an inning-ending ground out from Justin Smoak with runners on the corners. In the fourth with ...
The Oakland Raiders have high hopes for the 2012 NFL season.Even though the rest of the league doesn't yet take them seriously, they are poised to make a roar this year.Maybe even a playoff run.With rejuvenated receivers that were injured for a good portion of the 2011 season, Darrius Heyward-Bey and company look to rebound. Rookie Juron Criner has the ability to add another dimension to the fastest receiving core in football.With that in mind, here are five Raiders that have a good shot at playing in Hawaii.Begin Slideshow