So if you follow the A’s at all, you know Frank Thomas re-joined the club the other day. It’s about-fuckin-time! Dude had an MVP-caliber year in 06 when we went to the ALCS, then signs with the Jays in the offseason only to completely fall off the radar. How does this happen? How does he go from single-handedly bringing us to the ALCS to completely going MIA in Toronto? The thought of him hitting behind Suzuki, Ellis, and Barton is definitely getting hyped. But let’s calm our enthusiasm (yes, i’m actually talking to myself).
We should realize that The Big Hurt is hitting only .159 this season. His on-base and slugging percentages are 100 and 200 below his career averages. He’s now 39, and who knows how much gas he still has in the tank. That said, the Jays didn’t have the OBP’s that the A’s guys in front of Frank have. And we don’t need Frank to be his-2006-self either. We were doing pretty good without him. What we need from him is to provide some pop to our lineup until/in-addition-to Carlos Gonzalez, whenever we finally call him up (to be the team’s savior!). And did i mention we still don’t have a legit leadoff man? The fact that Travis Buck forgot how to hit has left us with our catcher, who never even takes decent leads off of first base, leading off.
Don’t get me wrong, Suzuki is great! In fact, he’s only in his first full year, and i would have trouble finding 10 catchers i’d rather have this season, much less for the future! But he’s not a lead-off hitter. Keep in mind that we are a team in progress. I think Mark Ellis will have to be moved to leadoff. We could have Suzuki bat second, or CarGon hit there and move Suzuki to the end of the lineup. Then we’d have Barton (Mr. OBP) and Thomas (Mr. SLG) to knock in the runs, and have the Golden Boy (Bobby Crosby) hit fifth. Some combination of two more outfielders (Cust, Buck, DeNorfia, Brown, or even Daniel Putnam from AAA) would hit six and seven. One out of Hannahan, Chavy, and Murphy would play third and hit 8. Then either Suzuki or CarGon would hit 9 (whichever one doesn’t hit 2).
Now for the staff.
Forget about Harden. Yes, he’s good. But forget about him. (I think i actually have more trouble with this than others (see this post and this one).
Joe Blanton doesn’t have the stuff to be an ace. But he’s damn sure trying his best. Gaudin, Smith, and Eveland are in the 2-4 slots, with Dutch rounding out the staff. Of course, one of them is going to the bullpen when Gio Gonzalez comes up. And we have two potential dominant pitchers in AA Midland right now (James Simmons and Henry Rodriguez), and that’s not even getting into the (now) four aces in Stockton. So we’re loaded for the future. If Gonzalez has a couple more good starts, i expect him to be with the club right around the all-star break. Same with the other Gonzalez, actually. Did i mention that Gonzalez (Gio) is supposed to be Harden without the injuries??!!
The Bullpen has arguably been the best in the league. We already have six studs in the bullpen. Six! Yes, six! I’d expect Hutson Street is going to be traded at some point, so maybe that number will drop to five. Embree/Foulke will switch off with the closer role, Casilla is the set-up guy. Devine & Brown will work the seventh, and DiNardo can do long relief. If DiNardo can transition back to the bullpen, there isn’t a hole in taht set up. If our starters can go 5 or 6, we’ll win.
Did i mention that both Gonzalez’ are supposed to be more talented than anyone currently on our club, sans Frank and Harden (who as far as I’m concerned, doesn’t exist right now)??!! And the team is already 14-9 and tied for first place.
Ok, I’m sounding a little too much like a homer now. Time to taper my expectations a bit……
