Monday, August 22, 2011

Oakland's Offseason Moves

Oakland GM gumbercules has obviously shown that 65 wins and another last place finish in the NL West will not be acceptable this season. There have been some major moves made in the offseason to better the team.

The light-hitting SS William Satou and C Bump Edwards are no longer with the squad- they've been replaced by free-agent pickup Gustavo Contreras and the catching tandem of Rick Anderson and Rodney Rando, respectively. Although the defense might not be quite as good, these moves definitely lengthen the lineup.

The pitching staff was a mess, so it's been partially rebuilt. The starting staff will consist of young star B.C. Macias and veteran stalwarts Pedro Hernandez, Don McConnell (who is getting one more chance after a dreadful Season 14) and Adrian Hendrickson (again, awful last season). Shane Simms, 12-10 last season in Cincinnati, joins the team in a trade.

"We expect to be better than last season", said the new GM. "Would we like to contend for the division title? Sure. Is that realistic? I have no idea. But that is the goal. Salt Lake City has been the gold standard in the division and maybe even the league for years. But I have every intention of putting together the team that breaks their consecutive division title streak, whenever that may be."

No comments: