Michael Taylor Finally In Oakland

September is finally here, and that means the end of the 2011 season is in sight. The Athletics will miss out on the playoffs for the fifth-straight season. The A’s have a lot going on this month, however, and many fans are gearing up for an eventful last month of A’s baseball.

On Friday night, the Athletics made some news with their decision to call up prospect Michael Taylor from Triple-A Sacramento. September call-ups are always exciting, especially for a club like the A’s, who have relatively nothing to be excited about. Aside from the Hollywood adaptation of Michael Lewis’ best selling book Moneyball, September call ups are all we fans have to look forward to these days.

Taylor, who arrived in a trade that sent Brett Wallace to the Toronto Blue Jays, went 0-for-3 with an error on Friday, but I was happy seeing Taylor in the lineup. The A’s are banking on future success with the help from guys like Taylor, Chris Carter, Grant Green, Michael Choice, and a few other top hitting prospects. 

Taylor, who spent the season in Triple-A Sacramento, hit .272 wit 16 HR and 72 RBIs in 93 games with the River Cats. For the Athletics, having a productive player like Taylor on offense would be a huge boost, and even though this season is nearing an end, if Taylor plays well this month, he could finally take his place on Oakland’s 2012 Opening Day roster.

The A’s have pieced together a few good young names in the minor leagues, and it’s only a matter of time before Oakland sees some of its young hitting prospects make it to the big leagues. Oakland has the pitching staff to contend, but offense has always been Oakland’s weakness. Getting some of their young hitters up to the big leagues in order to better supplement the pitching staff’s success should be a top priority going forward.