Oakland Athletics Salvage One Victory From Dismal Road Trip
By Mark Sigmon
As an Oakland Athletics fan, I have to admit that I was looking forward to the just-completed road trip.
The Oakland Athletics had just won five games in a row, and they were about to face the Astros, who have been struggling this season and two of the weakest teams in the National League in the Brewers and the Reds.
Instead of playing their way back into the race, the A’s dropped seven out of eight games on the road. Fortunately, the Oakland Athletics managed to pull out a 6-1 victory on Sunday to prevent an utterly futile trip.
It has dawned on me that other teams are looking at the Oakland A’s as a weak team can be easily defeated. Maybe Houston and the others were looking forward to the Oakland Athletics coming to town. That’s a depressing thought.
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When the Oakland Athletics dropped a pair of 2-1 losses on Friday and Saturday, I thought that the team misses Josh Reddick. Injuries have plagued the Oakland Athletics this year.
Sonny Gray and Daniel Mengden pitched two incredible games. The A’s hitters, facing a couple of journeyman pitchers, could do almost nothing.
The Oakland Athletics do not have much offensive firepower, and Reddick was one of their most consistent hitters who could also hit the long ball. Losing Reddick has hurt the team in 2016. But then I got to thinking about next year. If Reddick becomes a free agent, what is going to be the excuse next year?
I woke up Saturday morning to an exciting story from “Call to the Pen” about the owner of the Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob, wanting to buy the Oakland Athletics.
Before you get as excited as I was, know that A’s owner Lew Wolff said “No Way!” You can not blame Wolff. Baseball is about to sign a cable television deal worth billions that will put millions in the pockets of every owner. Some owners are going to invest that money in their teams. Some owners are just going to pocket the cash. Why do I get the feeling Wolff will be in the latter group?
Let’s face it A’s fans. Somebody is going to pay Reddick somewhere between $60-$100 million dollars to play baseball. Is Reddick worth $20 million a year? That does not matter. Just like Barry Zito was not worth $126 million in 2007, someone will pay a ridiculous amount of money to sign Reddick. I sure hope it is the A’s.
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I would like to see the Oakland Athletics re-sign Josh Reddick to a multi-million dollar long term deal. If they do not sign Reddick, I would like to see the A’s sign someone, anyone, to a long-term deal.
I do not want to get political, but one of the features of Obamacare was that the insurance companies had to spend at least 85% of their income on health care and not pure profit.
I wish baseball had a similar rule forcing owners to spend at least 85% of their revenues on players’ salaries.
I don’t know about you, but I am getting a little tired of watching players that are too good for the minors, but not quite good enough for the majors. Billy Burns, Jesse Hahn, Kendall Graveman, Chris Coghlan, and others have had their moments from time to time, but they are so inconsistent that it is tough to have any faith in them or the rest of the team.
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I am also getting a little tired of watching Drew Pomeranz and Dan Straily pitch so well for their new teams. I am tired of the A’s getting whupped by some of the weakest teams in baseball. It’s time for ownership to invest in the team and put a quality product out on the field.
That’s what I think…what do you think?