One more offseason update?

So things are looking pretty finalized. I think Geren and I can write the Opening Day roster right now. And I'll do that in a moment. Minus the exception of 5th starter in the rotation, but thats not a big deal really and I like that someone gets a shot at it. Keeps things competitive, makes Spring Training a little more interesting, etc. The latest addition which I love that we added today, is Grant Balfour in the bullpen! Sucky name for a pitcher-- "Ball-four", but whatever. This guy is quietly one of the best relievers in the game. He's 7-year vet, only 33 yrs old, came from the Rays (this means he faced the lineups of the Yankees and the Red Sox ALL THE TIME) and posted a 2.28 ERA and 1.08 WHIP! I think thats better than ANY relievers the A's had last year, 'cept maybe Bailey... lemme check... yep, I was right, out of any A's pitcher who pitched in at least 6 games out of our bullpen last year, Balfour's numbers are second to only Andrew Bailey. Cuz Bailey is a beast! Alright, I digress, gettin a little excited... So yeah, great addition--now lets look at it. Whats our starting rotation and bullpen look like:

(EDIT: 2 days later, we just got Brian Fuentes. From the Angels. Ha! He's a left-handed reliever, posted a 1.08 WHIP last year, same as Balfour, with a 2.81 ERA, and he tallied 24 saves for the Halos last year. Lovely. Gotta throw his name on the list. Does someone need to be dropped?...)

Rotation:
1. Dallas Braden
2. Brett Anderson
3. Gio Gonzalez
4. Trevor Cahill
5. Undecided (Josh Outman? Brandon McCarthy? Rich Harden? Bobby Cramer?)

Bullpen
Andrew Bailey(CL)
Grant Balfour
Rich Harden (this is his spot I think with the best chance to be healthy and effective all year)
Brian Fuentes
Craig Breslow
Brad Ziegler
Joey Devine
Jeremy Blevins
Michael Wuertz

(Nine relievers is too many. Hmm... Who's goin back to the River Cats this year? Devine if he needs more rehab or just to get his "feel" back again? Blevins or Wuertz? Or maybe, and I hate to say it, but with our luck, not all nine of these guys can be healthy at the same time?)

But our pitching staff is ridiculous. Dare I say we may have the best starting rotation AND bullpen in the American League?!? (I'd say all of MLB if it werent for the Phillies--they have 4 #1's in their rotation, screw 'em) You heard it here first folks: the A's will have the best pitching stats in the AL this year. Maybe first consider the competition in the AL West? Ok, good pitchers on the Rangers include:

CJ Wilson (SP)
(Almost willing to say Tommy Hunter with a 13-4 record but he posted a 3.73 ERA and a 5.56 ERA in the playoffs--not impressive)
Neftali Feliz (CL)
and maybe Brandon Webb if he returns to his old self? The Rangers playoff hopes my hinge on that?...

Now, Angels:
Jered Weaver (SP)
Dan Haren (SP)
And... thats it. Go look. Santana, Pineiro, and Kazmir did not put up good numbers and their closer, Rodney, had a WHIP of 1.54 last year. Also not impressive. Moving on.

Mariners, just to be fair:
Felix Hernandez (Cy Young winner, deservedly so, I love watching him pitch--and since he's not on the A's, I'm so glad he's on what may be the worst team in baseball. :) )
And thats it for them. If you're curious, their closer Aardsma is #1 in... alphabetical listing. A closer with an ERA of 3.44 would make me angry.

There you have it. The A's, if healthy, and thats a BIG IF, but we're due, will dominate the AL West in pitching! Just you wait.... Cuz I can't! AHHH! Come on Spring Training! Come on Opening Day!

Ok, so the batting lineup may have changed since my last blog. Lets go over it. :)

1. Coco Crisp - CF
2. David DeJesus - LF
3. Josh Willingham - RF
4. Hideki Matsui - DH
5. Kurt Suzuki - C
6. Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B
7. Daric Barton - 1B
8. Mark Ellis - 2B
9. Cliff Penningtion - SS

The bench also has excellent fill-ins such as:
Ryan Sweeney - OF
Adam Rosales - IF
Conor Jackson - OF
Landon Powell - C, 1B
Chris Carter - OF (good lord, imagine if his "potential" shows up this year! reports are he could be a beast in his career. Think David Ortiz kind of beast.)

Now if this lineup can score an average of 4.5 runs every game, (and I see 5 guys in that starting lineup that can hit over 20 home runs relatively easily), and our pitching staff is lockin it down every damn night almost, like they did last year, the sky is the limit! And of course, by "sky" I mean World Series Champions!

LETS GO A'S!!!

Thanks for reading.