Kevin Kouzmanoff

In seems like a millennium since the Oakland Athletics were last seen in postseason play—let alone a contender at all—and while this hasn’t been a team that has had a lot of opportunities to land big name players, the A’s are a team that has quietly been building in a solid unit since 2008.

Now as the 2011 season approaches, the A’s are looking more and more as if they are a contender in the American League.

Chone Figgins got it right—"I always said, it's a great thing to be wanted."

Right about now, the man Figgins was supposed to replace, Kevin Kouzmanoff, has got to be wondering what he did to fall out of favor with the A's and become so UN-wanted.

The Figgins-Kouzmanoff trade rumors are now dead.  Turns out, they happened three weeks ago and never progressed, but it puts another nail in the coffin of Kouzmanoff's Oakland A's career.

The latest talk out of the rumor mill has Seattle's Chone Figgins headed to Oakland in a deal that involves Kevin Kouzmanoff and may or may not include Toronto as a third team.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, and Oakland Athletics are discussing the framework of a deal that would see the Blue Jays acquire a third baseman.

The Mariners are looking to unload third baseman Chone Figgins and it looks like the Athletics are putting together a package to try and acquire him. In the move, according to Olney, you will likely see Athletics third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff sent to the Blue Jays as part of the package.

The A’s acquired Kevin Kouzmanoff last offseason to fill the void that Eric Chavez would inevitably create.  After one season Kouzmanoff has worn out his welcome.

It is not as though “Kouz” has played so far below his career averages in Oakland, he has not, but the Oakland front office should have seen his numbers and known that he was not worth the money, even if he makes very little relative to the rest of the league.

The Yankees had a busy day Friday, acquiring Lance Berkman from the Astros and Austin Kearns from the Indians, and it looks like they could make some more moves today as the 4:00 PM Trade Deadline approaches.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim need help to reclaim another American League West division title. With the Texas Rangers adding Cliff Lee to their rotation it's going to be tougher than ever for the Angels to catch the Rangers. 

Currently the Angels own a 47-42 record and are four and a half games out of first place. Yet, if the Angels would like to catch the Rangers and pass them for first place the Angels could use some help.

There was a point in time in the season where the Oakland A's could have made a surprising run at the American League West division title, but all hope are pretty much gone after another dreadful performance against the New York Yankees. 

So, what is there for the second half of the season for the A's? Well there's five things the A's have to have to show they could become a contender in the American League West division. 

When I first arrived at the Oakland Coliseum for Tuesday's game against the visiting Cincinnati Reds, the sky was mostly blue as the sun was successfully holding streaks of gloom at bay.

By the time the Athletics had finished batting practice about an hour later, the clouds had inflicted heavy casualties on the other side and were threatening to win the battle in a romp.

That seems like a pretty good metaphor for the tack Oakland's 2010 season is on at the moment.

What started off in azure warmth is beginning to go cold and gray.

Kevin Kouzmanoff made the jump from the National League to the American League this year going from the San Diego Padres to the Oakland A’s. While he’s not in the most potent offense, he still has the opportunity to be a low-end fantasy starter at third base (click to see 3B rankings ).