Sell, sell, sell! The Oakland A's are 24-31 and have lost ten of their last 12 games and the club is tied for last place in the American League West. The A's have no chance to make a season out of things, right?
In the words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend."
Selling off big contracts at the trade deadline shouldn't be the answer, even as the A's are mired in a terrible slump.
Yes, they are in last place, but are only eight games out of first place—and the division leading Texas Rangers are showing signs that they are human after all.
No Monday Blues for A's
The A's put a 12-1 whooping on the Rangers on Monday night via an eight-run offensive explosion in the bottom of the second inning.
Rookie Jarrod Parker (2-2) was able to silence the noisy bats of the Rangers by taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Michael Young broke up the no-hit bid with a single up the middle, making the decision to bring Parker out for the ninth an easy one.
Parker's pitch count was at 111 as he gave way to Jim Miller in the ninth. Miller closed out the game, but did allow a 400-foot home run from Mike Napoli.
There is still a ways to go before the July 31 trade deadline, and things could get worse.
But let's take a look at how things are now, and and take a peek back at how the A's have landed in the spot they are in.
Expectations
Heading into the 2012 campaign, the A's were not expected to make much noise.
The A's ended the month of April with a 11-13 record, and then went 5-1 in the first eight days of May. At the 30-game mark, the club was 16-14 and expectations had been exceeded.
Two games over .500 is the best the A's have been able to muster in 20112. At the quarter turn, the team was 20-20 and again, expectations were probably exceeded.
Splitting their next four games left them at 22-22 and that's when the bottom started to fall out.
Loss No. 22 was the start of a nine-game losing streak, and the A's were able to muster only two wins since that point.
Injury Bug
Injuries to Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Inge and Brandon McCarthy in May did not help the team's cause.
McCarthy (4-3, 295 ERA) is the team's ace and having him back will go a long way towards turning things around.
Before his injury, Cespedes was starting to show signs of being the productive bat the club thought he would be when they coughed up big dollars to bring the Cuban defector to Oakland.
Brandon Inge caught fire when he was signed by Oakland after the Detroit Tigers released the long-time Veteran. His injured groin started acting up and the A's lost him to the DL. Since his return, Inge has struggled.
Inge was batting .167 for the season entering Monday's game against Texas.
With a 2-for-4 night against the Rangers, including a three-run homer, his average now stands at .190 with six home runs. Hopefully for A's fans, the veteran is showing signs that he can regain some of that magic he had when he first came to Oakland in late April.
Top of The Order
The one-two punch at the top of the A's order consisting of Jemile Weeks and Coco Crisp has simply not been good. Crisp is batting .165 with an OBP of .222.
With Crisp expressing his displeasure about being moved to left field in favor of Cespedes, it seems if the A's did make a move at the trade deadline, Crisp might be a player that could be moved.
With the way Crisp is playing, this could be easier said than done.
Weeks is starting to come around,though.
The player many fans thought could be the future of the A's got off to an awful start.
Weeks hit .186 in April with a .263 OBP. May was better. He hit .250 and his OBP was .337. The progression has carried over into June, as well. In four games in the first few days of June, he is 5-for-12, and hitting .417 with a .500 OBP.
After his horrid start, the speedy second baseman has raised his total average to .227 and his on-base percentage is now .311.
Manager Bob Melvin has been experimenting with the two-hole lately, in hopes of finding someone to help with the part of the order that is supposed to set the table for the A's.
All-Star Possibilities
Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Rookies Jarrod Parker and Ryan Cook didn't seem like it would benefit the A's right away.
At least on paper.
On grass, Ryan Cook has been sensational. The rookie from Clovis, California has pitched 25 innings of middle relief, and has given up two runs, while sporting a measly ERA of 0.72. It wasn't until his 24th inning that Cook gave up his first runs.
Parker has stepped in and pitched very well (see above).
The trade of Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney to the Boston Red Sox for Josh Reddick and prospects didn't seem to be a trade that made anyone real excited.
Well, after further review, the trade has worked out alright.
Bailey went from the A's directly to the disabled list and Reddick for Sweeney has worked out just fine for the A's.
Sweeney is batting .313 in 41 games for the Red Sox, but he has no home runs. This was always the knock on the big outfielder while he was with the A's—he simply couldn't provide the long ball.
In Reddick, the A's have landed a right fielder that is hitting .271 with 14 home runs (both stats lead team). The latter stat is the main reason that Oakland got the better results from the swap.
The chances of the A's getting a player voted into the All-Star game are probably slim, but either of the aforementioned transplants are definitely deserving.
Weather the Storm
There is no need for the A's to panic and sell off everything they own. Melvin is a solid skipper and he will do everything in his power to make things work in Oakland. The A's were 13 games below .500 at the trade deadline in 2001 and basically stood still as July 31 came and went.
Injuries have played a big part in the recent slump. The team now has some key guys back from the DL. Ace Brandon McCarthy (4-2) returned to make his first start on Saturday, and he pitched well. "The Mac" scattered eight hits over six innings allowing two earned runs, earning his fourth win of the season.
Cespedes returned to the lineup on Friday and went 0-for-4, then on Saturday he came alive going 3-5 with an RBI. The A's center fielder is 4-for-17 since his return from the DL. Cespedes is a key piece to the A's puzzle if they plan on getting their solid pitching staff some run support in order to come out of their current funk.
The 12-1 beat-down of the Rangers is a nice step towards coming out of said "funk."
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