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Good, not-so-good moments for A’s

Offseason imports don’t pan out, but rookie hurlers emerge

The idea behind bringing Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra aboard was to give the previously anemic offensive enough juice to make the kids on the mound relax a little.

Things didn’t quite work out that way.

Holliday never got on track offensively and was traded in July, as was Cabrera. Giambi was even worse, his once-prolific bat making less noise than his creaking 38-year-old body. Only Garciaparra finished the season with the team, but his chronic calf condition limited him all year, turning him into a high-profile pinch-hitter.

A’s general manager Billy Beane doesn’t regret his attempt to expedite his rebuilding of the team by adding the aforementioned foursome, though. He still said the notion was sound, and so does Garciaparra.

“In my experience,” says the veteran infielder, who will again consider retirement this offseason, “when a pitcher feels like he has some room to make a few mistakes, he doesn’t make as many.”

Rookie left-hander Brett Anderson, one of the pitchers Beane was trying to protect, doesn’t quite buy that line of logic, insisting that all pitchers should take the mound in every inning trying to put up a zero and worry not about whatever the offense it up to.

Click here to read the full article – By Mychael Urban of MLB.com

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October 5, 2009 Posted by rsanrel | Athletics Apparel, Athletics News, Athletics Stuff, MLB, Oakland Athletics | A's Apparel, Athletics, Athletics Apparel, Athletics baseball, athletics jerseys, Athletics News, Baseball, baseball jerseys, MLB, Oakland, Oakland A's, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Athletics baseball, Oakland Athletics Jerseys | No Comments Yet

Calm Mortensen pitching for his 2010 fate

SEATTLE — The past few months have been a head-spinning experience for A’s right-hander Clayton Mortensen, but you’d never know it from observing his clubhouse interactions.

A 24-year-old rookie, he is to hyper what former A’s outfielder Eric Byrnes is to calm. There’s an economy of movement about Mortensen, who was acquired in the four-player trade that sent Matt Holliday to St. Louis in July.

“Pretty mellow dude,” A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki said of Mortensen, who’ll make his final start of the season Wednesday in the middle game of a three-game series against the host Mariners at Safeco Field. “All of our young guys are pretty mellow.”

Maybe not all. Lefty Gio Gonzalez is the first to admit there’s a little spaz in him. But Mortensen, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Sept. 4 for his second stint with the A’s, fits right in with fellow even-keel rookies Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson.

Whether he’ll fit in among them in the 2010 starting rotation is an issue that won’t be resolved until next spring at the earliest, but he’s been solid since the most recent recall, going 2-2 with a 3.97 ERA.

“Like a number of young guys this year, he’s getting a nice opportunity to show what he can do at this level,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said. “We’ve seen him pitch very well, we’ve seen him struggle a little bit, and that’s what you typically see with rookie pitchers. What’s important is that the talent is there. That’s obvious. The fact that we traded for him tells you what we think of him.

“What’s going to happen next year? Who knows? But every time you take the mound in a Major League game is a chance to put yourself into the picture.”

Click here to read the full article – By Mychael Urban of Mlb.com

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