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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