Oakland Athletics end another losing ’09 season

Website design By BotEap.comThe Oakland Athletics finished last in the American League West at 75-87, the only team in the division with a record under .500. The A’s had a pretty good second half of the 2009 season, but inconsistency early and in the middle dashed their hopes of making the playoffs. The A’s put their success in the hands of very young players almost every season; sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t. The perception is that the A’s are a small to mid-sized club that can’t compete with the “big boys,” eg, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Angels.

Website design By BotEap.comJack Cust jumped from a few different teams before landing in Oakland: Cust led the team with 25 home runs but averaged a low of just .240 in 149 games played. Kurt Suzuki leads the team with 88 RBIs. Overall, the A’s couldn’t score runs plain and simple.

Website design By BotEap.comThe No A’s pitcher who won more than 10 games had a winning record. Brett Anderson went 11-11 with a 4.06 ERA and 146 strikeouts. Trevor Cahill went 10-13 with a 4.13 ERA with just 90 strikeouts.

Website design By BotEap.comDeveloping young talent is what the A’s do very well; that may take longer than fans would like to wait. As the team stands now, the A’s won’t be a playoff team compared to the rest of the American League. The LA Angels are a much better team and the Seattle Mariners are also a couple of steps ahead of the A’s.

Website design By BotEap.comPerhaps the A’s’ philosophy should change in the near future if the A’s hope to win a World Series. The A’s’ “small market mentality” won’t win them anything because they just don’t have the talent to do so. The A’s are hoping the young talent will help them win an American League West title in the next few years.