Did everyone underrate Oakland? Myself included.

[Sciosciapath]

Won't be a hypocrite,

 

I thought last year was a bit of a one time deal with the A's.  They had a decent team and are stacked with arms, but I thought all the walk off magic and come from behind wins would dry up this season.  They did it again tonight with a walkoff HR against the Tigers. 

 

I see the same qualities as last season, clutch hitting, rarely beat themselves, don't give away at bats.  A good manager.

 

I thought they'd have a decent team this season, slightly better than .500 maybe.

 

I underrated them, did you?

[Bashbrothers]

Yes, everyone did, and I thought everyone would know they were good because of their differential.

[70runner]

not at all...I predicted they'd kick the Angels around, but geez who hasn't

 

A's are young and aggressive

 

Angels are rich and satisfied

[nando714]

No.

[SoWhat]

After all their extra innings wins last year, Definetly didn't think they'd finish above third place.

[AZMike]

Won't be a hypocrite,

 

I thought last year was a bit of a one time deal with the A's.  They had a decent team and are stacked with arms, but I thought all the walk off magic and come from behind wins would dry up this season.  They did it again tonight with a walkoff HR against the Tigers. 

 

I see the same qualities as last season, clutch hitting, rarely beat themselves, don't give away at bats.  A good manager.

 

I thought they'd have a decent team this season, slightly better than .500 maybe.

 

I underrated them, did you?

 

I actually put money on the A's to win WS even though I despise bay area sports teams (way too many Luhmbergh-esque bosses in my career were die-hard A's/Giants/Raiders/49ers fan)  Note that as a rule I don't bet money as a homer, I put money on the teams I feel are the most underrated by casual betters (Vegas odds are set by how people bet)

 

 

I felt that A's at 30:1 was a joke. They won the toughest division in baseball and apparently the sports betters feel that their world series odds are almost no better than the Pittsburgh Pirates who haven't had a winning season in over a decade? Absurd.

 

If the A's win the WS, a 30:1 payoff = my silver lining (even though the baseball fan inside me will be sad )

[RePLAY]

they are either really good or the Angels just suck.

[HeavenlyHalos]

Nope. The A's were a good team last year. The Orioles on the other hand, I had/have missing the playoffs this year and finishing 3rd/4th in the AL East.

[DW711]

Not sure yet, but this is why I'm always cautious with this team.

 

Anderson, Cespedes, Reddick and Crisp are already testing out their injuries.

[acro2008]

We just got shutdown by the 'stros.  Maybe the A's aren't so geat after all..

[Wallerrrr]

i think i overrated the angels more than i underrated the a's

[Torridd]

I definitely did. I just can't see how a team of ragtags perform this well, but they've sure made me look stupid.

[CompassRosy]

methinks maybe the 'stros are the team that was underrated    

 

In any case, whodathunk that the lowly M's would be the only team to beat the A's . . . so far 

 

[DW711]

Well, you guys what you wanted. Cespedes is out for 2 weeks!

[DW711]

methinks maybe the 'stros are the team that was underrated    

 

In any case, whodathunk that the lowly M's would be the only team to beat the A's . . . so far 

 

and Felix always beats the A's on opening night!

[MacNasty]

I have to admit I underestimated them a little.  They are basically built like we used to be under Sciosh, around strong pitching.  Gotta give them credit on putting together what looks like another good group.

 

The problem is our teams that had the strong pitching didn't have the offense when they needed it in those playoff series against more complete teams like Boston/NY.  Whether the A'th have the same problem remains to be seen.

 

But that's what I love about this game, anyway.  You just never know.  We still don't, even as bad as our team looks.  Gotta play those games!

[Ohtaniland]

MONEYBALL IS WINNING!

[sneaky_flute]

they have a team full of replacement-level position players. how are they supposed to be rated?

[AZMike]

Reddick and Cespedes to the DL. Their team has very good bench depth though so it probably won't derail the team's success.

[HaloMagic]

Josh Reddick just played today. His injury is healed. Crisp is the one who is hurt. But they didn't put him on the DL. Strained muscle somewhere. I think leg.

[Halos of Anaheim]

I understand how they pitch really well with their starters and bullpen. But how in the world do AAA hitters like they have just start hitting the ball well and almost NEVER mess up with RISP? There is something really fishy with this team or Beane is a god damn genius.

[sneaky_flute]

their offense was below average last year and will be below average this year but they've gone through big hot streaks. several of their hitters are hitting like bonds right now. it's called small sample size.

[Bashbrothers]

their offense was below average last year and will be below average this year but they've gone through big hot streaks. several of their hitters are hitting like bonds right now. it's called small sample size.

A's were tenth in wRC+ and improved their offense this off season.

 

It's most definitely a top ten offense this year if not higher. 

[sneaky_flute]

they were still below average last year and they certainly did not improve their offense. i mean they traded chris carter for jed lowrie. i used to live in oakland and absolutely despise the way they run that team. you could argue beane helped bring attention to sabermetrics but the way he goes about trading players is awful and their owner is a cheapskate.

[Bashbrothers]

they were still below average last year and they certainly did not improve their offense. i mean they traded chris carter for jed lowrie. i used to live in oakland and absolutely despise the way they run that team. you could argue beane helped bring attention to sabermetrics but the way he goes about trading players is awful and their owner is a cheapskate.

You are right, top ten in offense is below average.  I was confused and forgot there was only 19 team in baseball. 

 

 

Not sure, how you can say they didn't improve their offense and that they are below average, but you are wrong in either case.