CAAngelsLifer

The Margaret Thatcher era has been impressive

Yes. Weaver is the only one that won't
 
 
Am I the only one that thinks we should somehow structure the rotation to have C.J. Wilson pitch against Kershaw? Concede one loss instead of 2.

Getting CJ back is like making a trade at the deadline.
a "big splash" type of trade

The good news is the Halos have 4 more tries to gain some ground on Oakland until CJ starts again

We don't need another starter CJ is coming back!
Hahaha

Maybe the pirates will take him off our hands

As is the case with every CJ Wilson start over the past 2 or so months

This dude's career might be done. He literally can't pitch anymore.

i'd be surprised if he ever gets there again. not trying to be negative, I just think that's the reality of who he is now.

Did you see the game in St. Louis where his brother Yadier left him some food on home plate before the first inning? It was awesome.

Shoe just needs to give us six solid innings and then our bullpen can take it from there. .
 
 
 
Holy crap, never thought I'd say that this season.

And right on cue, after I post his mediocre numbers for June/July in the Trout/Pujols/Hamilton thread:   BOOM, bombsauce!

Jose was always big boned.

Ianetta has turned into a decent hitter.

Nice to see Trout and Pujols mash that inning.
Hamilton and Howie stay on course.

I'm okay with that out if it protected pujols from getting gunned out.
 
 
Sometimes you just trade the out for the run.
 
 
 
Good start 3-0 Angels

No Angel rally is complete without an unnecessary out on the bases.

. .  and we've already scored more runs than we did in 13 innings yesterday

...and the Albert Pujols I remember!

This!

I don't understand this trade from the A's point of view. Yeah they got a #1 starter type. Lester has been dominant at times this year, and it's a great rotation upgrade. 
 
For a rotation that was leading the AL in ERA. And 3rd in BAA. 
 
It sets them up for the playoffs well. Lester,Kazmir, Gray, Samardizja,…great playoff rotation. But is it that much better than Gray, Samardizja, Kazmir, Chavez? Is improving that third or fourth spot really worth one of your best hitters?
 
Also, defensively, in a big ballpark in Oakland, they just got significantly worse. Cespedes basically has been a fixture in left, while the other two OF spots featured Crisp, Reddick, Gentry and a host of other OF. They traded a fielder who has been great in left, for a guy who can't field in Gomes. They reacquired Fuld, ok, but he's got a good defensive reputation, but not a great one. And he's not been good for the Twins defensively. Crisp makes highlight reel catches, but has been really bad defensively this year. 
 
Next offensively, the A's lead the league in runs scored, 18 runs ahead of the Angels, but the actual stats don't say that they should be. I've stated this before, I don't know how they are doing it.
 
The A's have featured 87 different lineups in 107 games, so there has been relatively little consistency.
 
The main fixtures have been Crisp hitting first, Lowrie or Jaso second, and a 3-4-5 in some order of Cespedes, Moss, and Donaldson.
 
Crisp is hitting to a .789 OPS, Lowrie .681, Jaso .824. Then Cespedes at .767, Moss at .842 and Donaldson at .797. 
 
The bottom of the order looks really bad in Callaspo, Reddick, Sogard. Callaspo has a .614 OPS, Reddick is at .701 and Sogard is .513.
 
Derrick Norris is the best hitter on the A's but he's their catcher, and not playing everyday..because Vogt also is hitting the cover off the ball with a .951 OPS in a limited number of plate appearances.
 
So subtract Cespedes from the middle of the lineup and add Gomes to the mix? Gomes has better OBP than Cespedes, but it's almost exclusively against lefties as he has a .494 OPS against righties this year.
 
It's a huge blow to the middle of the lineup for the A's, plus a defensive negative, to improve their pitching staff, substantially. I don't think the risk is worth the reward going forward, but it is going to be a wild finish to the season.

This question is to spark conversation and not to sound like a homer. Should Billy Beane get as much crap for giving up so much of the future for the three starters he acquired in the last month as Dipoto did for giving up 6 rondons for Street and Thatcher? Granted Lester has more value than Street, but at least we have Street next season. Is there ANY hope at all for an A's fan that Lester will be able to be re-signed? My guess is the chances are less than zero percent he signs with Oakland. One last question, do we even know if Lester can grow a disgusting beard?

you could sell them to Colorado and tell the Rockies fans that they corrected the Tulo jersey.