Reveille1984

Not sure why he even stood and took the charge, Quentin has to have 30+ pounds on him.  he should have pulled a Pedro and sashayed to the side like a bullfighter.

I think there's a little more to it than just "we should have "gotten" Greinke".  Free agency isn't the old Walmart down the street where you know how much you're gonna pay for everything and there's more than enough for everyone.  The Dodgers are paying him $160M for 6 years.... were we really going to exceed that and pay Greinke $27-28M a year?  And even if we wanted to, you don't think the Dodgers would have countered?  
 
Free agent options for starters are getting worse every year as teams continue to lock up young pitching.  Which is why it's imperative that we starting drafting some decent arms that actually pan out.

The Yankees?  Give me a break.  Our lineup is pretty much all homegrown talent under 30.  Aybar, Trout, Trumbo, Kendrick, Callaspo, Bourjos, Conger, etc. all developed in the Angels system.  We aren't becoming the Yankees because we signed Pujols and Hamilton.  The only potential albatross really is Pujols; even if Hamilton takes a s*#^& this season he's only around for four years past that, not nine or ten.
 
The problem is pitching.  We don't really have an urgent need for position players in the coming years so I'm not worried about restocking that.  Howie and Erick are around for 3 more years, Trumbo and Bourjos for 4, Trout and Conger for 5, and etc. Cowart should be ready to supplant Callaspo in a year or two.  But our system is barren concerning both starters and relievers.  I can't even think of one arm in our system that I'm even halfway confident about making an above-average contribution on the major league club in the next few years.  It's like this 3-4 year cycle where we either have great pitching and a mediocre lineup or vice-versa.  With Weaver being a question mark now concerning his velocity and slow start as well, its hard to be optimistic.

5.5 back after not even 10 games, that is downright depressing.  I love how the A's just have a hodge podge of random position players and still thoroughly dominate us offensively, even with Reddick out.  The A's just outplayed us in pretty much every facet this series.  We looked like a high school team trying to make some backwards foray into the MLB.

5.5 back after not even 10 games, that is downright depressing.  I love how the A's just have a hodge podge of random position players and still thoroughly dominate us offensively, even with Reddick out.  The A's just outplayed us in pretty much every facet this series.  We looked like a high school team trying to make some backwards foray into the MLB.

You too?  I thought I had a wicked kidney stone, turns out I was passing a jagged shard of calcified disappointment.