Here comes Sonny!

Well, well, well, this is a most interesting week in A's land!  Last night it was another, tight 2-1 over the Pirates.  Starting pitcher Dan Straily was stellar, while Brandon Mossy Moss launched the decisive 2-run homer.   The game started after a rain delay, sort of, as it never actually rain.  For the team that features a little bit of everything, that delay only seemed appropriate.  As I mentioned earlier, when we saw Strailey pitch a couple of weeks ago, and he was not impressive.  However, last night he was mixing in some sort of breaking pitch, and it was extremely effective.  The Balfour/Cook/Doolittle regained their early season form, and today the A's will look for the sweep.

So here comes Sonny Gray from Sacramento, the A's top rated pitching prospect.  Gray has been extremely effective logging a sub 3.0 era in the hitting friendly Pacific Coast League.  Fangraphs have an excellent piece on Gray, essentially noting that he is one player who could be very good, but one who is void of all the hype.  (Fangraphs an interesting site, if you like stats, you want to give that site a look!) While Sonny days are hear, is there gloom around the corner?  The Biogenisis Case appears to be coming to a head, and Colon' name keeps appearing?  The real question at this points appears to be has Colon already been punished?  Or is this a new case?  The arrival of Gray provides lots of intrigue.  There is some thought out there that Gray would be a better reliever in the bigs.  Could the A's simply be looking to see if Gray could help them in the pen?  Here comes Gray, and here come the mighty Red Sox, with the best record in the AL.  From where I sit, if they wanted to ease Gray in, they would have not picked the series with the Sox.  Maybe there is or are some trades brewing in Beane and Co.'s office, but either way, something is brewing!

Flipping the Remote:

*Yesterday, (Tuesday July 9th) my favorite talk show host, KNBR 680's Gary Radnich, gave me a big boost of street cred when they read my trade proposal over the air.  My suggestion:  Jemile Weeks for Marco Scutaro. Giants would get an NL type of player, who is quick and young.  A's would get a veteran stick, who could also play shortstop in a pinch. A win-win scenario, naturally!  Any assistant General Manager positions out there?
*Oh man, the Giants are torture for their fans.  They should be sellers at the deadline, then use their cash in the off season to haul in as many electric arms as possible.  The 20 million dollar question, what will become of Timmy Lincecum?
*The Diamondbacks have left the door wide open for the Dodger$.  They will just keep adding players as the deadline draws nearer.  Arizona had better put all of their chips on the table, and in a hurry!  I am starting to see lots of Dodger hats out their on the street.
*Just when it looked like the Angels might be making a move, they have stumbled a bit.  Wow, still hard to believe.
*White Sox outfielder Alex Rios went 4 for 4 last night against A's Playoff Killer Justin Verlander.  Rios has had a roller coaster career, but if he can hit Verlander, he might be great coming off the bench.  Man I do not want the A's to have to play the Tigers and Verlander ever again in a playoff series.
*The Rangers are right there with the A's, in fact, the Rangers might be the most under the radar team who is playing great ball.
*Finally, the A's get a little love, finally, with Yo Yo Yoenis Cespedes being chosen to participate in the Home Run Derby.  The honor is great for Yo Yo, and he will be swinging from his pancreas.  Balfour will end up in the all-star game too, taking Colon's spot.  The real injustice is that Josh Donaldson will be be at home during the All Star break, he should be in NYC!
*How about Arnie in the stands last night in Pittsburgh?  I would have love to see him sipping on an Arnold Palmer of course!
**Great article on the A's by Yahoo's Tim Brown. (I love the name Tim Brown, actually I wanted to name our son Timmy Brown, but I couldn't get it past the committee.  At the time the name came from former Irish and Raider receiver, but clearly other parents liked the ring of the name too!)  Mr. Brown captured the essence of the A's, the O.Co, the fans, and the players!  Well done Timmy B!