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To deny that Oakland has a lot of work to do to get back into the American League West would be a lie. However, a team does not have to necessarily be a World Series favorite to get the fans excited. Come the first day of the season, any team could come out of a division and get into the playoffs. The question is, “Will the Oakland Athletics be one of those teams?”
Oakland has been one of the busier teams this off-season. There were no multi-team trades to steal headlines, but they did more than their fair share of free agency shopping over the winter. Was it enough to get back atop the division? Well, that remains to be seen. However, they should be a much better team than what they were last season.
The signing of Ben Sheets is a huge coup for Oakland. This is one of the most talented pitchers in the league and he has decided to take on the responsibility of leading this young staff into next season. While he has only signed a one-year deal, there will hopefully be more to come if Oakland can show signs of early life.
It addition to Mr. Sheets taking the ball every 5th day, Andrew Bailey will be there to clean the games up in the ninth inning. While he may not yet be a household name, if he duplicates his performance from last season, it is only a matter of time before everyone who loves baseball is uttering his name. There is little doubt that he will close out the game when the ball gets into his hands.
There may not be a big name star in the lineup, but that will change soon enough. Hey, even Pujols was a rookie at one time. Expect the A’s to rely more on their speed than their power this season and a lot of long rally innings that can cause teams to go deep into their bullpen and the scoreboard to light up like a Christmas tree.
The one advantage this very young team will have early in the season is that many of their opponents will be taking them lightly. They have the pitching to shut teams down and with the way they hit offensively, they can get some long innings to wear down pitching staffs. They are going to be in a lot of games this season.
You want a reason to come down to the ballpark? Consider the fact that there is an opportunity to see one of the best pitchers in the league and some of the best up and coming players in baseball. There are plenty of future stars on this team, however, are they ready to be stars now? If they are, look out world because here come the Oakland Athletics.
Written by Jake Kohler, article sponsored by TicketSeating.com. TicketSeating.com sells Oakland Athletics Tickets, MLB Tickets, Sports Tickets and many more tickets to just about any event in the world.
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