by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Starting today, Friday July 10, the Oakland Athletics have the worst record in the American League, with 39 wins and 49 loses. They open a three-game series in Cleveland tonight, and even if they win all three(prior to the All Star Break)they will still have the worst record in the league. Today they occupy last place in the division.

What’s on tap for the A’s? Billy Beane probably will already have some trade possibilities/combinations of trades on his desk, and by the end of the month we will know who is staying, who is leaving and who is coming to Oakland. We can only go by the Modus Operandi of the A’s General Manager in the past.
Athletics fans are battle hardened, and they have supported their team(not easy to do with so much instability)and they keep banging the drums in right field, no matter who is wearing the green and gold. You have to admire the A’s fan base, not as big as it once was, but nevertheless they are as loyal fans as you find anyplace. Often 15,000 fans at the OCO make more noise and have more enthusiasm that other places in baseball where they sell at least twice that amount of tickets for every game.

Easy targets to be traded, currently on the A’s roster are pitchers Scott Kazmir, Eric O’Flaherty and Tyler Clippard, super-utility Ben Zobrist, and then there could be a surprise if the A’s can get exactly what they want in return, they might have to part with an establish Athletics player, like Josh Reddick, who is a good left handed hitter and can help a bunch of teams looking for a good outfielder. Teams who are in the pennant race. In a couple of weeks it will be the anniversary of the A’s trading Yoenis Cespedes for Jon Lester, when they went “for broke”hoping to advance to the World Series, however Kansas City had other plans. There probably is only one untouchable player with this 2015 Oakland A’s, ace and All Star pitcher Sonny Gray; after that, everybody else is not very secure. A player a few years ago(which I will not mention)told me “when you come here, you should always be ready to get traded”.

We have already passed the first half of the season mathematically speaking. After the All Star break, the A’s have a total of 71 games left, no more no less, to conclude the 2015 regular season. Last year today, the national baseball media were talking of the A’s, “as the best team in baseball”, today everybody is expecting the sale of players to begin soon.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels, the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com