Talkin' Baseball: A's, Tigers, & Trading Crap For Crap

49er16: Will someone shut down the A's. A four-game sweep of the Yankees including two walk-offs to give them 11 walk-off victories on the year.

The Colonel: I see someone has found a new bandwagon to jump on.

49er16: Just admiring what the A's are doing right now. Look at that sweep of the Yankees. Three of the Oakland starting pitchers in that series were rookies who shut down that Yankees lineup. That's pretty damn impressive.

The Colonel: Even more impressive is that they have caught up the Angels. They could reach the playoffs this year as a Wild Card. Moneyball does work!

49er16: It is nice to see Beane get his mojo back via trades. Every trade he's made this past offseason has worked perfectly. Especially the Cahill and Bailey trades. Basically Beane went on an incredible hot streak at the Blackjack table.

The Colonel: I like how Beane got rid of two lemons (Bailey and Cahill) and vastly improved the team. I bet Beane right now is flipping over a desk in celebration!


49er16: Speaking of a hot team, I see the Tigers are now in first place in the AL Central. We both said they would eventually reach 1st, but not this soon.

The Colonel: Yep. And they're not going anywhere. The White Sox can trade for multiple Brett Myers' and Kevin Youkilis' and still not win that division. I wouldn't be surprised if the Tigers win that division by 5 games and neither the Indians or White Sox finish with a wild card spot.

49er16: Does their starting pitching worry you though? Yeah that lineup is nice, but besides Verlander is there anyone in that rotation that scares you?

The Colonel: Yeah they're set up for a run like last year. They can beat a team with their everyday players in the divisional series but get crushed in the league championship series because their pitching isn't that great. Too bad the trade market sucks right now.

49er16: Can you believe the Rockies traded Jeremy Guthrie to the Royals for Jonathon Sanchez? That's like taking a dump and trading it for someone else's dump. I can only imagine that conversation with the respective GM's going this way:

Dan O'Dowd (Rockies GM) "Hey Dayton this is Dan. How's life treating you in Kansas City?"

Dayton Moore (Royals GM) "Well Royals fans hate my guts. My five year plan has turned into a 10 year plan and that has turned the fans restless. Did you see their reaction to Robinson Cano? I'm their next target. I've actually been living here under an assumed name for a couple of months now. Other than that though, life is great."

O'Dowd "Sounds like fun. Hey I got a trade proposal for you. I need to get ride of Jeremy Guthrie because Coors Field is treating him like the gimp. Interested?"

Moore "Sure, only if you take Jonathon Sanchez. Wait until the fans see him pitch in Coors Field."

O'Dowd "I remember when he pitched in San Francisco. He once struck out seven Rockies players in a row in Coors Field. He'll be an excellent pickup."

Moore (giggling) "Yeah I'm sure Sanchez will pitch just fine in Colorado."

O'Dowd "You go yourself a deal!"

The Colonel: Watch Sanchez shut out the Giants in Coors Field. You know it's coming.

49er16: Oh I fully expect Sanchez to shut out the Giants during a game the Giants have to win to make the playoffs.

The Colonel: The NL Central has suddenly become fun to watch. The Pirates have won 5 games in a row and are a half game back of the Reds who have won 4 games in a row. And the Cards are only 5 games out themselves. I hope that division comes down to the last weekend.

49er16: I think it will. The Pirates aren't going anywhere and the Cards should stay in the hunt. I just don't want to see Dusty and his gang in the playoffs. Actually I take that back. I hope the Giants play the Reds for I can see Dusty give Mike Leake the game ball on the mound.

The Colonel: Just our luck though the Reds will probably win that series.