Well, it’s official. The Oakland Athletics announced they granted Manny Ramirez his unconditional release. Can’t say I’m too surprised by that one. Operation Mannyball: Failed.
I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal. He just never really got going, only hitting 2 doubles and zero home runs in AAA Sacramento, a hitter-friendly environment. Apart from that, he can only DH, so he’d be taking the spot of Seth Smith and Johnny Gomes, who are two of the A’s better hitters. Smith in particular is killing it the past ten games with a slash line of .457/.525/.829, not to mention Brandon Ross is doing his best Babe Ruth impression. An offense starved of offense as bad as Oakland’s can’t afford replace hot hitters with a 40-year-old, sans-steroids question mark.
It’s a little anticlimactic, and certainly isn’t the sexy storyline but in the end it doesn’t really affect the A’s. They were only paying him a prorated minimum salary, which he never received because he never reached the majors. No harm no foul.
Manny Ramirez, I wish you the best and hope you get a chance to redeem yourself. But let’s be honest: if you can’t crack the A’s lineup, how many more chances can you expect?
Who’s the All-Star: Every team gets a representative in the All-Star Game, of course, but I can’t see a scenario where the A’s will get more than one. So who will it be?
Yoenis Cespedes seemed like a good choice until his injury troubles, and Jemile Weeks was probably the preseason favorite, but that isn’t happening.
I think the obvious choice is Josh Reddick who’s been the best player for the A’s all year. He hit his 15th homer of the year on Thursday and is hitting a robust .274/.346/.531. Those are certainly all-star numbers, especially for a light hitting team like the A’s. The problem is with guys like Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, and Mike Trout among others, it will be difficult for Reddick to crack an already crowded all-star outfield situation.
Another option could be rookie pitcher, Jarrod Parker. He hasn’t been invincible and his 2.82 ERA isn’t Cy Young worthy, but his numbers have been hurt by only a couple of bad outings. One was against the Giants and the other was against his former team, the Diamondbacks. Other than that he’s been spectacular and he even flirted with a no hitter against the mighty Texas Rangers.
Even though I think it should be Josh Reddick, my money is on Ryan Cook. He has only given up 2 earned runs in 28 innings wracking up 27 strikeouts in that span. He’s been absolutely lights out, enough so to take over the closer’s spot as a rookie. I think Cook will follow the path that Huston Street and Andrew Bailey paved before him as rookie closers to represent the A’s in the mid-summer classic.
Russell Signs: The A’s have signed their first round draft choice (11th overall) Addison Russell for the suggested slot bonus of $2.65 million. Russell is an athletic shortstop with tons of upside and is a guy the A’s have very high hopes for.
Once the deadline passes to sign draft picks I will do a complete review of the A’s draft with scouting reports of my favorite picks.
