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Per ESPN Deportes: "The Oakland Athletics are 'very interested' in making Manny Ramirez their designated hitter next season," a source said. (The source, we'd assume, is a baseball insider named "Bott Scoras," but we digress.) Ramirez appeared in a supremely forgettable 17 at-bats for the Rays last year before he retired because a less forgettable positive drug test posed a potential 100-game suspension. (Manny struck a deal with MLB this offseason, so he'll only miss 50 games if he comes back.) Then he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in September. More »
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Oakland pulled off a trade yesterday, sending Trevor Cahill, Craig Breslow and some cash to the Diamondbacks. In return, Oakland received "one of the Diamondbacks' top young pitching prospects, right-hander Jarrod Parker, plus outfielder Collin Cowgill and reliever Ryan Cook, a pair of rookies." More »
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We've heard from many of the figures on the periphery of Moneyball since the movie hit theaters two weeks ago, but one we hadn't heard from was Billy Bean, the former Tigers, Dodgers, and Padres outfielder who came out of the closet in 1999. Bean, because of that slight difference in names, has often been mistaken for the Athletics' GM, and vice versa. More »
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Although advanced baseball analysis had been around for years, Michael Lewis's 2003 book Moneyball, about the Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane's using it to build their roster, helped to start an online industry of carping about player evaluation and team structure. The release of the 2011 film adapted from it has similarly started an industry of carping and re-carping about Moneyball itself. It's too bad, because it's a smart, engaging movie that vindicates the sort of thinking many of those critics would defend. More »
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Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: "Sabey Sabes" was a Hollywood invention. The real one was much worse. More »
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Moneyball, the long-delayed film adaptation of Michael Lewis's book about Paul DePodesta's TI-89 and Jeremy Brown's love handles, hits theaters next week. It's a big thing for baseball folks, because Moneyball helped bring a statistically inclined subculture to the mainstream. You'll notice this in writing—Bill James and Baseball Prospectus got big—and in front offices, where the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Blue Jays adopted versions of Oakland's strategies. More »
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Justin Verlander had a weird little blooper against the A's on Saturday wherein he stepped off the rubber as if to throw to first but wound up going home anyway, nearly plunking David DeJesus in the process. It was funny. We'd show you the video, but if we did Major League Baseball would get its crinoline in a bunch and send us another in a series of sternly worded telegrams, and we'd have to take the video down anyway. So here's your fucking blooper. I drew it myself. More »
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But only if you get the large. In a tempest-in-a-plastic-cup reminiscent of the Seahawks' scandal, an $8 domestic draft only gets you a wee bit more than a $5 small. More »
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Baseball wants to get a referendum on an Athletics' San Jose stadium off of the November ballot, because it might not pass. To do so, they're willing to pay the city to hold a special election in the spring. Shady business, Bud. More »
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Yes, the A's are selling "Get Off My Mound" t-shirts. They were a big hit in the visiting locker room last night among the Yankees, but Dallas Braden his own self isn't too pleased. More »
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Will Leitch will be previewing/musing on every baseball team each weekday until the start of the season. You can pre-order his book and follow him on Twitter. Today: The Oakland Athletics. More »
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The New York Times seems to think he did, only the paper says so in such a mealymouthed and sidelong way that one starts to wonder if something else is going on here. More »
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The Oakland A's put Jason Giambi on the DL last month, due to major sucking issues, but today they decided, "You know, Jason ... why don't you just go away? Forever." More »
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At most ballgames, you're lucky if one interesting thing happens in your section. A foul ball, a violent arrest, dudes falling down stairs? Well, some lucky A's fans saw it all in the span of about 30 seconds. More »
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Under Billy Beane, the Oakland A's won by scraping together undervalued assets. Since the rest of baseball has started valuing assets properly, the A's are having a harder time. The same thing is happening to baseball's leading propeller-heads. More »
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The cast of Steven Soderbergh's ridiculous Moneyball adaptation is starting to come together and it looks to be about as awesome as a dramatic feature about sabermetrics could possibly be. More »
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Ozzie Guillen: "It's a hard day for the Bay Area. If it's police or fireman or military and you take their life away because they're protecting our country, it's a sad thing." [San Francisco Chronicle] More »
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Nothing against the fine folks of Fremont, but if you're a Major League Baseball team and they don't want you, it may be time to reconsider hanging around the San Francisco Bay Area. More »
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Because your child has always wanted to wear a sports coat and tie while playing video games, it's MLB Front Office Manager by 2K Sports! More »
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More excerpts from Jay McGwire's book proposal, The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger, and Ultimate Family Redemption: More »
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Thanks for the plaque, Baseball Hall of Fame. But just for the record, Rickey isn't through yet. Anyone need a 50-year-old outfielder? More »
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Rickey Henderson was swept into the Baseball Hall of Fame today with a landslide majority of 511 votes, while others received a few less. More »
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• No Way This Ends Badly. Cubs, Milton Bradley agree to sane, very thrifty three-year, $30 million deal, pending physical examination. Hopefully will not include psychological testing. [Chicago Tribune] More »
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Finally, there's hope for Barry Zito. First, you need to sustain a couple of concussions ... look, it's complicated. But the upshot is that you change to a sidearm delivery. Then you, like the Oakland Athletics' Brad Ziegler, might one day break the major league record for consecutive scoreless innings to start a career. More »
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Slate's Robert Weintraub, like many of us, loves the old purple prose of early 1900s sportswriting, the Grantland Rices, the men who painted epic tales of warriors, grizzled combatants and lardywarks too manly to wear gloves. In an occasional series, Weintraub writes about the week's best baseball game in the style of the vaunted sportswriters of yesteryear. This week: The Rays' win last night over the A's. More »
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We haven't been to McAfee Coliseum this year — and judging by the attendance figures, few of you have either — but much ado has been made about the upper deck's All You Can Eat package, which is $35, not counting medical bills. How much could you eat? More »
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Breaking news in the Beijing Olympics controversy: They're fixing the toilets. I've prayed for this day (dabs at eye with hankie). It makes sense. The Chinese government realized that if it wants the Olympics to run efficiently, then it needs to address this pressing issue. Simply put, American athletes will put up with a little Tibetan monk gassing, but they refuse to squat! More »
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This photo pretty much explains the lunacy of the Red Sox-A's series in Japan. They had all this pageantry before the second game. Each of these teams is pretty much going to have four opening days. You could argue the Red Sox will have five. More »
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Well, this is kind of cheating, considering the Oakland A's already played this morning, and lost, but we hope that having 1/162 of the season over already won't make you distrust our predictions any more than you already do. More »
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Say what you will about having the start of the baseball season happen in Japan, but, all told, it's not too shabby to come into work and watch the end of a game while drinking your coffee. And if you're a Red Sox fan, it's doubly pleasant. More »
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Well, it's doesn't feel the start of the baseball season tomorrow morning — jeez, like, 11 hours from now — but it is, in fact, the beginning: The Red Sox and the A's, in the Tokyo Dome, 6 a.m., baseball is here ... kind of. More »
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The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's landed in Japan yesterday — their series starts Tuesday at 6 a.m. ET — after an 18-hour flight. We've never taken an 18-hour flight, but if we did, the last thing we'd want as soon as we got off the plane would be a bunch of photographers ready to take our picture. More »
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For the third consecutive season, we are proud to introduce the Deadspin Baseball Season Previews. Yes, baseball is awfully close now; it's spring training, after all. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=361546&view=rss&microfeed=true An A's fans guttural reaction to the Dan Haren trade. [CurveballCity.com] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=334374&view=rss&microfeed=true I, for one, look forward to the day Oakland A's mascot Stomper is voted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. Between "getting hyphy" with the fans, breaking like a member of the Rock Steady Crew, and now this ... that elephant's gonna have one hell of an induction ceremony! More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=302632&view=rss&microfeed=true Billy Beane, hanging out with the blogs again. [Athletics Nation] More »
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Mike Piazza has suffered through much in his career. One time everybody thought he was gay. He once was traded to the Marlins. Also, one time, people thought he was a gay. It's been a tough life. But now, now he has suffered through the ultimate indignity. More »
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Tonight, the summer of Pants Parties continues: We'll be hitting ole Shea Stadium for the A's-Mets showdown. DiNardo! Glavine! Eight dollar beers! Welcome to New York. More »
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Anyone who has paid attention the world of sabermetrics and Baseball Prospectus over the last few years is probably familiar with Jack Cust. For years, he was that supposed slugging Colorado catcher we were all waiting to take over the National League, the guy we hoped no one else in our fantasy league knew about. And we waited and waited and waited ... and then it just never happened. Even the most devoted stathead gave up on him. More »
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All right, last one of the day until tomorrow ... we think this is actually the easiest division to pick, which is why, obviously, we're going to have it entirely wrong. More »
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