Oakland A's

So the Oakland A;s are in first place in the AL Wild Card race and because I'll be busy today - I thought I'd just say "I told you so". Here's what I said about the A's back on June 7th:

Danny Haren of the A's is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his last two starts. Prior to this Haren was 1-7 with a 5.02 ERA. The big difference is control. In his last two starts Haren hasn't walked anyone while striking out 9. Before - he had 27 walks and 46 K's. If Haren can harness this control and Harden comes back and pitches the way he was pitching before he went on the DL and finally if Barry Zito continues his improvement - then it is probably too early to count out the A's as many people are doing. Huston Street looks like the real deal at closer and Eric Chavez is coming around. The A's need a big bat and Bill Beane isn't shy on pulling the trigger on a deal. Don't count out the A's yet.

Just so you don't think that I got lucky with that bit of foresight - here's what I said about the A's in January:

The Baseball Crank takes a look at Oakland's off season moves and he concludes that they took a significant step backward this offseason.

I disagree. I think the A's could be a real sleeper this season. Here are my thoughts:

- Kendall is a significant offensive upgrade at catcher
- Hopefully the A's will have a full season of Eric Chavez who missed significant time last year and who should be an MVP candidate year-in and year-out
- Bobby Crosby offensively had a great deal of drop off after the All-Star break. Hopefully he'll make the adjustments and add even more to the offense
- The AL West isn't exactly a pitcher's division. Even with the revamped rotation - it is possible that the A's still have the best starting pitching in the division
- The A's have a stocked farm system and have the prospects necessary to make a big splash at trade-deadline time.

I think the Oakland A's win the AL West next year.

So I'm no Johnny come lately to thew A's bandwagon but I must admit that I'm not sold on them winning the AL West.