MLB the Show: Oakland Athletics Dynasty

[wcs71401]

New Mayor in Town
OAKLAND, CA - Well the ownership group of the Oakland Athletics did it again. They have decided to go with inexperience to run their club. We are used to this team trading away young talent for prospects so they are doing something similar with the GM spot. "I wasn't really looking for a job and then they called and offered it to me so I had to say yes" new GM said. "We have some talent here and some people that are replaceable so we will see what happens when the time comes" GM added.

It is going to be an interesting season that is for sure so you may want to tune in and see how this one plays out.

[wcs71401]

Seattle Mariners (0-0) vs Oakland Athletics (0-0)
April 1-3
Oakland, California
Probable Starters:
Felix Hernandez (0-0, 0.00) vs Trevor Cahill (0-0, 0.00)
Erik Bedard (0-0, 0.00) vs Brett Anderson (0-0, 0.00)
Michael Pineda (0-0, 0.00) vs Dallas Braden (0-0, 0.00)

---------- Post added at 08:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 AM ----------

Game 1: Game didn't go as planned for the A's. Firstly starting pitcher Trevor Cahill left the game in the second inning with an injury and as of right now we are not sure what the extent is. The A's were victimized by the long ball and the Mariners behind Felix Hernandez win the first game 6-2.

Notables:
Seattle: Franklin Gutierrez, 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
Oakland: David DeJesus, 3-4, 2 RBI

Game 2 : In over our heads? Perhaps. For the second straight game the A's didn't get the best out of their starter. Todays victim was Brett Anderson. Anderson started the game out ok but was sent packing after two and a third innings after giving up nine runs. Not sure what is going to happen from here on out but that is two poor starts for what is arguably one of the better rotations in baseball. "We are going to ride it out for a bit. It is a learning process" GM said.

Notables:
Seattle: Justin Smoak, 4-5, 4 RBI, 2 2B, 2 R
Oakland: Mark Ellis, 1-3, RBI, 2B

Game 3: Hard to believe after the first two games of the season but the A's came out victorious on the strength of Dallas Braden's arm and Kurt Suzuki's bat. Wasn't too sure what was going to happen since the first two starters got shelled but Braden pitched a very good game to notch his first win and the teams first win of the season.

Notables:
Seattle: Greg Halman, 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
Oakland: Kurt Suzuki, 2-4, HR. 4 RBI, 2B, R

[wcs71401]

Series one has been updated

---------- Post added at 08:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 AM ----------

Oakland Athletics (1-2) vs Toronto Blue Jays (0-3)
Toronto, Ontario
April 5-7
Probable Starters:
Gio Gonzalez (0-0, 0.00) vs Jesse Litsch (0-0, 0.00)
Josh Outman (0-0, 0.00) vs Carlos Villanueva (0-0, 0.00)
Trevor Cahill (0-1, 9.00) vs Ricky Romero (0-1, 3.60)

Game 1: I think the wind was blowing out of the Rodger's Centre tonight as both clubs combined for 9 homers in the game. When the dust settled the A's came out on top with the score 10-7. Gio Gonzalez was very disappointing but ended up getting the win since the A's bats picked him up. Hope the series doesn't continue that way.

Notables:
Oakland - Josh Willingham, 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, 3B, 2 R
Toronto - Rajai Davis, 3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB, 2 R

Game 2: The Athletics let this one slip away in extra innings losing to the Jays 3-2. Josh Outman was outstanding in his first start of the year. He had a one-hitter going until it was broken up but a homer by Juan Rivera. Hideki Matsui is starting to pick things up as he hit one into the stands for his second homer of the season. The rubber game of the series will have to wait until tomorrow since I am out of time for today.

Notables:
Oakland: Hideki Matsui, 2-4, HR, RBI, R
Toronto: Juan Rivera, 2-4, HR, RBI, R

Game 3: The A's get beat by the long ball yet again. Trevor Cahill had his second consecutive terrible start. So far in 2011 he is 0-2 with an ERA of 14.21. Not entirely sure what is going on with him but hopefully he will get squared away. Nine homers were hit in this game with the Jays collecting four of them including two by Travis Snider. The A's bullpen wasn't terrible although they allowed a couple more runs to put this one out of reach. The A's lose the final game of the series 10-7.

Notables:
Oakland: Kurt Suzuki, 2-5, HR, RBI, 2 R
Toronto: Travis Snider, 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

[wcs71401]

Oakland Tades Ellis to Royals
Taking advantage of the sometimes unfair trading engine in the video game, A's Gm traded aging veteran Mark Ellis to the Royals in exchange for Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, and Jeremy Jeffress. This move helps us alot because we were never fans of Ellis and this gives us some good prospects to eventually trade later to keep it like the A's keep it. Current A's centerfielder Coco Crisp was asked what he thought of the team acquiring a centerfielder and he said "It isn't a secret that they don't like me here so I wouldn't be surprised if I am next". A's GM said "We are waiting a response from a team and yes Coco is next. He is so smart".

Stay tuned to see how this all plays out.

[wcs71401]

Oakland Athletics (2-4) vs Minnesota Twins (4-3)
April 8-10
Target Field --Minnesota
Probable Starters:
Brett Anderson (0-1, 34.71) vs Scott Baker (1-0, 1.50)
Dallas Braden (1-0, 3.86) vs Brian Duensing (1-0, 3.86)
Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 12.60) vs Nick Blackburn (0-1, 81.00)

[COLOR="darkred"]

Game 1: The struggles continue in O-Town. Despite a great pitching performance from starter Brett Anderson, the A's bats couldn't come alive and Anderson suffered his second loss of the season by a score of 2-1. Not sure what else needs to happen here but when you rely on the long ball for success you will find yourself in the basement of the division quicker then you think.

Notables:
Oakland: Coco Crisp, 1-4
Minnesota: Justin Morneau, 3-3, RBI, 3 2B, R

---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 AM ----------

Brian Fuentes Sent to Indians
The A's kept busy and sent relief pitcher and former closer Brian Fuentes to Cleveland in exchange for Orlando Cabrera and Chris Perez. "We needed to fill a hole at second and when the Indians called about Fuentes we had to pull the trigger" GM said. He was asked if more moves are to be expected and he said that we can count on it. If the A's pitching doesn't get on track will we see one of their young stars moved? Time will tell.

[wcs71401]

Crisp is Taking His Talents to Washington After Trade
Again taking huge advantage of a horrible trading engine the A's traded Coco Crisp to the Nationals for Bryce Harper. "I couldn't believe this when I heard the news" all of California said after the trade was made public. "This was another deal that was a no-brainer for us" GM said. Maybe this is the spark they were looking for. We will see.

[wcs71401]

Game froze after my big win so I am going to have to hope I can get the same outcome when I play the game again tomorrow.

[CoreyR]

I'll be updating my franchise soon. You made some very very nice moves. I'm on the cusp of trading Casey Blake who has been terrible for me this season. He is aging, and I think I want to get rid of him. I just don't know what I want to go after. I'd be perfectly fine platooning Aaron Miles and Jamey Carroll who have both been great off the bench. I might try to get a really good relief pitcher since Guerrier has been struggling for me.

[wcs71401]

I have to say that if the game freezes again I am going to start a new one with a different team.
Depending on how long the system update takes I am going to try and knock a couple of games out while I think about the direction I want to go on in the Dugout Debate.

[wcs71401]

Game 2

OAK at MIN - Target Field -- Minnesota
Apr 9, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland Athletics (3-5)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	0
Minnesota Twins (5-4)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
W: D. Braden (2-0) L: J. Mijares (0-1) S: A. Bailey (3)

Dallas Braden once again stopped a losing streak by pitching 7 outstanding innings of three-hit ball. Oakland trailed in this game 1-0 until the 8th inning when a couple of basehits and a couple of stolen bases put them in position to win. The A's turned the ball over to the pen with a 2-1 lead and Chris Perez and Andrew Bailey delivered preserving the win for Braden and the A's. Looking forward to the rubber match of the series.

Game 3

OAK at MIN - Target Field -- Minnesota
Apr 10, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Oakland Athletics (3-6)	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	1	1	8	15	2
Minnesota Twins (6-4)	0	1	3	3	2	0	0	3	X	12	17	0
W: N. Blackburn (1-1) L: G. Gonzalez (1-1) S: A. Slama (1)

The series finale didn't go as planned for Gio Gonzalez of the A's. Gio was bad again but this time he lost for his poor effort. The A's made it interesting when they put 6 runs up in an inning, but Rich Harden couldn't keep them in it for long. The A's are now 3-6 and are heading to Chi-town for a series against the White Sox before heading back home.