Joe Blanton was supposed to pitch Friday in New York. That was before he was traded to the Phillies on Thursday.
So the A's sent lefty Greg Smith to the Yankee Stadium mound, three days after it was used for the 79th All-Star Game, and he was charged with six runs in Oakland's 7-1 loss to the Yankees.
The A's didn't announce that Gio Gonzalez would be called up from Class AAA Sacramento to take Blanton's place, as was speculated. Instead, they said lefty Dallas Braden will move into the rotation and start Tuesday against Tampa Bay.
Dan Haren was traded to the Diamondbacks, Rich Harden to the Cubs and Blanton to the Phillies. All out of the AL, and now they can't come back and haunt the A's. The aftereffects are noticeable in the A's rotation, which will take some getting used to. YANKEES 7, A'S 1: Oakland's only run came on an RBI groundout by Ryan Sweeney in the first inning. For the Yankees, Robinson Cano homered off Greg Smith and Alex Rodriguez went deep off Dallas Braden. The A's, usually a patient team at the plate, drew no walks off Mike Mussina in six innings. The A's have lost three in a row.
Copyright (C) 2008 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
If he is not the next to go, he certainly will not be with the A's to end the season. Embree has a big $3+ million salary and is a veteran left-hander that can come in and get out a big bat when needed. I see this lefty headed to a playoff team within the next month.
I don't know how many of you read Baseball America's articles. But part of this thread was plucked from their Weekly Prospect Hot Sheet. (A Weekly rundown of the hottest players in the minors) Last week the A's had 3 of the top 4 players.
Since there has been quite a bit of discussion recently about who would take Joe Balnton's spot in the rotation, I thought I wou
I don't know how many of you read Baseball America's articles. But part of this thread was plucked from their Weekly Prospect Hot Sheet. (A Weekly rundown of the hottest players in the minors) Last week the A's had 3 of the top 4 players.
Since there has been quite a bit of discussion recently about who would take Joe Balnton's spot in the rotation, I thought I wou
I don't know how many of you read Baseball America's articles. But part of this thread was plucked from their Weekly Prospect Hot Sheet. (A Weekly rundown of the hottest players in the minors) Last week the A's had 3 of the top 4 players.
Since there has been quite a bit of discussion recently about who would take Joe Balnton's spot in the rotation, I thought I wou
(POLL)
Now that Country Joe is now a Philly, who do you think should get the open spot in the rotation? And if you feel so inclined, why?
Personally, I like either Gio Gonzalez or Kirk Saarloos. Gonzalez has been doing okay in AAA and might be ready for some Show experience (since we are apparently looking beyond this season now)
