Are A's contenders? Don't ask me...or them

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July 18, 2:23 PM

by David Bush, S.F. Baseball Examiner

 

 

Joe Blanton .... AP Photo

I don’t know the answer, which is OK. I am not really supposed to. But I don’t believe they know what to make of their situation this season, either.

They are consistently vague. You can read assistant GM David Forst’s quotes on the Blanton deal and you would swear you were reading boss Billy Beane’s from a couple of weeks ago when Rich Harden was dealt.

Beane at the time said that trade was not a step back for 2008,  "but a step forward for the next four or five years. ... We've always viewed it as where we're headed, not necessarily where we are."

Fast forward to Forst this week.“We still like the team we have. ... '08 still has a chance to be a great year, but beyond that is what we've done all this for."

So there you have it. They are peeling off their starting rotation one pitcher at a time with an eye on the future. Yet they still say they have designs on catching the Angels. I think they just are not sure.It’s easy to see why. This season has been hard to define.  On Sunday afternoon the A’s were three outs away from taking two out of three from the division leaders and closing to within four games of them. After losing that game they come out of the All-Star break six back with no head to head meetings until late August.

These trades do not necessarily mean an unconditional surrender. Granted two fifths of the starting staff that began the year is now elsewhere. But the A’s might feel that Harden is not durable enough for a stretch run and Blanton’s mediocrity has been exposed. If they want to contend they have to do it with Justin Duchscherer and the kids.

I think the A’s hope to get a better handle on where they are when Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney and Eric Chavez return from the disabled list. If they can trigger a surge, then the A’s will be contenders again. If not, the team is probably headed for a sub .500 finish. But at least their status will be defined.

By exceeding first half expectations, this team has only confused everybody. Including themselves. 

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