The A’s are playing like a distracted team which is not unusual when one of the teams most important staff members is on the verge of being removed from the major league staff.

When Ken Macha was hired to manage the team in October, he inherited his coaching staff, other than being permitted to bring in his friend Terry Francona as his bench coach.

From the comments in the news over the last few days, it is clear Macha does not want hitting coach Thad Bosley on his staff. At no time has Macha defended Bosley or has he indicated his support of the A’s hitting coach. The public evidence seems clear, the two men don’t see eye to eye.

As I said earlier in November, Macha’s test as a manager will come when the team faces adversity, that time is now.

Clearly, the general manager will act soon. The team has not played up to its potential over the last few weeks.

Whenever the A’s pitching is less than spectacular, they are in for a rough day. It is not easy to play 162 games under those conditions.

So, someone needs to be blamed for the offensive woes. With Art Howe in NY (the usual scapegoat in the spring), the annual May fingerpointing points toward the hitting coach since the manager just got hired and it is too early to look in his direction.

So, it it is May and you are in Oakland, and the team is struggling, it is someone’s fault, and Thad Bosley, sorry, but the wheel just stopped on your number.

Forget the fact that Bosley has had two rather undisciplined hitters to work with as his main offensive weapons (Miguel “MVP” Tejada and Eric “If they would only let me hit against lefties I’d be fine” Chavez) the past two years.

The manager wants his own guy, he blames the hitting coach for the lack of offense, the hitting coach responds to the criticism, they clash, so guess who goes?

Now is the time for Macha to be the leader of the team, let’s see how he responds when Bosley leaves.

What an unnecessary distraction.

Anyone see Seattle’s record lately.

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With the Athletics sitting four games back of the Mariners in second place in the AL West, it is time to assess the players and give them grades for the first 52 games of the 2003 season, about one third of the year now in the books.

Mark Mulder is getting better every time out on the mound. Thursday night, the big lefty completely dominated the Royals enroute to his eighth win of the year. As I said two weeks ago, unless something happens to Mulder, he will start the All Star game in Chicago for the American League.

Mulder gets an “A” for his work in 2003.

Click below for my take on the rest of the team. [Read more →]

Baseball fans live to analyze their teams chances for success. One variable that no one can predict is the injury bug, which inevitably hits each team sometime during the season.

Will the Mariners stay healthy for 162 games? Will Edgar Martinez, John Olerud, and Jamie Moyer last thru August?

The baseball season is a long grind, the summer months are particularly difficult because the off days are few, the weather is hot, and the players have been playing since February.

Erick Hinske is gone for two months with a broken hand, Fernando Vina is out two months with a hamstring, Darin Erstad has missed at least one month with various muscle injuries, and Jermaine Dye has been out for one month with a knee.

Who knows how Barry Bonds and Randy Johnson will hold up once they get back into the lineup?

The A’s have a relatively young team and that is a major plus when assessing their chances to win the West. Last summer, they put away Boston (with an injured Pedro) and Seattle with a tremendous second half run. Manager Ken Macha told me last summer that the A’s would beat the older teams. He was right they did and should do it again this year once the weather heats up.

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The Rangers missed a chance to get to .500 Saturday, no small accomplishment for a team that has Alan Benes and a soon to be returning Chan Ho Park in its starting rotation.

A Rod is a league leader in strikeouts, but Carl Everett, Michael Young (highly unknown infielder, and Hank Blalock are firmly entrenched among the top ten in hitting in the AL.

In case you are wondering, Texas is last in the league in pitching with an ERA hovering around the 5.80 mark.

With all that in mind, the Rangers are making life uncomfortable for the Angels and they did sweep the reeling Yankees in Yankee Stadium last weekend.

I’m keeping my eyes on Texas for a while, they just might be the Angels of 2003. They hit and don’t stop hitting, if only they had average pitching, they might scare the big boys in the West.

Kyle Lohse continued his hot pitching last night in Seattle. A native American from Northern California, this young man stopped the Mariners at home, not easy to do.

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Last week I predicted that Mark Mulder will start the All Star game in Chicago this year. yesterday, after beating the Royals in a little over two hours, Mulder left the Bay Area for Chicago for his brother’s Sunday wedding.

Mulder better study the airline schedule because he will be back to the Windy City in July to start the big game.

The Royals have a nice snappy up the middle defense, but lack discipline right now overall and are just what the doctor ordered for the A’s. Oakland and Kansas City will play six more times finishing up next Sunday in KC.

Until Jeremy Affeldt goes to the hill, I wouldn’t worry too much about the Royals, they do just enough wrong to lose to a solid team like the A’s, virtually every time out.

The Giants can hear the footsteps of the Dodgers loud and clear. Milwaukee is ready to roll over for LA, while San Fran’s pitching staff gets mauled in Coors Field. Barry Bonds probably won’t play today in Colorado due to a sore knee, hurt in a fielding attempt in Friday’s game.

Kurt Ainsworth gets his first taste of Rocky Mountain baseball and may be a pleasant surprise if he relies on a sinking fastball, the only pitch that works in Colorado.

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According to the signals coming from Chicago, Jerry Manuel’s job is hanging by one more losing streak.

Wally Backman, former Met is managing in the Sox’s minor league system. The funny thing is Backman’s team has been running like crazy and that is the philosophy he would like to bring to the Southside of Chicago.

Someone should introduce him to Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, and Carlos Lee. Once Backman takes a quick look at the roster I wonder how many times he will go over the steal sign with these guys.

Minor league hitter Joe Borchard still isn’t hitting, he’s not the answer as of yet. The big club needs an overhaul before any manager can turn things around.

Jerry Manuel is not the cause of the the Chicago troubles, their inability to handle Minnesota is one of the major things holding the Sox back. With Mark Buehrle struggling, the Sox only have Bartolo Colon and Esteban Loaiza as bright spots on the mound.

Sacking Jerry Manuel for run happy Wally Backman won’t make things any better, if they really want a solid baseball man they should tap Chicago native and Cubs AAA manager Mike Quade, who taught the current A’s players how to play the game.

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In today’s game, no matter how strong your starting pitching is, you better have a deep bullpen to get the ball to the closer.

If you pitched in the majors as late as the early eighties, it wasn’t a shock to see you as the starting pitcher go the distance.

I’ve been told by Hall of Fame pitchers that the toughest outs to get in a ballgame are 25, 26, and 27. The great starters wanted the ball in the ninth inning and got those tough outs much to the delight of the manager and the hurler’s teammates.

Wouldn’t you like to see Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and others finish their games on a regular basis.

The A’s lost Wednesday’s game because Ricardo Rincon and Chad Bradford couldn’t hold a 3-2 eighth inning lead handed to them by Barry Zito who was removed after throwing 110 pitches in seven innings.

Pitchers today just are not trained to finish what they start and even though they turn the game over to skilled specialists, who usually do OK, the starters are the ones I want in there when the going gets tough. I say give them a chance to close the deal themselves. They just might do it.

The Giants suffered with Felix Rodriguez on Monday night. The Mets fell apart with David Weathers on the mound against Philadelphia. Jose Contreras gave it up to the Red Sox. All as late inning relievers. You see it night after night unless you root for Houston and their deep effective bullpen.

For one season I’d like to see the starters pushed to the point where they throw 125- 135 pitches per game, just to see if they could get it done.

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The National League presents different problems than the junior circuit because there are no powerhouse teams other than possibly the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves are surprising everyone with their offense. Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles, Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez, Andruw Jones, and my MVP leader at the quarter pole, Gary Sheffield are simply crushing the ball every night.

Greg Maddux is still shakey, but Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz have been solid and have been there before, so they give Bobby Cox a decent starter three of the five nights in the rotation. Horacio Ramirez has had his moments, too.

John Smoltz is automatic with help from Roberto Hernandez who is decent setting Smoltzie up.

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It’s interesting to take a look at baseball in May, over the course of the game’s history, charting a team’s chances in spring rarely gives us a true read on how the race will end in October.

But, you can’t get to the finish line in first place unless you are showing some signs that you have what it takes to make it over the long haul.

So, any surprises so far? Using the immortal words that Jeff Kent used when answering the media’s questions, “You bet”.

Click below and find out how the races in the AL stack up. [Read more →]

My daughter Bonnie is marrying Greg Barme on Sunday (we are thrilled), so no Dish tomorrow, but instead it’s the Sunday Morning Muse on Saturday.

The Mets are losing players and games at an alarming rate. With Mo Vaughn gone with a knee injury, Mike Piazza disabled with a pulled groin, and Jeromy Burnitz still out, Art Howe can give some playing time to his bench.

Raul Gonzalez can hit the fastball, finding an outfield spot for him may be more difficult since he doesn’t run very well. Vance Wilson is a nice catcher and can hit with some pop. So, all is not lost for the Mets if these two can develop as adequate replacements for the high priced vets.

I have the feeling that the Padres are going to be major players in the free agent market next season when they move into their new ballpark.

Americans will forget about the Yankees Hideki Matsui when the new Matsui comes over next season. This import plays shortstop with real power and is an impact player so say all the scouts who have seen him. The Padres want him big time. Miguel tejada is on their radar screen as well.

Mark Buehrle joined Al Leiter in the growing list of major league pitchers who have given up ten runs in one of their starts. With middle relief what it is (mediocre), managers leave the starter in until it is absolutely necessary to get him out of the game.

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