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When the team you root for is at the bottom

By Patrick Patterson | November 13, 2008

When a team is flying high, the ranks of their fans swell to epic proportions. (See also 1990's Dallas Cowboys.) The new fans that arrive are often derided by the long time fans as "bandwagoners." These long time fans are the ones who suffered through the down times, and can truly taste the joy of the winning seasons. There are some teams that do not know what it is like to have a true down cycle such as NCAA's University of Kentucky Wildcats in basketball (One losing season in the last several generations.) Other teams such as the Detroit Lions or Kansas City Royals (One world series appearance) don't have the history of up times to have acquired a bandwagon. When a team that has a history of domination, such as the Oakland Raiders falls on hard times, it takes its toll on the fan base. The Raider Nation is...

5 Comments | Tags: Chicago Cubs, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Royals, Kentucky, MLB, NCAA, NCAA Basketball, NFL, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, University of Kentucky Wildcats

The Not Necessarily Incorrect Daily Update News Vol. 14

By LDizzle | November 12, 2008

Good day ladies and gents, It's the Sinister Denizen of the Darkside LDizzle here to bring you the news from around the sports world. As always, we bring it to you unfiltered and fair and balanced. That means equal opportunity offending with some less equal offending reserved for certain teams and individuals as I see fit. Tonight! Mormons hate gay people. Could you be next? Moron that later. Does Hockey still exist? We will check in with several historians to find out. Are the Raiders going to the Superbowl this year? And can Al Davis can afford all of the tickets? Can the Raiders reconstruct their 4th quarter preseason roster? Greyson Gunheim says "Yes". If my Viagra pen ran out of ink, would that be the definition of irony? THIS is The Not Necessarily Incorrect Daily Update News!...

4 Comments | Tags: Al Davis, Arizona Cardinals, Billy Bean, Brandon Marshall, Brandon Stokley, Carolina Panthers, Colorado Rockies, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Greyson Gunheim, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Warner, Matt Holliday, Memphis Grizzlies, MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, NFL, Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland A's, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, OJ Mayo, Rudi Johnson, Ryan Leaf, Ryan Torain, Seattle Seahawks, Sprint Cup, Stanford University, Tatum Bell, Tiger Woods, University of Oregon, Universtiy of Kentucky, West Texas A&M

Holliday Trade Makes Sense, Even If It Doesn't

By Melissa Lockard | November 12, 2008

The Oakland A's made the Matt Holliday trade official on Wednesday, two days after the details of the trade became known. A lot has been written about the trade over the past two days, and the reaction to the deal has been mixed, to say the least. In summary, the A's have traded roughly 15 years of service from Huston Street, Greg Smith and Carlos Gonzalez for what is expected to be one year of service from Matt Holliday. While there is no question that Holliday is the best player involved in this deal from a talent perspective, the years of service question certainly gives many people pause when analyzing this deal, particularly those who have bought into the A's way of building a team over the past few years (i.e., gathering up young, cost-controlled players). What the A's are receiving in this deal is probably easier to quantify than what...

3 Comments | Tags: Billy Beane, Free Agency, Matt Holliday, Oakland A's, Oakland Athletics, Trade

Dissecting Billy Beane's grand scheme

By Alan Smodic | November 12, 2008

Billy Beane's parking spot -- pursuethepassion/flickr.com

When I first heard that the Oakland Athletics had traded for Colorado's Matt Holliday, of course my first question was who did they have to give up?When I found out the three players -- Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Houston Street -- I thought, 'wow'. Indeed, Billy Beane has done it again.In terms of those players, I'm in full agreement with Brandon H's assessment here. And even more so with this comment of his:"I like Gonzalez. I think he is a fine young player and will be a very strong player in Colorado. I do not think he has the type of tools you can build around, and subsequently is more Mike Cameron then Grady Sizemore. Again fine, but never a player you refuse to move for a first round draft pick."Smith is a useless chip in this deal. Beane would have given up 20 Smith's if thats what it...

Discuss | Tags: Billy Beane, MLB, Oakland Athletics

Out for Holliday: It's official

By Tom Stephenson | November 11, 2008

Holliday is so. bored -- uploaded on April 27, 2008 by sekhmet1776

We reported yesterday that the Rockies were close to a deal that would send Matt Holliday to Oakland.Now, as we wake up this morning, it's official.Holliday was shipped to Oakland last night, with LHP Greg Smith, RHP Huston Street, and OF Carlos Gonzalez coming to Colorado. It's a pretty sad day for Rockies fans as the player who's become the face of the franchise over the last couple of years is now gone, but the players coming back aren't anything to sneeze at, so this shouldn't wind up being too bad.Gonzalez was Baseball America's #22 prospect in all of baseball entering 2008. But he struggled mightily in the majors this year, to the tune of .242/.273/.361, before getting sent back to AAA. But he's only 23, so there's plenty of time still for him to develop. More than likely, he'll replace Holliday directly in left, unless the Rockies decide to...

2 Comments | Tags: Colorado Rockies, Matt Holliday, MLB, Oakland Athletics

Billy Beane's Holliday

By Brandon H | November 11, 2008

The Oakland Athletics have reportedly agreed to acquire Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Carlos Gonzalez, Houston Street, and Greg Smith. The deal has yet to be finalized, and there certainly could be changes, but for now...

7 Comments | Tags: Billy Beane, Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies, Houston Street, Matt Holliday, MLB, Oakland Athletics

Early Holliday for the A's: Matt headed to Oakland

By Drew Bienhoff | November 10, 2008

According to ESPN's Buster Olney and Jerry Crasnick, Matt Holliday will be donning the green and gold of Oakland in 2009. Unfortunately, no word yet on what is coming back to the Rockies, but Greg Smith has been mentioned. Also rumored are Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street, but not necessarily all three. Just players that have been thrown around in connection with the deal.Stay tuned....

Discuss | Tags: Colorado Rockies, Matt Holliday, Oakland Athletics

Report: A's Acquire Holliday

By Melissa Lockard | November 10, 2008

According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, the Oakland A's have acquired outfielder Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies. Holliday, who is a free agent at the end of the year, hit .321 with 25 homers and 88 RBIs last season for the Rockies. He would immediately become the A's biggest offensive threat. As a right-handed hitter, he would be a nice fit in the A's line-up and shouldn't hurt the team defensively in the outfield. It isn't yet known who the A's gave up in the deal. If Heyman's report is correct and if the A's are keeping Holliday (it is always possible that this is part of a three-way deal), it would be a pretty strong signal that the A's intend to try to compete in 2009 (which would make the Jason Giambi signing a bigger possibility per my previous post). Given Holliday's status as a free agent at the...

1 Comment | Tags: A's, American League, Billy Beane, Matt Holliday, MLB, Oakland A's, Oakland Athletics, Trade

When the team you root for is at the bottom

By Patrick Patterson | November 13, 2008

Dissecting Billy Beane's grand scheme

By Alan Smodic | November 12, 2008

Billy Beane's parking spot -- pursuethepassion/flickr.com

Discuss | Tags: Billy Beane, MLB, Oakland Athletics

Breaking News: The A's Acquire Matt Holliday

By EJ Fagan | November 10, 2008

Yahoo's Tim Brown is reporting that the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies have agreed in principle to send Matt Holliday to the A's in return for Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith, and Huston Street.Holliday is a career .319/.386/.552 hitter, having spent his entire career with Coors Field as his home park. He will be a free agent after this season.Carlos Gonazlez is one of the better young athletics in the high minor leagues. He's been compared to Curtis Granderson as a bat and glove. The Athletics acquired him in the Dan Haren trade one year ago.Greg Smith was one of the better rookie starting pitchers in baseball this season, throwing 190 innings with a 4.16 ERA. Huston Street didn't have his best season, throwing 70 innings with a 3.73 ERA while serving as the team's closer.Your guess is as good as mine as to what is going on in Billy Beane's...

Discuss | Tags: AL West, Billy Beane, Matt Holliday, MLB, Moneyball, Oakland Athletics, Trades

What about Sheets and Dunn?

By EJ Fagan | November 8, 2008

A lot of attention has been paid to speculation about the big name free agents: Manny Ramirez, C.C. Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira. While they are surely important players, I'm amazed at how little ink we've seen regarding two very attractive but lesser free agents in Ben Sheets and Adam Dunn. Both have their flaws, but also their upside. In Sheet's case, the flaw is injury. He's been chronically unable to stay healthy over the past few seasons, and finished his spectacular 2008 campaign on the shelf with a minor elbow injury. He should be ready for spring training, but he obviously brings a lot of uncertainty.Sheets is unlikely to be able to command a major long term commitment. No team expects his body to hold consistently over 4 or 5 years. That said, he's also an excellent gamble: Sheets is an ace when healthy. It seems to be like we...

2 Comments | Tags: Adam Dunn, Ben Sheets, Hot Stove, MLB, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays

MVN Awards: Best Relievers - Joey Devine, Carlos Marmol

By Ryan Armbrust | November 7, 2008

Outside the handful of high-profile closers in the league, being a reliever is often a less-than-glamorous job. Set-up men rank somewhere near the bottom of the league on pay scale -- and name recognition. When was the last time you saw a fan wearing the jersey of a middle reliever? All too often, non-closing relievers are only remembered for making a single key mistake.It's time to change that, and recognize the most outstanding relievers in the game who weren't restricted to the ninth inning.- -- --- -- ---In the National League, the Cubs were all over the newspapers, magazines, TV... basically any and all media was fixated on the North Side crew and their 100-year championship drought.A key member of that club was a wild-armed Dominican who nearly pitched himself out of a job in his rookie season of 2006, only to have a breakout year in 2007. This season,...

Discuss | Tags: Carlos Marmol, Chicago Cubs, Grant Balfour, Joey Devine, MLB, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays

MVN: Most Valuable Network