We made it through another week A’s fans! Ready for a huge weekend of A’s baseball?
The Yankees are in town and the series kicks off tonight in Sacramento. The Athletics just got swept for just the second time this season and have fallen out of first place so stacking up a couple wins against a strong Yankee team would be ideal. Definitely can’t afford another sweep and finish the homestand 0-6. The Yankees are a tough opponent though and they just welcomed back their ace in Gerritt Cole (but lost
Max Fried). They have the second-best record in the American League and have won four straight entering tonight. Lucky for the A’s they’ll miss Cole in this series as well as emerging right-hander Cam Schlittler. The A’s will instead be tasked with getting to veteran Carlos Rodon tonight before facing 26-year-old starters Ryan Weathers and Will Warren on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Elsewhere, down in the minors the Athletics’ #1 prospect is dealing with a minor injury. Shortstop Leo De Vries has missed a few games in recent days with an unknown problem with a finger (unknown which one):
The 20-year-old shortstop is actually going to get away from the team and travel to Arizona where he will be looked at by an orthopedic hand specialist. That’s a concerning development for the young shortstop, who is off to a solid start in Midland. He’s hitting .281/.360/.401 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases. He had a strong April before going through a tougher May, which will now be cut short. Everyone will be holding their breath that De Vries hasn’t done something major to a finger and hope he can return to game action sooner rather than later. He’s still incredibly young for his level but a promotion to Triple-A has been on the radar all year. That eventual promotion will now certainly be pushed back a bit and could come a lot later than A’s fans hoped, depending on what the doctor says about that finger.
Wrapping your Friday news dump, MLB’s owners have made their first proposal to the MLBPA regarding the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement.
That has always been a huge sticking point for the players as they believe the owners want to keep salaries from continuing to explode. A lot of the league will point to the two-time champion Los Angeles Dodgers as the reason for a need for a salary cap and the logic works, to a degree. The players’ association would almost certainly fight tooth and nail over this, which was a huge cause of the 1994 players’ strike. They won out in that battle but the owners seem more determined than ever to get a salary cap like the NFL and NBA currently have.
If that truly is a sticking point in negotiations, then there is a very real possibility we have a lockout coming up soon. One of the proposed things the owners would be agreeing to for the salary cap would be a salary floor, forcing every team in the league to spend at least X amount on the major league team. That was something A’s have had been hoping for when the team was still in Oakland. How would the recent playoff teams the Athletics had could have done more damage in the postseason had they been supplemented with free agent additions and a sizable payroll increase?
It’s too late for Oakland now but if this is the future parameters of a deal then owner John Fisher will have to finally spend more on the team. He’s begun doing more of that since moving the team and they rank 21st in the league with a $94 million payroll but he’d have to spend close to $77 million more on the team. Add in the great young talent the A’s have accumulated and the potential salary floor would certainly help the Green & Gold go up against high-priced teams like the Yankees and Dodgers. Something to think about and monitor as these negotiations continue over the next few months.
Have a great weekend everyone.
A’s Coverage:
- Athletics Early MLB Draft Preview
- The A’s may have finally found their new leadoff hitter
- A’s drop the game and Series to the Mariners, fall into second place
- Latest Athletics injuries and transactions
- A’s lose to Mariners 4-1, Kurtz Streak ends with O-fer
- Is A Jump In Talent Nigh?
- What to expect when A’s Jump makes leap to MLB
- What The Mariners’ Slow First 1/3 Means For The AL West
- Wilson takes swings in next step toward return from IL
- After facing Miller for first time, how is blockbuster trade looking for A’s?
- Athletics Drop Series Opener to Mariners 9-2
- A’s Win In San Diego, Beat Padres 5-2
- “State Of The Rotation”: A Projected Weakness, An Actual…?
MLB News and Interest:
- Tigers place Kenley Jansen on 15-day IL with pelvic inflammation
- Teoscar Hernández To Be Placed On IL With Hamstring Strain
- Pirates’ Jared Jones to make 1st MLB appearance since ’24 on Friday
- Red Sox place Garrett Whitlock on IL with knee inflammation
- MLB makes initial CBA proposal to address competitive balance
- Rockies Transfer Jose Quintana To 60-Day Injured List
- White Sox secure 1st winning month since ’23 after latest Martin gem
- NEW Top 200 Draft Prospects list! Here are 7 key takeaways
- Orioles Activate, Option Heston Kjerstad
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Sacramento making a play to somehow keep the A’s/lure an expansion to Northern California:
Improvement!
How accurate would you call this assessment?
Ugh. Hard to bench a guy with that huge contract but how long can the A’s keep marching him out there? Are the offseason surgeries affecting him more than he’s letting on?
From Wednesday:
