The Oakland A's Season Over After 47 Games: Is That Even Possible?

There was hope for the Oakland A's team coming in to 2009 to at least be competitive in the relatively weak American League West division. Yet, after 47 games that hope is all but gone.

The hope for the A's came from the acquisition of Matt Holliday in the offseason, Jason Giambi returning as a free agent signing, a somewhat "healthy" Eric Chavez, Orlando Cabrera—a solid defensive shortstop and hitter, Nomar Garciaparra—if he could remain healthy, and Russ Springer.

However, the A's have the worst manager in Major League Baseball. Under manager Bob Geren the A's record (including tonight's loss) since the 2008 All-Star break will be 42-73. That's 31 games under .500, and to make matters worse, A's General Manager Billy Beane extended his contract. But here's hoping that Beane opens his eyes and realizes that Geren isn't the manager for the A's.

Even though the A's have fought off injuries the past couple of years it's still no excuse for the way the A's have played on the offensive side and defensive side especially this season.

The only acquisitions that have even remotely paid off are Matt Holliday and Adam Kennedy, who arrived during the season thanks to a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays after Mark Ellis was injured.

So far Holliday hasn't had the homerun power, but that was expected considering he played at Coors Field. He should still hit over 20 homeruns for the A's, but with him being the only consistent offensive threat in the lineup the A's have struggled again at the plate this year.

Although, Kennedy has shown his propensity to hit for a high average and drive in runs as well, but when only two players out of the nine batters in the lineup are hitting, there is very little hope for the offense.

Some of the players who need to step their game up for the A's to be a marginal team this year are Bobby Crosby, Ryan Sweeney, and Jason Giambi. These players all need to start hitting the way they are capable, but the only player who remotely showed hope so far has been Sweeney.

Giambi, who hit a two-run game-winning single against the Mariners last week, was thought to be getting out of his season long slump after hitting a 94 mph fastball from Mark Lowe, but that went by the wayside, and Crosby just continues to not be a high average batter.

The pitching staff has been the strongest point for the A's, but the relievers have been used way too many times, and it's beginning to show. Santiago Casilla struggled recently against the Texas Rangers, and Russ Springer has just been terrible and should be released pretty soon—or at least sent down to the minors.

Yet, even though the A's have been using their bullpen a lot—with the most innings pitched in the majors—the relief pitchers still have a relatively low ERA. However, one of the problems is the way Geren uses his relievers.

Kevin Cameron has been rarely used even though there have been opportunities to use him, especially in the latter part of games, and since he gets so much rest it's no wonder he hasn't given up more runs than he has. He did give up four runs to the Rangers in today's game, but the game was over as soon as the Rangers took a 4-1 lead.

What's even more disconcerting is the lack of offense the A's starting pitchers have received. Dallas Braden has had some extraordinary games, but still can't get a win because the A's offense doesn't even bother coming to the stadium. Even worse is the fact that the A's do not come back after giving up several runs in the first few innings.

But, with that comes with the total ineptitude of Geren. When a pitcher is struggling with control or gives up way too many hits, he leaves the pitchers out for far too long, and it usually results in the A's pitcher giving up plenty of runs.

Geren also has a habit of doing the opposite—pulling pitchers too soon after they have give up a run or two during an otherwise effective outing.

Even worse is the timing Geren has when he decides to have pitching coach Curt Young go out and talk to a pitcher. They maybe struggling with control and walk a couple batters in a row. Only after two men are on will Young come out to settle the pitcher down.

Then there the calls that Geren makes which just leave people scratching their heads:

 Jack Cust was in the lineup against the Rangers, but had to be removed after his first at-bat due to back spasms. Geren, instead of putting in a big bat such as the 6'3", 250 lbs. Landon Powell, who has shown that he can hit well with runners in scoring position—a necessity for a hitter in the three-spot, instead called on Bobby Crosby to fill in.

In another instance of just plain ignorance Geren decided to walk Chris Davis when the Texas Rangers had runners on second and third with two outs. Davis has struck out the most in the majors and had struck out four times in the first game of the doubleheader the A's were playing yesterday.

There is a saying in baseball that great pitching beats great offenses, well that's a half truth—in order for the team to win they need great pitching and an offense that actually get them a few runs, too. So, it should be said great pitching combined with great hitting is better than having just a great offense.

Right now the A's are a joke and are a good remedy for a team that is struggling with pitching, and the offense, if it's been dormant, can stay that way because the opposing teams that take on the A's don't need a lot of offense to beat the A's.

If the A's are into the youth movement and the total makeover of the club, then the team should go that route. Bring up Vin Mazarro, Chris Carter, Daric Barton, Jeff Gray, Gregorio Petit, and build upon that, giving them a chance to show what they can do at the major league level.

It's obvious that the A's aren't going anywhere this year, and it's about time the A's just go with the youth and see what they can get for the acquitions that they had in the offseson.

Obviously Orlando Cabrera needs to go because Crosby has no trade value at all. Matt Holliday should be next because the A's again don't have any real chance of taking the division and no shot at the wildcard, and the only other move would be to release Springer.

With the youth movement in place hopefully it injects more energy into the lineup and the youth will play hard showing that they belong in the majors. Although, maybe it's not a good plan if Geren is managing because he has a way of destroying players confidence in themselves as well.

So, either way the A's are pretty much hopeless while under Geren. There's nothing left but to wait for this horrendous season to be over and for the A's to find a manager with a winning attitude.