Yoenis Cespedes

Are the Oakland Athletics dead? Leading up to the All-Star game played in Minnesota, they were leading their division and had the best record in all of baseball. Shortly after that game, and at the start of the second half of the season, they made this blockbuster of a trade. They traded Yoenis Cespedes and a minor league player to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Jon Lester, an outfielder Johnny Gomes. The hype at the time suggested that that blockbuster trade would just about guarantee the A’s winning the World Series.

Jon Lester was an outstanding pitcher for the Red Sox and won numerous times in post division as well as in the World Series. He was their ace and would be the Oakland A’s ace as well. Unfortunately, Lester was to become a free agent at the end of the year and intended to re-sign with the Red Sox. This meant that the A’s would have him for the remaining 2014 season, which would be approximately 2 months.

Supposedly, Cespedas would become a free agent at the end of the 2015 season at which time the A’s likely would not have signed him as a story goes. However, Cespedes was a home run champ at the All-Star game for two consecutive seasons. Not only that, he provided many big-time game-winning hits and made the spectacular throws from the outfield, which eliminated runners attempting to achieve an additional base. The fans loved him. When asked the question about his ability to hit, he said “I see the ball, I hit the ball.”

More importantly, Cespedes was the glue that provided team cohesiveness for the A’s. They loved him and he loved them as well. The team was unified and he made players better around him. While with the team, the A’s were fun-loving, relaxed and enjoyed playing. And a number of other players like Norris, Doolittle, Moss and Donaldson made their very first All-Star game. And then there was the trade.

Since the blockbuster trade, the Oakland A’s have been a very different team. The A’s have lost their cohesiveness (their tough glue that held them together). The players are discouraged, have become less confident, and are more anxious (pressing), which has affected their play. Their ability to hit and drive in runs have been pathetic (One can argue that with Cespedes missing, the players got worse). Their pitching is still good, but now the starting pitcher can’t afford to make any errors (like giving up too many runs) since they are not likely to win the game at the end. This means that their won and loss record is nowhere near what it was before the trade. They no longer have the best record in baseball; are no longer on top in their division; and they look like they are not even going to make the playoffs. Further, Cespedes has a batting average (.297), since the trade, which is now higher than any of his former A’s teammates.

Billy Beane you blew it.