signs of life?

Speculation abounds as to what the A's will do come trade deadline time. Yes, it's still early. The division is far from won, and all 4 teams have beat each other up pretty good so far. One thing is for sure, Beane will not hesitate to deal the big guns if we are not in contention. Right now, the gap is small enough to assume we can be.

Season summary thus far:

Our short term rental in Matt Holiday is finally flashing signs of ROI. He hit a 3 run shot yesterday to tie Jack Cust for most homers hit at 4. Still technically slumping, at .230, Holliday seems to be finding some rhythm, and it couldn't happen sooner. Giambi has yet to find his stride, posting a dismal ground ball ratio and hitting .225. Nomar is predictably plagued by injuries as is fellow infielder (and sugery recoveree) Eric Chavez, and neither have contributed much. Orlando Cabrera has played nothing short of gold glove defense at shortstop, but is hitting .220 with 0 homers.

The young rotation is holding up about as well as we could have hoped. Not stellar, but certainly not bad. The team ERA is 3rd in all of baseball at 3.77 . The young starters are 8th in hits allowed. Pair that with one of the worst offenses in baseball and you get, well: a 10-16 record. Pleasant surprises include Josh Outman and Trevor Cahill's latest performances, posting 6 strikeout and 5 strikeout gems, respectively.

The bullpen is pretty shaken up. With would-be closer Devine out for the season, the responsibility has fallen onto the skinny shoulders of submariner Brad Ziegler. Heavy is the crown, as Ziggy succumbed to a flu that kept him off the field for th last week, only to return Thursday and give up 3 runs in the 9th against Texas. Santiago Casilla sprained his right knee and left his set-up duties to one-year-deal vets Russ Springer and Mike Weurtz. Both have been decent, but not lights out. The true diamond in the rough seems to be young Andrew Bailey, at 3-0 with 24 K's through 19 innings pitched. If he keeps it up, he could find himself pitching more than just late inning relief.

The A's are only 4 games back in the West, and Seattle has lost 4 straight, earnign them a #2 spot, half a game behind Texas at 15-13. It's safe to say this division is soft, and ripe for a take over. What remains to be seen is if the A's are men enough to take it.