...why?...just because the rest of the A's offense went into hiding?...offensively, as far as LFers go, Cespedes is not that great. Hell, many of Gardner's offensive numbers are better and as far as Lester, he has pitched very is every start since joining the A's.
Lester's gone 3-2 with a 2.66 ERA since joining the A's & has nothing to do with the A's bats going silent since the trade.
I don't necessarily believe in the "one guy" concept but there is a coincidence that sine he left the A's hitting went south. Lester pitched well losing critical games to LA & Seattle Aces due to lack of run support. Hammel has had but one good game since coming over with Shark holding his own. Might be that the old song "If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It could apply to the 2014 As. They were flying high till trade time.
...and IMO, that's all it is, a coincidence. ...Cespedes' line with the A's before the trade; .256 .303 .464 .767 ...not exactly impressive, especially for a corner OFer. ...LF production by A's for the whole year;........258 .333 .460 .792
I'd be willing to bet that Cespedes wishes he were still in Oakland truth be told, and yeah you can quote his stats but what I see in that guy is swagger, saw that here in Tampa against the Rays. If the A's fail to reach the playoffs can we say choke. Speaking of pitchers another one that got his a@@ handed to him was Garza. Should have kept his mouth shut about pitching ones self out of Chicago. Maybe the Brewers will be exiting the playoffs as well. Both the Oaks & Brews held first for a long time, problem is first place only counts when you have less games to play than your lead, or on the last day of the season.
...yeah, I think he'd rather still be in Oakland...wouldn't you be?...lol ... And IMO, the A's offense will come around soon enough. I just don't think Cespedes is the reason the rest of the offense went into a slump because the A's early season ability to score a lot of runs was no indicative of their true offense any more than how poor it has been for the last month...I think it's somewhere in between. But like they say, you can never have too much pitching and the additions of Lester and Samardzija made an already good staff, even better ...especially in a short 5 and/or 7 game PS series.
From a ball players perspective yeah maybe better Oakland. However on a John Q Citizen level I've been to Oakland and it ranked right up there with the worst places I've seen, a real crap hole and in light of information Ive seen presented it hasn't changed much.
...oh yeah, I meant playing in Oakland...and you're right, from what I've read, it's not some place you'd want to live.
