Five Oakland Athletics were named to the A.L. All-Star Game -- Newcomer SP-Jerry Koosman, SP-Vida Blue, RP-Rollie Fingers, 1B-Joe Rudi & rookie CF-Chet Lemon.
Oakland (63-39) has made a late first-half push to take the lead at the Trade Deadline, by winning 13 of their last 14 games. The Minnesota Twins (61-41, 2 GB) are showing they have staying power, while the young California Angels (60-43, 3.5 GB), sported by an entire lineup that is 27 years-and-younger, have not been able to make huge gains despite their strong rotation. The Angels have moved Ed Figueroa from the rotation to the closer role, while they are now plugging in Andy Hassler in the 5th slot, behind Frank Tanana, Nolan Ryan, Jim Kaat & Steve Renko (acquired from Montreal). The Angels traded SP-Bill Singer to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for OF-Dusty Baker.
The A.L. East features a three-team race with the Boston Red Sox (56-44) leading the way, with the Cleveland Indians (53-48, 3.5 GB) & New York Yankees (49-50, 6.5 GB) within arm's length.
The transactions that have helped the team...
- Traded SS-Bert Campaneris to the New York Yankees in exchange for LF-Terry Whitfield & minor league SS-Andrew Woolsey.
- Traded LF-Lee Lacy to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for 3B/2B-Doug DeCinces.
- Traded SP-Glenn Abbott (while retaining 50% of contract) and minor league SS-Rob Picciolo to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for minor LF-Chris Ward.
All of these deals had shredding payroll in mind, my owner has been very adamant in having me cut payroll, while he wasn't too keen about the fact that I extended some contracts. He certainly won't be too excited about the fact that I placed an offer to extend SP-Vida Blue then. I need to have some sort of rotation once Catfish Hunter & Ken Holtzman hits free agency.
I tried to unload Sal Bando, but no one was willing to take on his big contract.
The St. Louis Cardinals have been a surprise in the N.L. East, leading the division with a 63-40 record, ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates (57-46) by 6 games. The Cards' ace Wilbur Wood is an extraordinary 13-3 with a major league best 1.40 ERA among starters.
The Cincinnati Reds (70-33) have the best record in the majors, featuring the who's who of the Big Red Machine with their mammoth lineup, and solid no-name rotation, with efficient bullpen arms. They own a 8-game lead over the San Francisco Giants.
We will now have to see if all these moves play dividends, for Oakland though a title is almost a must, with free agency definitely going to leave its mark on the roster. The question now is does Oakland have enough on the farm to fill in the upcoming vacant areas?
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