At the trading deadline in Major League Baseball, the Oakland Athletics acquired pitcher Jon Lester, while the Detroit Tigers traded for a pitcher also, David Price, formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Oakland A’s had to give up back-to-back Home Run derby champion Yoenis Cespedes in the trade to get Lester.
Both the A’s and the Tigers lead their prospective divisions, even though the Tigers, who have the largest division lead in baseball, only have a 4-game lead in the American League Central, with over 100 games played in the regular season.
The A’s have the best record in the major leagues, but only lead the geographically confused Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by 2 games in the American League West. For some reason the Angels think they are in Los Angeles the last several years, even though they didn’t move there.
The A’s formula for winning was made famous by the movie “Money Ball” in 2011, starring Brad Pitt as general manager Billy Beane. Their formula was based on an analytical, sabermetric approach to assembling a low budget winning team. With the recent moves by the A’s, it seems as though money ball has been abandoned to some point.
Lester is 6-6 in his 2014 season with the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, but those Red Sox are in last place in the American League East with a 48-60 record. Lester’s ERA is very good however at 3.15.
The A’s also traded for Jeff Samardzija on July 5th, who was formerly on the Chicago Cubs. Samardzija has to be the best former college football wide receiver who currently pitches in the majors. He was an outstanding receiver at Notre Dame, where he played football and baseball. Although he is only 4-8, with most of those losses coming with the hapless Cubs, his earned run average for this year is at 2.92.
With the Tigers getting Price today, they now have the last 3 Cy Young winners on their team, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer being the other 2. Scherzer leads the American League in wins with 13 this season.
Oakland leads the American League in runs scored, followed by the Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, and Detroit Tigers. Although the Tigers have 2-time MVP Miguel Cabrera, and the Angels have Mike Trout, who finished right behind him both years, the A’s still score the most runs.
Before these pitchers are added to their new rosters, the A’s are 2nd in ERA, behind only the Seattle Mariners, while the Angels are 5th, and the Tigers are 10th in the American League.
These 3 teams – the A’s, Tigers and Angels are the best teams in the American League. Yeah I know the Baltimore Orioles, who lead the American League East, have a slightly better record than the Tigers, but that will change by the end of the season. Look for the A’s to survive, and win their first World Series since 1989. Their opponent will be the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have too much pitching for any other team in the National League. Brad Pitt, I mean Billy Beane will finally win the big one in Oakland!
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Sports With Frank Thomas
