Crisp led the American League in stolen bases with 49 and in two seasons with the A’s he has hit .269 with 16 home runs, 92 rbi, 41 doubles, nine triples, 81 stolen bases, a obp of .324, a slugging percentage of .400 and a OPS of .724. He also gives the A’s an excellent one-two punch at the top of the order with Jemile Weeks.

In the outfield he’ll be joined with Michael Taylor and Josh Reddick who came over from the Boston Red Sox in the Bailey trade.

With Willingham not being in the A’s lineup it will hurt as he had the best home run numbers for an A’s hitter since 2008 when Jack Cust hit 33  and the rbi total of 98 was the best since 2006 when Frank Thomas drove in 114 and Nick Swisher drove in 95. Worth noting is that Willingham’s average was on the low side at .246 as well as his OBP of .332 and on the high side was his 150 strikeouts.

Another issue with Willingham is his injury history as he has not played in 140 or more games since 2007 and in 2011 he missed a number of games due to an Achilles injury. Defensively he is below average as he lacks the necessary speed to cover ground on flyballs, he does possess a decent arm.

From the numbers alone it shows that Willingham doesn’t hit for a high average, strikes out a lot, and defensively is underwhelming, one might wonder what the appeal of Willingham is and how he was so important to the A’s offense.

The reason is because of what he did with runners in scoring position as he hit .313, with 42 hits, 11 home runs, nine doubles and 72 rbi. Those numbers with runners in scoring position alone make him a valuable commodity on the free agent market. He will especially help out a team that is looking to further stack its lineup such as the Texas Rangers or Detroit Tigers.

By not accepting the arbitration offer by the A’s, Willingham will be getting a raise from his previous one-year contract he signed with the A’s and likely will find himself in a more comfortable spot in the lineup hitting in the fifth or sixth spot and with a multi-year deal which is what he is  looking for.

For the A’s it means that the team needs to find a replacement for Willingham and it appears this time that  it will be Michael Taylor who appeared in 11 games and hit .200 with a home run, a rbi, and five walks with 11 strikeouts. Jai Miller could also see time in left during the 2012 season and Miller played in seven games in 2011 with the A’s in which he hit .250, with a home run and two rbi. There’s also a rumor that has floated around that the Miami Marlins are interested in Gio Gonzalez and the asking price has been either Logan Morrison or Mike Stanton and at this point it doesn’t look like the Marlins are willing to part ways with Morrison or Stanton.

The A’s can also build for the future with the compensation that will be received when Willingham is signed.

So, at this point in the offseason it appears that Taylor and Miller will be the two battling it out to replace the departed Willingham in the A’s lineup and Willingham likely finding a new team. While it will be tough for the A’s to replace the production of Willingham, Taylor will get his chance to prove why Billy Beane was so high on him and also show that he can make at impact at the Major League level.  Of course the A’s could bring in a left fielder in a trade and that could mean seeing Taylor in right field or there could be a platoon between Taylor and Miller for time in left field. The Willingham signing also help build the team for the future with the compensation that will be received.

1. The Giants Didn’t Make the Playoffs Either – Boo hoo Giants fans. Blame injuries, blame Barry Zito (as well you should), blame the baseball gods but at the very least, I do not have to hear every stinkin’ Giants fan talking about their team in the playoffs. Meaning, the Bay Area can now officially switch over to 49ers (and Raiders I guess), and San Jose Sharks.

2. Pitching is Deep – Despite an off year from Trevor Cahill and injuries to Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson. The A’s pitching well is deep. Brandon McCarthy is legit, Guillermo Moscoso is legit, Gio is the real deal too. Rich Harden is not but he was a band-aid anyway. The pitching future looks bright.

3. Josh Willingham is a Force in the Lineup – Billy Beane… please oh please sign this guy in the offseason so at least we can build the middle of the order around this guy. Please!

4. Jemile Weeks is ROY Material – While he may not actually win Rookie of the Year, the A’s were smart to trade away Mark Ellis to make room for Weeks in the lineup. He is already among my favorites and should be a fixture long-term in the A’s lineup.

5. A’s Are Poised to Infuse More Youth into the Lineup – Michael Carter, Michael Choice, Jai Miller, Chris Carter, Grant Green. The A’s have young guys who could be ready to step into full-time roles next year. The future is bright. The youth movement is upon us… “Release Matsui” is my new slogan.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the offseason – what Billy focuses on and how this team can become contenders once again. Again, I remain positive!

First off this movie is very well acted from top to bottom. So kudos to the casting director because you put a great crew together. Brad Pitt gives a phenomenal performance as Billy Beane. The surprising role to me was Art Howe. Phillip Seymour Hoffman did an amazing job playing the disgruntled manager of the Oakland A’s.

Secondly the story was solid. Many many things were left out from the book. To have it be otherwise would have made for a 8 hour movie so I was OK with that. The script really did a great job showing what internally was going on in the A’s organization during the 2002 season. It was all very interesting. The book was better but when is a movie ever better than the book.

The best part of the movie in my opinion was the issues between Howe and Beane. It made me understand why Beane always has his hand in the managerial cookie jar. I know Art Howe doesn’t like the way he came off in the movie but I honestly saw nothing negative about Howe’s portrayal. The skepticism Howe had in the film is probably what any coach would do in the same situation. I am sure the relationship was over dramatized for the movie but it probably wasn’t far off from the truth.

As a skeptic A’s fan going into this movie I was pleasantly surprised by it. I was also very proud of them not making it too happy of an ending. It does make me root for Beane a little more but I am sure that will wear off somewhere into midseason next year if the A’s are still struggling.

It also doesn’t hurt that he seems to get along with Billy Beane. We all know Billy has to have his hands in the cookie jar at all times and whoever is managing the A’s is going to have to accept that idea. So the fact that Melvin was able to have any kind of success and survive Beane had to be a huge plus.

I still don’t know that I am sold on Melvin as a manager for the A’s but like I said I think it was a smart choice. It will be interesting to see what Melvin does with the A’s next year. With this pitching staff the A’s are so close to being a contending team they just need someone to get that offense rolling. Let’s all hope Melvin can be that guy.

The Oakland A’s made the playoffs several seasons in a row but came up short every year. So even though I believe this movie is a story about one A’s season it actually is a compilation of several A’s season. Bottom line is the A’s blew it every season in the playoffs. Will that be represented? Will I have to relieve those failures in a movie theater or will Hollywood skip all that nonsense and just show the magical run to the playoffs those A’s teams had? Either way I don’t know if I will appreciate the outcome from a painful remembrance point of view or a movie goer who is upset because they changed the ending to make things more Hollywood.

I am also torn on how I want this movie to represent Billy Beane. While Beane does deserve credit for forever changing baseball he also has turned out to be a bit of a failure with the Oakland A’s. His system has never put the A’s into a World Series. Once they made the ALDS but never won a game. All those players Moneyball talks about never actually helped out the A’s. Maybe a bit here and there but Nick Swisher was not the savior of the Oakland A’s. Although his trade did land the A’s some nifty pieces. My point is while Beane deserves credit for some very positive things he also deserves a lot of the credit for the failures. In all honesty I don’t think Billy Beane’s legacy isn’t done yet. I think he still can turn the A’s or some other team if he ever chooses to leave and go to greener (more money to spend) pastures. Who really knows what Beane could have accomplished with an open check book.

To sum this all up, I want a movie that shows how brilliant Billy Beane can be but is also honest about his failures. A movie that shows how much fun those A’s teams were to watch in the early 2000s but doesn’t change the ending to something so positive that I have an empty feeling in my stomach because I know what truly happened. I also don’t want have to see that stupid play by where Jason’s brother decides not to slide.

I think those might be legit concerns for big A’s fans like myself who want to see this movie. Then again maybe I think too much and should just enjoy the film no matter what.

I am torn right now but I know in the end I will see the A’s movie. How many chances does one get to have a movie made about their favorite baseball team get made? I believe there is only four or five other teams that have had this opportunity.

Review to follow as soon as I get up the courage to see this movie.

The A’s have the pitching and then some for next year. Once again the A’s hitting will be the big question mark going into next season. As an A’s fan it’s always so frustrating to know that the A’s problems can be fixed so easily but so far have gone unfixed. The A’s will go into this offseason with a ton of money to spend. Even with being a small market team the A’s are losing most of their bigger salaries. Matsui, Crisp, Willingham and DeJesus were all one year contracts and will most likely not be resigned. Except for maybe Willingham who is rumor to be the guy the A’s want to resign. Even with a Willingham resign the Oakland A’s should still be financially able to bring in a couple big bats. Now it just comes down to whether the A’s want to spend the money and if those players want come to Oakland. I guess only time will tell. Until then I am going to foolishly hold out hope for Fielder and Pujols.

I really hope us A’s fans don’t have to suffer through yet another mediocre season.

Number 1. Do the A’s go young or stay older? No the A’s aren’t super old right now but they could get a whole lot younger. The A’s have a lot of players whose contracts are going to be up. David Dejesus, Hideki Matsui, Coco Crisp and Josh Willingham either will be let go by the A’s or need to be resigned. These guys have been a bit of disappointment this season. Even with as hot as some of these guys are now they weren’t really there when it counted. An argument could easily be made about bringing them back. What are the chances they all have rough seasons next year too? These players also seemed to pick it up once Geren was out of the picture so maybe the issues had something to do with him. The problem is the A’s have had many successful minor league performers this year. So the ownership really has to decided whether they think they have a shot at the division again next year or whether they want to take a step back and develop the good young guys from the minors.

Number 2. Too spend or not too spend? With or without signing those players I just talked about the A’s will have lots of money to spend. Even with being a small market team they should still be able to spend quite a bit of cash on the 2012 season. Even if the A’s decide to go younger with a bunch of rookies there are still positions that don’t have a minor leaguer ready to take over and that needs be upgraded this offseason. Plus there are super talented guys out there that the A’s could build this youth around. Also if the A’s decide to bring back the veteran palyers then why not bring in more talent to really make run at this division? I think I already know the answer to this question, unfortunately. Then again you never know maybe the A’s will shock me.

Number 3. San Jose or bust? I really hope something involving the A’s moving happens this offseason. I just want to know where they will end up before the start of next season. I feel like at this point if San Jose is still not worked out in the next few months then maybe it’s time to move on and find a better location so they can at least give us A’s fans something to look forward too. I don’t think the ownership can afford another season of the new stadium being up in the air. They need to think long and hard about ending this question mark. I think they would be shocked by the response from their fan base by just letting us fans know that a new stadium is on the way. I unfortunately think Lew Wolff has all his eggs in the San Jose basket and no new news will happen unless San Jose suddenly becomes available.

Should be an interesting offseason. I know two of these questions will be answered but I really hope all three are.

According to the article the Oakland A’s have had a 33.5 percent drop in attendance since last season. That’s quite a bit when you consider the fact that the A’s had low attendance last year. This is what happens when you combine a poor quality team with a terrible stadium in a bad area. When I say bad area I don’t mean dangerous, which it is by the way. When I say bad area I am talking about the fact that there is nothing around to do, which may have a lot to do with the safety of the area.

The MLB really needs to stop dragging their feet and give the A’s a decision on San Jose. Either allow the team to move or tell them it’s not happening so the team can now move on. Until the A’s get a new stadium they probably won’t improve their attendance. Even if the on field products improves I would guess that would only mildly affect the attendance. With last years World Series champs across the bay in their pretty newish ball park the Oakland A’s just don’t stand a chance.

One can only hope the new Moneyball movie will help jump the interest in the A’s. Although I personally would have had this movie come right before the start of the season see if that would create more interest in the team but I would have to assume Hollywood doesn’t really care about that.

Even though this is not Weeks’ season to be honored, A’s fans should be super stoked. Who was the last good major league position player the A’s brought up from their minor league system? If anyone say Kurt Suzuki I will scream. Just kidding I can’t hear you. Really though it has been forever since the A’s brought anyone up who looked this good.

Since being called up Jemile leads the team in batting average (.301), second in OBP (.339), tied for 5th in doubles (23), second in steals (21), fifth in hits (107) and leads the team in triples (8). That may not be the best numbers out of all the rookies in baseball but those are great numbers for an Oakland A’s player. So while he may not be the ROY for the major leagues he just might be the MVP for the Oakland A’s.