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December 19, 2004
The Oakland A's Big Three Becomes the Big One
Oakland A's Deal Mulder, Hudson
A few days ago the Oakland A's dealt Tim Hudson to the Atlanta Braves and yesterday they followed that trade up by sending Mark Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals. Both of these deals were pretty much for prospects and unknown players but the A's most likely thought that there wasn't going to be any way for them to be able to afford to re-sign either of them when they became free agents so they may as well get something for them now. There are injury concerns about both pitchers but for the most part they are excellent pitchers who will probably make their respective teams stronger.
The A's are now left with Barry Zito who it has been rumored for a while that the A's want to trade. The problem with Zito is that while he is a former Cy Young winner and still pretty young, he appears to be in a decline. In fact at times last season he looked pretty dreadful so it may be hard to move him. I saw him pitch in person over the summer and I was shocked at how bad he looked on the mound. At no time did he look comfortable and he was completely rocked by the Yankees hitters. He's definitely young enough where he might turn things around but this season is going to be very important for him in terms of determining where his career will go from here.
I wonder what A's fans are thinking right now. They go from having one of the strongest starting rotations in the majors to a very weak one, at least as it appears right now. So it could be a very long and difficult season for A's fans as their team may struggle to win as opposed to recent years when they have been perpetual playoff contenders.
Posted by silverdsl at December 19, 2004 09:44 PM