|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Crunch time Future of A's organization will be determined now
Updated: Tuesday July 17, 2001 7:48 PM
Sports Illustrated's Stephen Cannella checks in with his baseball thoughts every week throughout the season on CNNSI.com Four months ago, everyone loved the A's. They were young. They were fun to watch. They came within one win of ending the Yankees' hegemony in the American League last October, and in Johnny Damon they had added the one weapon the team lacked in 2000: a speedy leadoff hitter. They had a rotation stocked with fuzzy-faced studs and a lineup full of hitters whose power and patience at the plate belied their youth. They were the favorites to win their division and on most experts' short list of World Series candidates. They'd be contenders for years to come. Or so it seemed. What a difference half a season makes. There are still plenty of reasons to love this team, but that feeling may not last much longer -- three weeks from now the A's as we know them could be gone. Oakland began the second half with a 44-43 record, 19 games behind the Mariners in the AL West and seven behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race. The A's will try to climb back into the playoff race this month, but they're under pressure to keep the nucleus of the club intact. Oakland manager Art Howe put it this way earlier this week: "The next few weeks will tell how our team will look for the next couple of years." Wait 'til next year? Not when you're a small-market team with a clubhouse full of young free agents-to-be. Damon, closer Jason Isringhausen and, most notably, first baseman and reigning AL MVP Jason Giambi can all move on when the season ends. General manager Billy Beane and Oakland ownership have until the July 31 trading deadline to decide if they can re-sign any or all of their walk-year players or if they should start dealing to avoid losing the trio without any compensation. That decision will be based primarily on where the A's stand in the wild-card race: If Beane senses his team is in the hunt, he'll hold off on the trades. If Oakland is out of it, Giambi, Damon and Isringhausen could be wearing different uniforms in August. "I think if you're playing well, seven games doesn't seem like a lot," said Beane of his team's wild-card deficit. "If you're playing poorly seven games seems like a mountain." The good news for Oakland fans is that the A's have been playing well. Their 6-0 win over the Dodgers on Thursday was their 10th victory in their last 13 games, and since July 1 the pitching staff has a sparkling 0.98 ERA. The bad news is that the team is as far away from re-signing Giambi as ever. The two sides agreed months ago on a six-year package worth $90 million, but the A's refused to include the no-trade clause Giambi insisted upon. This week Giambi and agent Arn Tellem declared that that deal, which was less lucrative than what the first baseman would likely command on the open market, was off the table and that the A's wouldn't be granted any hometown discount if and when contract talks resume. Beane spent the first day of the second half downplaying the negative turn in negotiations, saying he wasn't surprised and desperately trying to shift the media's focus onto the A's weekend series with Los Angeles. That will be a daily battle over the next few weeks, especially if the team fails to make up ground in the playoff race. This July the A's aren't just playing for October. They're playing for their future. Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the baseball beat for the magazine. Touching Base appears every Thursday on CNNSI.com.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
