In the AL West, the team that surprised me the most has been the Oakland Athletics. Not only did they make some good moves for their lineup, they also made great moves in their pitching staff. Their rotation is already formidable with arms like Trevor Cahill, Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson, Gio Gonzalez, and now Rich Harden. They also made some recent bullpen moves that were exception, as well. They already have a great closer in Andrew Bailey and a good set-up man in Brad Ziegler. Still, the A's felt like that was not enough and they went out and signed Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes.
What do these signings bring to the table? Simple. They brought in two guys who not only have experience closing out games, but they have experience on the big stage in pressure situations. Both have been on playoff teams, Fuentes was with the Angels and Twins while Balfour was with the Rays. Balfour was a great middle reliever for the Rays and pitched well for them in the 2008 postseason. Fuentes had a terrific season in 2009 and is a lefty which sets him up to potentially be the lefty specialist. A lefty specialist that can also close games? Sign me up!
The A's finished .500 in 2010 and second in the division behind Texas. While I don't think they will catch Texas, I still believe they will build on that record and have taken steps forward to ensure. The moves made on the pitching staff have eclipsed those made in the lineup. In spite of that, the moves they made in the lineup were great additions, as well. They improved their outfield by getting David DeJesus and Josh Willingham. And bringing in Hideki Matsui to be the DH was not too shabby either. He brings a veteran bat with a .290 career average and the pop to hit 20-30 HRs.
All in all, this was a great offseason for the A's that should translate into a great regular season for them. Texas better watch out because the A's may want to challenge them for that AL West Crown.
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