Oakland A's

2004 Record: 91-71 (.562)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 86-76 (.531)

Manager: Ken Macha
General Manager: Billy Beane

Ballpark (2004 park factors): McAfee Coliseum (101/101)

Who's replacing whom?

Jason Kendall replaces Damian Miller
Nick Swisher replaces Jermaine Dye
Mark Ellis returns to take playing time from Marco Scutaro and replaces Eric Karros
Keith Ginter replaces Mark McLemore
Charles Thomas replaces Eric Karros and Billy McMillon
Jermaine Clark last year's spare parts
Joe Blanton inherits Tim Hudson's starts
Dan Haren replaces Mark Mulder
Kirk Saarloos inherits Mark Redman's starts
Hudson Street replaces Chad Bradford (back surgery)
Kiko Calero replaces Jim Mecir and Arthur Rhodes
Keiichi Yabu replaces Chris Hammonds

Current Roster:

1B – Scott Hatteberg
2B – Mark Ellis
SS – Marco Scutaro
3B – Eric Chavez
C – Jason Kendall
RF – Bobby Kielty
CF – Mark Kotsay
LF – Eric Byrnes
DH - Erubiel Durazo

Bench:

R - Keith Ginter (IF)
S - Adam Melhuse (C)
L - Charles Thomas (OF)
L - Jermaine Clark (UT)

Rotation:

L - Barry Zito
R - Joe Blanton
R - Rich Harden
R - Kirk Saarloos
R - Dan Haren

Bullpen:

R - Octavio Dotel
R - Huston Street
L - Ricardo Rincon
R - Justin Duchscherer
R - Kiko Calero
R - Juan Cruz
R - Keiichi Yabu

DL:

R - Chad Bradford [60-day]
R - Bobby Crosby (SS)
S - Nick Swisher (OF)

Typical Line-up

L - Mark Kotsay (CF)
R - Jason Kendall (C)
L - Eric Chavez (3B)
L - Scott Hatteberg (1B)
L - Erubiel Durazo (DH)
R - Mark Ellis (2B)
S - Bobby Kielty (RF)
R - Eric Byrnes (LF)
R - Marco Scutaro (SS)

Hey, this just in: the Yankees are terrible. But guess what? So are the A's. In fact, of the seven teams the Yankees have played thus far in the season (including Oakland tonight), the A's have the second worst record (to the Devil Rays, who of course just took 3 of 4 from the Yanks and are now 5-2 against them on the season).

How bad are the A's? They're just 3.5 games better than the Yankees and have a .388 Pythagorean winning percentage to the Yanks' .443. All the A's have really had working thus far has been the bullpen (3.43 ERA, 8.85 K/9) and 2/5 of their starting rotation (Rich Harden: 1.82 ERA and Joe Blanton: 2.67 ERA). Naturally, the Yankees will be drawing both Blanton and Harden on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

The good news is that Blanton may be headed for a heartache. His Rueter-like strike-out rate of 2.97 per 9IP seems to have finally caught up with him against the Mariners in his last start (4 IP, 4 R, but 3 Ks). Then again, he struck out 8.33 per nine in his minor league career, so perhaps he'll catch up with his strikeout rate before it catches up with him. On the flip side, not one of the A's starters has allowed more hits than innings pitched, not even Barry Zito, who has 37 of each and enters tonight's game with a 5.84 ERA and a 1-4 record. Speaking of Zito and strikeout rates, should he maintain his current 4.86 per nine it would be the lowest of his career, making last year's slight increase look like a fluke in a career that's been in steady decline since he won 2002 Cy Young Award at age 24.

Back in the pen, the A's have three men with ERAs below 2.00, closer Octavio Dotel, who seems to have righted what wronged him last year, Japanese import Keiichi Yabu, and Justin Duchscherer, who combines with rookie Huston Street (3.00 ERA, 10.80 K/9) to form a devastating one-two punch of righty set-up men.

So why are the A's struggling so much this season? Hitting. They're not. Mark Kotsay leads the team with a .416 slugging percentage, .771 OPS, and .264 GPA, and his .355 on-base percentage is second to that of Marco Scutaro (filling in for Bobby Crosby who was removed mid-game on opening day with back pain and hasn't played since). What about Eric Chavez? He's the worst offender with a .202/.285/303 (.204) line. Jason Kendall? .240/.321/.280 (.214). The only teams that have scored fewer runs than the A's thus far this season are the Royals, Pirates, and similarly scuffling Indians (100 to the A's 102 in one less game). It will be interesting to see of Yankee pitching is the cure for what ails them.

Special Bonus Breakdown: Because I can't keep them straight, here's a tale of the tape for Oakland starters Rich Harden and Dan Haren:

	James Richard Harden	Daniel John Haren
Goes By	Middle Name	First Name
Age	23	24
Native	Canadian	Californian
Height	6'1"	6'5"
Weight	180	220
Throws	Right	Right
Bats	Left	Right
School	Central Arizona Junior College	Pepperdine
Drafted	Sea: 38th '99; Oak: 17th '00	StL: 2nd Round '01
Salary	$750,000	$323,500
Debut	7/21/03 - A's	6/3/03 - Cards
Career (ERA/K9/BB9)	44 GS, 46G, 4.12/7.97/4.12	19 GS, 28 G, 4.85/5.69/2.96
2005	5 GS, 1.82/8.31/2.60	6 GS, 5.51/8.65/4.72
Uniform Number	40	24
Facial Hair	none	goatee

Finally, don't forget to check out the Toaster's own Catfish Stew to see how the other half lives this weekend.