Contra Costa Times
(MCT)
As the Oakland Athletics open the 2011 regular season tonight, seating room on their bandwagon is disappearing quickly.
Sports Illustrated baseball writer Tom Verducci predicted the Athletics will claim their first American League West championship in fi
ve seasons. ESPN analyst Barry Larkin identified them as his “team to watch” for 2011.
Not since Athletics manager Bob Geren took over the club before the 2007 season have expectations been so high.
“I feel like it’s the deepest, most-talented team we’ve had,” Geren said. “The talent level we’ve had in the past has been very good. But this year, if a few guys get hurt, we have some great options to fill in.”
Yet if Geren wants to provide a cautionary tale on the dangers of preseason press clippings, he need only point to the team in the opposing dugout Friday night.
The Seattle Mariners were in Oakland’s position a year ago as the trendy pick to win the AL West.
Coming off a promising 85-77 record in 2009, they traded for former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee. They signed highly regarded free-agent infielder Chone Figgins. On paper they seemed primed to make a run at the 2010 division title.
Instead, they were out of the race by May. Lee was traded to Texas in July, manager Don Wakamatsu was fired in August, and the Mariners staggered to a 61-101 finish.
A’s fans have no reason to believe a similar fate awaits their team. But it shows predictions don’t count for much once the first pitch is thrown opening night.
The A’s popularity with prognosticators this spring centered on their excellent starting rotation, a deep bullpen and an offense that should improve based on offseason additions such as Hideki Matsui, David DeJesus and Josh Willingham.
Combine that with the fact that the Rangers, the defending division champs, have taken significant injury hits to their pitching staff.
Texas starters Tommy Hunter and Brandon Webb, signed over the winter, will start the season on the disabled list.
Verducci pointed to the A’s pitching depth as a reason he’s choosing them over the Rangers.
Throughout the spring, Geren cited his overall depth as a reason he’s optimistic. That depth will be tested early in the season.
Two-time All-Star closer Andrew Bailey will start the season on the DL with a forearm strain. He should return by the end of April, but the A’s will turn to veteran Brian Fuentes in the ninth inning. He had some shaky moments during Cactus League play, posting a 5.19 ERA in 10 appearances.
Can Matsui, the new designated hitter who hit .169 with one homer and two RBIs in 65 spring at-bats, find a groove now that the regular season is here?
He’s a key to any revival the A’s will have offensively after they finished 11th out of 14 AL teams in runs (663) last season.
Answers will reveal themselves starting Friday night, when the A’s send ace Trevor Cahill to the mound to face the Mariners’ reigning Cy Young winner, Felix Hernandez.
“It’s never bad to have expectations,” A’s assistant general manager David Forst said. “We like this team, and we certainly expect to compete for the division.”
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