A Response from an Oakland A's Fan

In yesterday's entry I took issue with the Baseball Playoffs Now blog's calculations that predicted the Oakland A's would win the AL West. I wrote the Angels were the superior team in the AL West and would win the division. In response to that entry I received an email from Oakland A's fan Justin Kase who believes Baseball Playoffs Now blogger Dan Jarrett got it right when he predicted the Oakland A's over the Angels. Even though I disagree with Justin, his comments were intelligent and respectful and I want to share them with the readers of this blog.

"I disagree [that the Angels will win the AL West]. I mean, yes, I'm an A's fan, but I am also a fair and analytical baseball guy. If you look at the Run Differential, the Halo's are a mediocre at best team. They have done fairly well in the early part of the season but this can be attributed more to, for lack of a better word, luck. I do not think there will be another low run differential team like the Diamondbacks this year. While many others say the Halo's are ripe for a slump, I just think that they are a mediocre team ripe to play like a mediocre team. Lackey is a phenomenal pitcher, but outside of him, the starting group is suspect at best. K-Rod can't hold up if they continue to use him at the pace they have been. The offense is good, but not great.

On the other hand, you have an A's team that is brimming with young talent and is playing well below their run differential. They have the best team ERA in the bigs. Duke, innings short or not, has the lowest ERA of starting pitchers in the AL. Harden is looking, above all, healthy and completely nasty. The A's offense is a work in progress and, yes, there are some injury issues, but the injuries don't protract any further than the all star break and plenty of in-house options exist. The A's are much better suited for a run at the AL West Crown than the Halos are."

A big thanks to Justin for taking time to comment on the blog entry in a respectful manner. It is nice to have a conversation with a fan of another team without insults and trash talking. I would encourage all my readers to check out Justin's blog. Justin's page can be accessed by clicking here.