Jack Cust News

Labeled last June by no less of an authority than the Wall Street Journal as "the smartest man in baseball, if not the entire world," A's left-hander Craig Breslow gets a lot of attention in the clubhouse for his academic pedigree.

With the Astros apparently leaning toward waving goodbye to Miguel Tejada, the question comes up whether the A's want one of their most popular players ever back as a combo 3B/SS. In his list of the top 50 free agents, MLB Trade Rumors' Tim Dierkes sees the A's signing Miggy , along with Jim Thome to replace Jack Cust.

The A's made 107 errors in 2003, then made fewer than 100 in each of the next five seasons.

I'm sure you talk to other writers; do you think there's a chance Andrew Bailey has a shot at Rookie of the Year? -- Henry J., Concord, Calif.

In my last article, I evaluated one speedy Oakland center fielder,A RajaiA Davis.

If the A's were conducting a clinical trial or product testing, this past season might be considered Phase 1: Pitching.

A's manager Bob Geren tends to paint everything in the rosiest possible hues. His boss, general manager Billy Beane, takes a more balanced view.

Few polls have unanimous results, but such was the case this week when more than three-quarters of the current A's roster was asked to name the team's Most Valuable Player.

Mike Sweeney's two-run single in the fifth inning was the eventual game-winner, as Seattle edged Oakland, 4-2, to sweep a three-game set at Safeco Field.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my baseballdad! Love you! AN General Consensus on 2010 starting pitching: Weed out the best starters from this season and call it a rotation.

The A's acquired Jason Giambi and Matt Holliday last winter hoping to boost their sagging power numbers from 2008.

The A's take comfort knowing that several of this season's core players are locked into the picture for next year as well.

Right now, Oakland's offense is clicking with Suzuki, who entered this season with all of 14 career homers, hitting cleanup.

Jack Cust homered and doubled in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth inning, Kurt Suzuki and Mark Ellis also went deep, and the Athletics rallied from a seven-run deficit to beat the Angels 15-10 on Saturday night.

A's manager Bob Geren talked again Thursday about how he expects his rookie starting pitchers to improve in 2010 based on this year's experience.

Boston 10, at Kansas City 3: David Ortiz homered and drove in three runs, and Clay Buchholz took a shutout into the seventh inning to help the Red Sox lower their magic number for the AL wild card to three.

Jack Cust homered to help rookie Brett Anderson win his fourth straight start, Cliff Pennington hit a two-run triple and the Oakland Athletics salvaged a split of their four-game series against the Texas Rangers with a 12-3 rout Thursday.

"Maybe, I don't know," he said. "It's looking more like it. ... I hope I'm back, bit it's not my decision and I know they have some things to think about, if they want to spend that money on me or someone else.

Kurt Suzuki and Daric Barton both drove in two runs to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 9-1 win over the Texas Rangers in the continuation of a four-game series.

The A's lead the Indians, 5-0, today after three innings at the Coliseum. Fly by: The Indians couldn't catch a fly ball and the A's wouldn't stop sending bloop hits into the outfield as they scored five runs in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead against Fausto Carmona.