Holliday Struggling in Oakland

I'm sure Billy Beane and Co. had a much different vision in mind when they dealt a group of solid young players to the Rockies for Matt Holliday over the winter. The former NL batting champion and all-star has had a rough first half in the new league and the Oakland A's are running out of time and options with the potential free-agent.

The A's have been a disappointment this year and nowhere near a playoff team as their second half gets underway Thursday. A big reason for their struggles has been the under-performance from Matt Holliday. Since Holliday is a free agent after the year, and the A's have no future plans for him, they have no need to keep him past the July 31st trade deadline. Coming into the year, Billy Beane had a plan for Holliday; Either they're close at the deadline and Holliday stays, or they're out of it, and they can turn Holliday into another group of top, young prospects. In that plan of his though, I'm sure Beane figured Holliday would be on pace for his normal .300, 30 HR, 100 RBI season, regardless of what the A's win-loss record looked like. However, the left-fielder hasn't performed up to expectations, and his trade value is at an all-time low because of it. Add to it the fact that he's represented by Scott Boras, and the A's are really in a no-win situation with Holliday. Nobody is going to give up a two of their top prospects for a potential free-agent who's hitting just .270 with mediocre power (8 home runs) and RBI (43) numbers. So, what's the best case scenario for the A's as they go forward with their plannings for Holliday? Probably just hang on to him.

I'm sure if Beane could take the deal back and go forward with Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Huston Street ( the prominent three he gave up for the left fielder), he'd do it in a heartbeat. He's going to be hard-pressed to find a taker for Holliday in which he lands just one top-3 prospect from someones organization, let alone 2 top-5's and a Major League-caliber closer. So, unless Holliday starts ripping the cover off the ball and gets his average up to around his career mark at .315 while knocking balls out of the yard over the next 10 days, they're not going to get equal value for him in a trade. Therefor, the best thing they can do at this point is hang on to him, offer him arbitration after the season, and take the high compensation pick they'll get for him.

Who knows, their may still be some NL team that may take a chance on Holliday, hoping his return to NL will re-awaken his dormant bat, but I just don't see anyone giving up what the A's would want or even what they gave up for him. One team that had made it clear that they had interest in a deal for Holliday earlier in the year was the St. Louis Cardinal's, but they used a few of their bargaining chips to acquire Mark DeRosa from Cleveland in early June. The Giants are another team that could use a right-handed hitting outfielder, but Brian Sabean is well aware of Holliday's struggles outside of Coors Field and probably wouldn't give the A's much more than a couple of mid-level prospects for the left-fielder. And that's about all they can expect if they trade him.

MLB Mid-Season Awards

With the official half-way point in the MLB season upon us, I wanted to take a look at who's stuck out in the first half of the season by selecting who would win each of baseball's major awards if the season were to end today! So here we go:

AMERICAN LEAGUE AWARDS

AL MVP: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins: Justin Morneau is on pace for a career year, and that's saying something, seeing as he's already won an AL MVP award (2006). One pace for a 40 home run, 135 RBI year, and he's hitting .312 to boot. His teammate, Joe Mauer, could also get some votes, as should Torri Hunter, Mark Teixeira and Evan Longoria.

AL Cy Young: Zack Grienke, Kansas City Royals: Grienke is having the best season out of any AL starter right now, and despite being snubbed for the AL all-star start, he shouldn't miss out on the Cy Young award if he has a second half that's close to matching his first half magic.

Rookie of the Year: Andrew Bailey, Oakland Athletics: Bailey has kind of come out of nowhere and taken reigns of the A's closer position. His 10 saves, 1.92 era and 60 strikeouts lead all major league rookie relievers. Should be a solid closer in Oakland for years to come.

Manager of the Year: Ron Washington, Texas Rangers: The former A's coach took a couple of seasons to get settled in Texas, but he's finally turning that franchise around, as they sit at 48-39, their best record they've had at an all-star break in many years. They're only 1.5 back of the Angels in what should be a tight division race down to the wire. Aaron Hill

Comeback P.O.Y.: Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays: After struggling through an injury plagued 2008 season in which he hit just .263 with 2 hr's and 20 RBI in 240 at-bats, he's bounced back and is having a career year. Amongst the AL leaders in home runs (20) and RBI (60) and has had his average right around .300 or better all year.

Rolaids Relief Man: Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins: Joe Nate just continues to dominate year in and year out. He's aging terrifically, as he's 34 years of age, but quite possibly putting together his best statistical season of his career. I still can't get over the trade that sent him, Liriano and Bonser to the Twins for that POS catcher.

NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARDS

NL MVP: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals: Forget just the mid-season award, I think it's pretty safe to say, unless he gets injured of course, that Pujoles will real in his third career NL MVP Award. The dude has put up numbers (.332 avg, 32 HR, 87 RBI, 73 R, 10 SB) that most stars, not just average players, but most all-stars would take over course of a full season. The best-right handed hitter I've seen on my 25 years on the planet.

NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants: Dan Haren is equally deserving, but Tim Lincecum has led his team atop the NL Wild Card standings and has earned himself the start for the National League in Tuesday's all-star game. Putting up even better numbers than the ones he won his first Cy Young award with last season. Again though, if Dan Haren's era and WHIP continue to drop, it would be hard to argue against him as well.

Rookie of the Year: Randy Wells, Chicago Cubs: Tommy Hanson and Andrew McCuthen have had nice first-halfs, but Wells has been a solid cog in the Cubbies pitching staff all season long and is sporting an impressive 2.72 era and 1.12 WHIP. He's only been credited with 4 wins do to lack of run support, and he's only had one bad start in 12 outings.

Manager of the Year: Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants: Boch has the Giants, a team everyone thought would struggle to make it to .500, atop the NL wild card standings and has led them to the second best record in the league at the break. He's been pushing all the right buttons in order to win ballgames and squeeze runs out of an average-at-best starting lineup.

Comeback P.O.Y.: Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals: After missing most of the last two seasons due to a broken down elbow, Carpenter has returned back to his ace-like ways (7-3, 2.47 era, 0.87 WHIP with a 64:13 strikeout/walk ratio in his 83 innings pitched this year. In fact, there are some that feel he's throwing the ball better now than he did during his last healthy season in 2006.

Rolaids Relief Man: Ryan Franklin, St. Louis Cardinals: There's a reason why the Cards are atop a very deep division in the NL Central. Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter are doing what they do best, but the Cards have developed themselves an elite closer in Ryan Franklin aka "The Beard", and I think his steadiness has really made a difference in the standings. His 0.79 era and WHIP are by far the best in the league and he's tied for third in the NL in Saves. Heath Bell and K-Rod should also get some recognition.

Raiders Offseason Review

With the start of NFL training camp right around the corner (July 29th for the Raiders), I figured now would be a good time to review what went on with each Bay Area football team this offseason, starting today with the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders have had a pretty active offseason, as they brought in 14 new players, not including the ones they drafted. However, not all of the adds have been marquee names. The three biggest adds were former Dallas defensive end Greg Ellis, former Niner and recent Buccaneer Jeff Garcia, and former San Diego Charger fullback Lorenzo Neal. Both Ellis and Neal will be counted on to play big roles with the Raiders. Ellis will likely be on the field for all passing situations on defense to take advantage of his premiere pass-rushing skills, but also to ease his work load and keep him from being an every down player at age 34. The Raiders are hoping Lorenzo Neal will come in and provide some of the same type blocking that helped lead LaDanian Tomlinson to all those rushing and touchdown tittles. Last year, in his first full season without having Neal lead the way for him, LT rushed for a career low 1110 yards and had just 11 rushing TD's, his lowest total since his rookie season in 2001. Darren McFadden and Justin Fargas have to be licking their chops at a chance to run behind the big fellow. Not to mention, the improved running game should also help ease the load for JaMarcus Russel.

Another guy the Raiders are hoping will give Russel a ton of help is their top draftee Darrius Heyward-Bey. The speedster from Maryland wasn't the ideal choice at number 7, but he should end up being a pretty exciting player, in some facet. He'll likely be counted on as a slot, or third receiver to start his rookie year, but he could move up the charts quickly, as only Javon Walker and Chaz Shillins are above him on the depth chart. 2nd and 3rd round picks, Safety Michael Mitchell and linebacker Matt Shaughnessy, will also have significant roles on the defensive side of the football for the Silver and Black.

There weren't many players that left the Raiders this offseason. The biggest effect will likely come from the loss of defensive end Kalimba Edwards, who was amongst the team leaders in sacks a year ago. He failed a physical and was dismissed from the team. Ronald Curry, who played 75 games for the Raiders at wide receiver and had a few very solid seasons was also released from the team. The team also suffered a tragic loss this offseason in Marquis Copper, who lost his life with a few other football players in a boating accident back in the early spring.

The Raiders could still make another add or two before the start of training camp, but I wouldn't count on anything significant. They're hoping that they're young players will start gelling and are going to play them this year, rather than trying to plug holes with veterans, and that's a refreshing change for the Raider Nation.

Niners Making Stadium Issue Difficult

The San Francisco 49ers, or at least their owner Jed York, want to move out of the city!

Instead of trying to work with Mayor Gavin Newsome on a new stadium deal in San Francisco, York has the 49ers exploring options in Santa Clara, which continues to make extremely little sense to me. Why on earth would you want to move a franchise out of one of the better economical cities in the world, and move them to the South Bay. It make make a little more sense if they were wanting to move to San Jose, although it still irk the people of San Francisco. Newsome was recently on a Giants Chroicle live following a recent game, and discussed the frusterating situation he's currently in with the Niners. Now, Newsome doesn't want to lose the 49ers on his watch as mayor of San Francisco, so you know he's doing everything in his power to help steer the Niners and the York's focus back to San Francisco. (49ers' stadium plan pictured to left)

Apparently the Yorks feel that all stadium options for San Francisco have been exhausted, and the only remaining option at keeping the team in Northern California would be a move to the south bay. Newsome, however, is denying the fact that the stadium plans for San Francisco have deteriorated, and is calling the York's plan to move out of the City "a move for a new beggining" and believes their move has nothing to do with San Francisco's trouble funding a stadium, and more to do with their desire for a fresh start with the franchise. It's moments like these that make me long for the days when Eddie Debartolo was running the 49ers. Do you think he would allow "this move to the South Bay" if he were still at the helm for the Niners??? I don't think so!

Giants/A's Notes

We're right in the middle of the major league baseball season, and with the All-Star break and the trading deadline just a few short weeks away, there is a lot going on in the baseball world.

The Oakland A's made a move a couple of days ago, acquiring Scott Hairston from the San Diego Padres for basically nothing. All the A's had to send to San Diego in exchange for the .300 hitting center fielder was a couple of mid-level minor league pitchers and a player to be named later. Hairston isn't necessarily a game changing bat, but he's certainly a more than capable center fielder who can bring some offense. He's got the type of pop to hit 30 home runs in a year if given full-time at-bats, and he's really improved some of the holes that were in his swing. The 28 year-old outfielder was hitting .299 with 10 bombs and 20 RBI in under 200 at-bats. Definitely a positive move for the A's, as Hairston is going to be cheap for a couple of more seasons. Just ask Giants fans about what this guy can do; He's hit 11 home runs against the Orange and Black (3 more then the next closest team) in just 171 at-bats...

Speaking of the Giants, they placed their 8-game winner, and career 303 game winner, Randy Johnson on the disabled list with a strained left shoulder. Johnson was injured in his latest outing against the Houston Astros, a game in which he couldn't make it out of the fourth inning and couldn't keep the Astros in the yard. It's unclear just how long the "Big Unit" will be out of the Giants lineup, but early diagnosis have him missing anywhere from 4-8 weeks, which mean we're likely looking at first part of August in the best case scenario. Remember, the Unit is 45 years old and isn't going to heal as quickly as he would have 10-12 years ago, so the Giants are likely crossing their fingers in hope that this thing isn't too serious. Brian Sabean has said that Johnson's injury will not force the Giants to make a deal for another arm. Jonathan Sanchez will fill his spot, while Ryan Sadowski sticks in Sanchez's former slot, which leaves the Giants little room for error if Sanchez gets torched again, or if the league starts figuring out Sadowski. It should definitely be interesting to see how things play out with the Giants rotation over the next few weeks.

National League All-Star Selections

Last post, we broke down how the American League roster would look if we were in charge in the selecting the 33-man roster, and today, we'll take a gander at the National League squad. Click here for AL mock-roster!

National League Roster

Lineup-

SS Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
2B Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
1B Albert Pujoles, St. Louis Cardinals
LF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
RF Rauel Ibanez., Philadelphia Phillies*
3B Mark Reynolds, Arizona Diamondbacks
CF Justin Upton, Arizona D-Backs
C Bengie Molina, San Francisco Giants
SP Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

Bench

3B David Wright, New York Mets
1B Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
C/3B Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants
OF Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers
OF Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals*
OF Brad Hawpe, Colorado Rockies
1B Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres
1B Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
2B Brandon Phillips, Cincinatti Reds
SS Miguel Tejada, Houston Astros
OF Jayson Werth, Philadelphia Phillies
OF Shane Victorino, Philadelphia Phillies

Pitching-

RHP Dan Haren, Arizona D-Backs
RHP Jonathan Broxton, LA Dodgers
RHP Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants
RHP Johnny Cueto, Cincinatti Reds
RHP Yovanni Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers
RHP Francisco Rodriguez, New York Mets
LHP Johan Santana, New York Mets
LHP Zack Duke, Pittsburgh Pirates
RHP Kevin Gregg, Chicago Cubs
RHP Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta Braves
RHP Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles Dodgers

*Adam Dunn fills in for Ibanez in the outfield if Ibanez is still injured.

American League All-Star Selections

The official halfway point of the Major League baseball season is just a couple days away, and baseball's mid-summer classic takes place on July 14th. With the all-star game right around the corner, I wanted to give The Bay Area Sports Blogs All Star selections, starting with the American League today while saving the NL until Friday's post.

American League Roster

Starting Lineup-

1. LF Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays
2. 2B Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
3. C Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
4. 3B Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
5. CF Torii Hunter, LA Angels
6. 1B Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
7. RF Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox
8. SS Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays
9. SP Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals

Bench-

2B Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays
C/1B Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians
OF Johnny Damon, New York Yankees
1B Mark Teixiera, NY Yankees
IF Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
OF Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers
OF Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays
C/3B Brandon Inge, Detroit Tigers
OF Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
1B/3B Russel Branyan, Seattle Mariners
OF Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox
SS Derek Jeter, NY Yankees
IF/OF Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays

Pitching Staff-

RHP Roy Halliday, Toronto Blue Jays
RHP Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins
RHP Andrew Bailey, Oakland Athletics
RHP Felix Hernandez, RHP Seattle Mariners
RHP Jered Weaver, LA Angels
RHP Edwin Jackson, Detroit Tigers
LHP Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox
RHP Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox
RHP Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
LHP George Sherrill, Baltimore Orioles
RHP Kevin Millwood, Texas Rangers

*Keep in mind that all teams in the league need to be represented on the 33-man roster.