A's Bullpen Setting Up to Be a Strength

PHOENIX - The measure of a baseball team is not how many runs it scores or how many runs it allows. What matter is how many more runs it scores than it allows.

Such was Billy Beane's thought when he did something in January that may have puzzled casual observers. Instead of continuing to try to upgrade an offense that was clearly the team's biggest weakness, the A's general manager added two more free agent pitchers to a staff that had already led the league in ERA.

The fewer runs you allow, Beane figured, the fewer you have to score.

While offensive additions like David DeJesus, Josh Willingham and Hideki Matsui have been the focus of most of the discussion about the improved A's, the club is also excited about a bullpen that may be the best in baseball.

"The names may not be as popular as any other teams, but the quality might be as good as anybody," manager Bob Geren said.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/02/26/as-bullpen-setting-up-to-be-a-strength/

Rafael van der Vaart Retief Goosen Ricardo Carvalho Ricardo Quaresma Richard Gasquet