I picked a good week to go away

Yeesh. A sweep from the A's? I know they are playing better of late, but again, everyone gets well against the Mariners. Its also doubly frustrating to lose to the A's because this was supposed to be a down year for them too. Way back in 2001 they were right there with us as 100 game winners. Since then we have tanked while they have simply rebuilt.

On a budget well under half of ours. Amazing. The rebuilt rotation looks just fine, thank you very much. Dan Haren looked brilliant last week and was good again today. Harden is a horse and even Joe Blanton is coming around. Chavez (like Beltre) is starting to play like he's capable, while Dan Johnson and Crosby have given the offense a nice boost. The A's are just a better run organization than the Mariners plain and simple. It clearly shows in the head-to-head. We're 3-9 against the A's, 30-35 against everyone else. The A's are 9-3 against the M's, 29-37 against everyone else.

I know there are deals out there. The Cubs fleeced Jerome Williams out of the Giants for LaTroy Hawkins. The Padres want Boone. The Yankees are interested in Randy Winn. Both the Pads and the Yankees have relatively thin farm systems, but you know Billy Beane would swing a three-way that would get him some decent talent in return. If only...