As promised, I’ve put up a second open thread post. This time, it has an actual purpose. I’d like to round up your predictions for how 2011 will go for the A’s. If you choose to participate, you won’t have to limit yourself to ballpark or off-field issues. You can go anywhere from stadium to statistics to starting staff to the stars of Moneyball. If it’s good, your prediction comment may end up in the body of the post.
The only things I ask for is for folks to keep it civil, and to keep your comments under 200 words. I’d like to be able to have more than one or two comments up here. You’ll only get one shot. As for me, I’ll only make one prediction this year: MLB will figure out a way even more completely hose the A’s than they already have.
And now your comments. From fc:
- The A’s will finish wth 85 wins, but the lack of hitting will again land them in second place behind the Angels.
- No real movement from MLB on the ballpark front as they wait for the EIR on VC to be completed
- Frustration and delays will lead to San Jose giving MLB an ultimatum to make a decision or the city will move on beyond the ballpark. MLB’ s response will be that they are still waiting for the BRC to complete it’s report.
- With the reality of a ballpark in San Jose becoming less likely, Wolff either looks to sell his interest, or Fischer asks him to step down.
- Attendance will average below 15k.
jk-usa:
- In late February, BS comes out with the BRC recommendation for VC. MLB also pays the 750k for the EIR, which relieves IDLF, but who still steps down his City Council position.
- The A’s battle the Angels all year and squeeze out the division by 2 games with 90 wins. Texas and the Giant’s fall flat, plagued by injuries, and finish 3rd with 77 games a piece.
- Gio Gonzalez has a monster year, going 19-8, including a no-hitter, and is runner up for the Cy Young
- Attendance is improved big time over last year, at just above 2 mill, with hope for the fans for a better future in Oakland
- The team is put up for sale to a local group in the off season, led by Bob Piccinini, George Zimmer and one of the Warriors owners. Dolich and Reggie jump on board too. MLB actually approves them this time at the winter meetings.
- LW and BB cash out and move on their merry way. One retires form baseball forever, and the other joins the Bosox as GM.
cuppingmaster:
- Next Owner’s Meeting will be a “yes” vote for SJ, with Oakland continuing to work on the EIR just in case.
- Oakland threatens to pull the Coliseum lease after 2013; MLB negotiates one-year extension in lease plus option year.
- Enticed by LA, Al Davis throws his hat into the ring for the proposed downtown AEG stadium
- Rich Harden makes 25+ starts in the 5th starter role
- Josh Willingham extended for 4 years, 40M
- Brett Anderson makes less than 20 starts and suffers season-ending arm injury in July
- Coco Crisp injures himself in ST, again starts less than 100 games for us
- Conor Jackson plays more than 75 games
- Tyson Ross’ elbow explodes
doctorK:
- We will have another year of pointless back-and-forth arguments between the Oakland-only and SJ-or-bust proponents on this blog.
- Bud Selig will continue to suck as a decision-maker.
- Geren will still suck as a manager.
- Brad Pitt will suck as Billy Beane.
- The A’s will not suck on the field, and will beat the Phillies in a 7 games in a major WS upset (I can dream, can’t I?)
- The Bay Area media will somehow ignore the A’s, instead, they’ll concentrate on the compelling story of the Gnats finishing 3rd in the NL West (but being in contention up until the last week of the season).
- MLB will require all teams not playing in NY or Boston to have off-days whenever the Red Sox and Yankees play each other.
- MLB will announce during the AS break that in 2012, there will be 162 Yankees-Red Sox games.
- Derek Jeter will be the most over-paid ballplayer in history.
- Halos Heaven will strengthen its position as the festering bunghole of the baseball blogosphere.
- ESPN and Fox Sports will continue to suck the soul out of our national pastime.
Jeffrey:
- February- MLB announces the A’s and Giants have reached an agreement on sharing the entire Bay Area. Dennis Herrera announces the City of San Francisco will not file a lawsuit as previously threatened.
- March- The A’s have an abysmal Spring Training record. Everyone has a horrible spring. Crush Carter starts the season in Sacramento. We all freak out.
- April- Coco Crisp goes on a tear, and then tears something in the last week and misses every game up to the All Star Break. the A’s end the month a game back of the Mariners, tied with the Rangers and a game ahead of the Angels.
- May- Daric Barton picks up the slack for the absent Ultrman, hitting 7 bombs and slugging .500, and Gio Gonzales goes 5-0 for the month. The Mariners start to suck and the A’s , Rangers and Angels stay tightly packed at the top of the division.
- June- Ryan Sweeney (who has been playing Right Field while The Jesus moved to Center) is benched in favor of Chris Carter. San Jose passes a Ballpark referendum. Oakland files a lawsuit.
- July- Chris Carter hits 12 HR’s while Brett Anderson has an ERA of 0.00 for the month. Coco comes back just as MC Willinghammer goes on the DL. The Angels and Rangers are witn a game of first, the A’s are in the lead.
- August- With the A’s, Angels and Rangers battling it out for the division, Hideki Matsui is hit by a pitch and breaks his hand, Dallas Braden charges the mound on his behalf. Carter moves to DH and Michael Taylor, after having a huge bounce back year in Sacramento, comes up and bats .400 over his first 150 PA’s.
- September- In a spot start, Tyson Ross throws 6 no hit innings. Rich Harden, Craig Breslow and Andrew Bailey each throw a no hit inning to complete the no-no. The A’s sweep the Angels in the second to last series of the year to move 1 game up on the Rangers with 3 to play. The Angels then lose 2 of three to the Rangers and Trevor Cahill shuts out the Mariners on the last day of the season to Bring the A’s their first playoff appearance since 2006.
- October- After furious playoff battles against the Yankees and Twins, the A’s meet the Brewers in the least watched World Series ever. The A’s win in 7 when, after Brandon McCarthy throws 8 shut out innings, Mark Ellis hits a ninth inning HR and screams “UNICORN POWER!” as he rounds the bases. Oakland’s lawsuit is dismissed.
- November- The A’s have three World Series parades. One in Oakland, One in Fremont and One in San Jose. The end of the third parade culminates in a ceremonial ground breaking at Diridon.
- December- My wife buys me a sweet ticket package for 2012 as a Christmas present and we celebrate by drinking White Russians and quoting the Big Lebowski.
Jerry:
- Oakland and the Vukasin family reach an agreement whereby the Vukasins support a ballpark at Victory Ct. in exchange for naming the new stadium “Peerless Park.”
- At the urging of Senator Boxer, CalTrans and the feds agree to help finance freeway interchange improvements near Jack London Square using the argument that whatever is developed there will need improved access, thus allowing the EIR to get approved with no major legal challenges.
- MLB finally issues its report recommending a new ballpark in Oakland.
- Lew Wolff sells his minority share of the A’s to George Zimmer, and immediately signs a contract with Al Davis to find a new stadium for the Raiders.
- Stomper is replaced by a real elephant from the Oakland Zoo.
- A’s attendance breaks 2 million and the A’s win 89 games to win the AL West.
I’ll finish things off with a real (albeit small) prediction: Should the Oakland EIR progress past the draft stage, the two planned options/alternatives will be to A) use the entire 20 acres between Oak Street and Lake Merritt Channel -or- B) use only the land between Fallon Street and the Channel. No different site alternatives will be considered.
newballpark.org 
-Bob Geren will continue to haunt the A’s/Athletics Nation.
-BRC will continue to drag its feet, SJ will postpone election again
-A’s will have meh 1st half, good 2nd half, squeeze into playoffs, and get eliminated in first round, just in time for the Moneyball Movie.
-Casual Giants-Fans/Band-wagoners will continue to annoy me.
-Adrian Beltre will not sign with the A’s
-A’s will finish above .500 and make a real run at the division. Youth and injuries however, will ultimately hold them back. Prediction: 2nd place, 88 wins and I’ll go out on a limb and say the Angels finish first.
-A’s stay with KTRB for one more year regardless of the format because they are allowed an extended pre-and post game show,
-Oakland gets the stadium spotlight working out the Victory Court proposal. San Jose continues to piece together Diridion but MLB stays quiet. Lew Wolff starts dropping hints of either selling the team or retiring
-The A’s will finish wth 85 wins, but the lack of hitting will again land them in second place behind the Angels.
.
-No real movement from MLB on the ballpark front as they wait for the EIR on VC to be completed
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-Frustration and delays will lead to San Jose giving MLB an ultimatum to make a decision or the city will move on beyond the ballpark. MLB’ s response will be that they are still waiting for the BRC to complete it’s report.
.
-With the reality of a ballpark in San Jose becoming less likely, Wolff either looks to sell his interest, or Fischer asks him to step down.
.
-Attendance will average below 15k.
*In late February, BS comes out with the BRC recommendation for VC. MLB also pays the 750k for the EIR, which relieves IDLF, but who still steps down his City Council position.
*The A’s battle the Angels all year and squeeze out the division by 2 games with 90 wins. Texas and the Giant’s fall flat, plagued by injuries, and finish 3rd with 77 games a piece.
*Gio Gonzalez has a monster year, going 19-8, including a no-hitter, and is runner up for the Cy Young
*Attendance is improved big time over last year, at just above 2 mill, with hope for the fans for a better future in Oakland
* The team is put up for sale to a local group in the off season, led by Bob Piccinini, George Zimmer and one of the Warriors owners. Dolich and Reggie jump on board too. MLB actually approves them this time at the winter meetings.
*LW and BB cash out and move on their merry way. One retires form baseball forever, and the other joins the Bosox as GM.
Based on some of the aforementioned predictions, what the hell::
Earth will be invaded by martians, Elvis will rise from his grave, and yours truly will win SuperLotto.
Happy New Years all (even you Rob)!
re: MLB will figure out a way even more completely hose the A’s than they already have.
The A’s ownership/management? Not likely.
The A’s players? Possibly. (But they’ll survive.)
The cities of Oakland and San Jose? Certainly one, probably both.
The A’s fans? Definitely.
-BRC makes zero progress on its report in all of 2011.
-Oakland EIR is halted midway as issue after issue with VC site comes up.
-A’s win 90 games and make playoffs for first time since 2006.
-San Jose gets frustrated and threatens lawsuit challenging MLB Anti-Trust Exemption.
-Bud Selig sits there and scratches his balls as usual on this issue as he cannot corner 75% votes to move team to San Jose.
-Wolff and Fisher sit around and collect welfare from league as usual.
-Cahill and Gonzalez have career years and are given contract extensions
-Matsui stays healthy as full time DH
*A’s players have relatively good health and win the AL West.
*Daric Barton “breaks out”.
*Josh Willingham is a bust.
*KTRB is saved and flourishes as a radio-hub, for the A’s, and Raiders.
@TonyD–how about some serious predictions like the rest of us? Mine may be overly optimistic, but who knows? Good luck on the Super Lotto.
@jk-usa – Tony had his chance and blew it. The end.
Oakland and MLB stay mired in a circular catch-22 (no promises from MLB, thus no significant further steps by Oakland). SJ loses its referendum in June. No one is ready to fish or cut bait. A’s win the west. This cycle rpeats itself ad nauseum for the next three seasons. Economy does not improve. MLB buys A’s. Raiders get new stadium. A’s become a barnstorming attraction playing all their “home” games in like Portland, Vancouver, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville, Little Rock, and San Antonio.
Optimism is the new black…
+ Next Owner’s Meeting will be a “yes” vote for SJ, with Oakland continuing to work on the EIR just in case.
+ Oakland threatens to pull the Coliseum lease after 2013; MLB negotiates one-year extension in lease plus option year.
+ Enticed by LA, Al Davis throws his hat into the ring for the proposed downtown AEG stadium
+ Rich Harden makes 25+ starts in the 5th starter role
+ Josh Willingham extended for 4 years, 40M
– Brett Anderson makes less than 20 starts and suffers season-ending arm injury in July
– Coco Crisp injures himself in ST, again starts less than 100 games for us
– Conor Jackson plays more than 75 games
– Tyson Ross’ elbow explodes
– A’s will win 85 games, take second in the west
– BRC will drag its feet until late in the year and make a decision, probably Oakland due to all the smoke and mirrors Oakland is throwing up and Bud’s ineptitude at getting the 75%
– Oakland will not have finished their EIR by that point and will take another year to do so
– Oakland will have purchased no additional sites at VC either
– San Jose will have already held a successful referendum by that point
– Lew Wolff, locked out of SJ, will put the team up for sale but there will be no local takers due to the nearly 1 billion price tag (400 mil for the team and 500 mil for the stadium since Oakland will never be able to come up with public funds)
– The A’s will be purchased by someone from out of state who will begin preparations to leave the Bay Area
Sorry not feeling really hopeful for the future…
— MLB appears to side with the Giants, unofficially pursues an Oakland-first strategy.
— Oakland’s plan collapses, for among other reasons, the impossibility of buying out Peerless.
— San Jose quietly finishes buying land. After the Oakland plan collapses, Selig lets blue ribbon committee urge San Jose as a site.
— Oakland refuses to let A’s remain at Coliseum beyond 2013. At this point, uber-deal is worked out where MLB pays off Giants, A’s pay Giants rent at AT&T until San Jose is finished. (This is probably Pareto optimal).
— A’s win 88 games, tying Rangers for first. Angels finish one game behind. Mike Napoli hits 25 homers in 102 games. Halos fans burn Jeff Mathis in effigy.
— Gio Gonzalez beats Colby Lewis in one-game playoff at Coliseum. A’s lose divisional series to Boston 3-1.
— Giants finish one games behind Colorado. A’s fans cheer Carlos Gonzalez’s winning home run on final day, Billy Beane says this is what he had in mind all along.
— Following Roberto Alomar’s induction to the Hall of Fame, Mike Piazza comes out and says that he (Piazza) was NOT the 2002 New York Met whom Bobby Valentine alluded to as gay, but if it will help him get in the hall too, he will change his mind.
11 Predictions for 2011:
1. We will have another year of pointless back-and-forth arguments between the Oakland-only and SJ-or-bust proponents on this blog.
2. Bud Selig will continue to suck as a decision-maker.
3. Geren will still suck as a manager.
4. Brad Pitt will suck as Billy Beane.
5. The A’s will not suck on the field, and will beat the Phillies in a 7 games in a major WS upset (I can dream, can’t I?)
6. The Bay Area media will somehow ignore the A’s, instead, they’ll concentrate on the compelling story of the Gnats finishing 3rd in the NL West (but being in contention up until the last week of the season).
7. MLB will require all teams not playing in NY or Boston to have off-days whenever the Red Sox and Yankees play each other.
8. MLB will announce during the AS break that in 2012, there will be 162 Yankees-Red Sox games.
9. Derek Jeter will be the most over-paid ballplayer in history.
10. Halos Heaven will strengthen its position as the festering bunghole of the baseball blogosphere.
11. ESPN and Fox Sports will continue to suck the soul out of our national pastime.
Happy New Year, everybody.
MLB allows for the A’s to explore San Jose in March
SJ referendum passes solidly in June
Construction slated to start 2012–in time for 2014 season–
A’s finish 2nd in west—after faltering in second half of season-
NFL avoids strike but season starts late
Raiders look to LA and SC as possible stadium options and ultimately pick SC in late 2011
or….AD no longer in charge (you pick the reason) and Raiders agree to return to LA–Chargers choose to share SC stadium with ‘9ers and become the San Jose Chargers (gotta have one wild ass prediction)
gints return to earth and finish 2nd in West–aren’t invited to SJ Christmas parade and hordes of orange and black gear is finally trashed—thank god
1. VC EIR stalls, parallels BRC’s ineptitude, which still has nothing to report.
2. PQP continues as SJ sells Diridon land parcels to LW/JF (in exchange for the FMC land purchase), avoids referendum. If SJ stadium effort dissolves then LW/JF own valuable property for their real estate portfolio.
3. Al Davis plays hardball with Oakland and demands a new publicly funded stadium by 2014 to trump the 49ers. Oakland-Alameda buckles and drains the RDA money to the new stadium, which in turn…
4. W’s are concerned about the new Al Davis stadium and commissions a committee to study a new home after 2017 lease is up. With the new stadium construction going on, half of the home games are played at SJ. W’s then declare they will relocate to SF, next to Phone Booth Park.
5. Sacto Kings take notice of the attendance in SJ by the W’s and sue the NBA and W’s to move to SJ a la Al Davis.
6. Meanwhile, VC effort is declared dead with no financial resources available. BS recommissions the BRC2 with the new stadium events in mind and still no resolution from the BRC1…
7. In light of the cancellation of the Coliseum lease, the A’s declare they will play A’s play half the home games in Sacramento, becoming a real AAAA team.
8. Familiar with the Raley field, Carter goes bonkers and socks 45 homers and earns rookie of the year honors, but the A’s finish .500 as Braden(foot), Gio (shoulder), Anderson(elbow), and Cahill (head) go on the DL for extensive periods.
9. A’s attendance continue to decline, but interestingly Sacto is outselling Oakland. A’s payroll still hovers in bottom 5, so pick up a 40 million dollar welfare check drawing the ire of the League, who finally vote for SJ after seeing the latest revenue sharing figures.
10. Moneyball the movie is released. Joe Morgan declares that Billy Beane is a bad actor! :X
11. Sharks finally get to the Stanley Cup.
12. Philly’s set NL record for wins and then win the WS against the Red Sox.
13. 49ers Jed Dork hires Trent Balke as GM who then rehires Nolan. 49ers select Cam Newton in the draft and becomes Jamarcus Russell #2 as he gets dropped from the team in his 2nd year.
Wow, you guys expect quite a bit to happen in a year. I predict a bit more of the same with the occassional minor plot twist:
– BRC still does not report its findings
– VC EIR goes on
– SJ acquires AT&T parcel at Diridon site
– NFL labor despute ends quickly, allowing the 49ers to begin work on SC site in ernest
– With the VC EIR underway, the Raiders start threatening to move to SC and/or LA to gain leverage
– Sacramento Kings start looking elsewhere for a new home and wind up in Seattle.
Predictions (also known as a game I suck at):
*In February- MLB announces the A’s and Giants have reached an agreement on sharing the entire Bay Area. Dennis Herrera announces the City of San Francisco will not file a lawsuit as previously threatened.
*In March- The A’s have an abysmal Spring Training record. Everyone has a horrible spring. Crush Carter starts the season in Sacramento. We all freak out.
*In April- Coco Crisp goes on a tear, and then tears something in the last week and misses every game up to the All Star Break. the A’s end the month a game back of the Mariners, tied with the Rangers and a game ahead of the Angels.
*In May- Daric Barton picks up the slack for the absent Ultrman, hitting 7 bombs and slugging .500, and Gio Gonzales goes 5-0 for the month. The Mariners start to suck and the A’s , Rangers and Angels stay tightly packed at the top of the division.
*In June- Ryan Sweeney (who has been playing Right Field while The Jesus moved to Center) is benched in favor of Chris Carter. San Jose passes a Ballpark referendum. Oakland files a lawsuit.
*In July- Chris Carter hits 12 HR’s while Brett Anderson has an ERA of 0.00 for the month. Coco comes back just as MC Willinghammer goes on the DL. The Angels and Rangers are witn a game of first, the A’s are in the lead.
*In August- With the A’s, Angels and Rangers battling it out for the division, Hideki Matsui is hit by a pitch and breaks his hand, Dallas Braden charges the mound on his behalf. Carter moves to DH and Michael Taylor, after having a huge bounce back year in Sacramento, comes up and bats .400 over his first 150 PA’s.
*In September- In a spot start, Tyson Ross throws 6 no hit innings. Rich Harden, Craig Breslow and Andrew Bailey each throw a no hit inning to complete the no-no. The A’s sweep the Angels in the second to last series of the year to move 1 game up on the Rangers with 3 to play. The Angels then lose 2 of three to the Rangers and Trevor Cahill shuts out the Mariners on the last day of the season to Bring the A’s their first playoff appearance since 2006.
*In October- After furious playoff battles against the Yankees and Twins, the A’s meet the Brewers in the least watched World Series ever. The A’s win in 7 when, after Brandon McCarthy throws 8 shut out innings, Mark Ellis hits a ninth inning HR and screams “UNICORN POWER!” as he rounds the bases. Oakland’s lawsuit is dismissed.
*In November- The A’s have three World Series parades. One in Oakland, One in Fremont and One in San Jose. The end of the third parade culminates in a ceremonial ground breaking at Diridon.
*In December- My wife buys me a sweet ticket package for 2012 as a Christmas present and we celebrate by drinking White Russians and quoting the Big Lebowski.
.
I am really only certain of the last sentence. And, I am only half sure of that one.
* Kouz hits 18 HRs, Beltre hits 19 for the Angels.
* No word from BRC on ballpark
* New training staff accounts for record low number of DL trips.
* The crowds for Herb Washington and Mitchell Page bobblehead days prove to be underwhelming.
* Travis Buck leads the Columbus Clippers to the International League title.
* Many in the stands will yell “Who?” after umpire introductions, then smugly smile.
* Bobo the Moron uses all 14 pitchers in one game.
* Despite better record, A’s are ignored by the media, in favor of the giants.
* The team conducts a season-long centennial celebration of the world series champion 1911 A’s.
– Oakland and the Vukasin family reach an agreement whereby the Vukasins support a ballpark at Victory Ct. in exchange for naming the new stadium “Peerless Park.”
– At the urging of Senator Boxer, CalTrans and the feds agree to help finance freeway interchange improvements near Jack London Square using the argument that whatever is developed there will need improved access, thus allowing the EIR to get approved with no major legal challenges.
– MLB finally issues its report recommending a new ballpark in Oakland.
– Lew Wolff sells his minority share of the A’s to George Zimmer, and immediately signs a contract with Al Davis to find a new stadium for the Raiders.
– Stomper is replaced by a real elephant from the Oakland Zoo.
– A’s attendance breaks 2 million and the A’s win 89 games to win the AL West.
Jeffrey, this is Maude Lebowski. I need to see you. I’m the one who took your rug.
Well, I guess we can close the file on that one.
I obviously posted either before drinking coffee or after smoking crack. Or both. I meant “Oh no” after ump intros.
Prediction for 2015:
* Oakland insists it deserves a privately funded ballpark like Frisco. With no one ready to build such a financial black hole project and MLB too cowardly to let San Jose have major league baseball, the A’s move to another part of the country.
@Jeffery-Wow, you predicted a pretty wild year for the A’s!! And even though you exceeded the 200 word maximum by 327, I found it very entertaining. Have a great 2011 🙂
Initiative is passed requiring the City to enter into an agreement with Caltrans to study the feasibility of the 980 Park site for a ballpark or other public revenue producing use. Study to be funded by the City’s Redevelopment Agency.
Some of you are being unrealistic/silly. These are my predictions.
We will hear no news whatsoever in 2011 from the BRC and from Selig. This will cause massive rumors (some of which are legitimate) that Wolff is interested in selling the team to either MLB or to investors who want to move the team out of the market.
My other prediction is that 2011 will be an eerily quiet year on the ballpark front, other than the Oakland Victory Court EIR progressing and San Jose acquiring the ATT site. The lack of news will cause major frustration on this board.
– There will be no decision this year as to whether the A’s can move to SJ or not. That gives Oakland more time to put a proposal together. The A’s ownership quietly agrees to put the franchise in escrow. MLB takes over the A’s.
– The Chargers are the team to move to LA. Vikes stay in Minny. Play at U of M stadium temporarily.
– Niners run into more trouble with the stadium plan in SC, agree to take the Raiders on as partners. Stadium is redesigned to best reflect the identities of both franchises. Both Oakland and San Fran are without football teams in their respective jurisdictions.
– Kings stay in Sacto, with new ownership agreeing to stay in Arco Arena, until a permanent arena solution is found.
– The Warriors and Oakland agree on a long-term contract and quiet rumors of San Fran for good.
– FOX surprises everyone by buying KCNS and move the affiliation there from KTVU. That opens up slots at KTVU for A’s or Giants games. The A’s wind up returning to OTA on KTVU. Giants return to KNTV, with KRON as a distinct possibility.
– The Giants will NOT repeat this year.