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Hey the A's made a trade today! The A's sent Triple A pitcher Sam Demel to the Diamondbacks for Conor Jackson. Have the A's finally found that big slugger they've been looking for all season? Well....nooo...


Jackson is really known for being a very good fielder. He has been a good hitter in his own right having hit .300, .376 OBP, .823 OPS with 12 Home Runs and 75 RBI's as recently as 2008. He had a case of Valley Fever which shut him down last season, and he got off to a slow start this season but had been coming on lately with .303 average in his last 10 games.


As for what will be expected of him, the A's would just be happy with him getting on base regularly, which Jackson has been known to do. He takes plenty of walks and is the direct opposite of Jack Cust in terms of putting the ball in play. The main thing that this trade does really however is prevent the Texas Rangers from getting him, as they were in pursuit of Jackson as well. In terms of money, the A's owe $1.9 million of Jackson's $3.1 million salary, but $400 k of that is paid by the Diamondbacks, and Jackson will be arbitration eligible next season.


So while this isn't a splashy move, it's still a solid enough move with very minimal risk which we all know Billy Beane tends to make. The A's get a versatile fielder, who gets on base enough where he could help the A's score more runs. We'll see where this goes...

Mirror Images - A's & Giants

What have we learned so far? After 63 games from the A's and 60 from the Giants at post time, I think it is safe to say that we have a pretty good idea of what we're looking at from both teams. The Giants and A's are very much in contention in weak divisions so far with the Giants 2.5 games out and the A's 2 games out. What's also interesting about this season so far, is that in a lot of ways both teams are mirror images of each other.

Offensively:

• Both teams are hitting in the .260's as a team.
• Both teams have an awful Team OBP at .332 (SF) and .322 (OAK) respectively
• Both teams have paltry Team OPS at .737 (SF) and .706 (OAK) which is a big reason why both teams are averaging woeful runs/game averages at 4.23 (SF) and 4.05 (OAK).

Pitching :

• Both teams ERA's are outstanding with the Giants clocking in with 3.35, and the A's spotting a 3.98.
• Both teams WHIP is terrific as well. Giants Team WHIP 1.255 and A's Team WHIP 1.315
• The Giants are leading the National League in Strikeouts per Nine Innings at 7, while the A's main strength is control with a really low 3.3 Walks per Nine Innings.

So it appears that the A's and Giants have the same issue. They're both very strong in both starting pitching and bullpens, yet both are looking for a big bat in the lineup. The Giants have called up promising prospect Buster Posey, as well as taken a flyer on Pat Burrell to try and find an extra stick in the lineup. The A's are continuing to hope that the Jack Cust movie can still bring some runs in.

So far the results for both teams have been promising. The A's got 3 wins against the Giants a couple weeks ago, but the Giants have struck first in Game One of this weekends series. The way this season has gone...it wouldn't be too surprising if the Giants won the next two...