Look Out Below

Hey, Billy Beane, is it still Business as Usual time in Oakland when you trade Rich Harden for a bag of crap? Because with yesterday's feebling at the hands of AJ Burnett and those always mediocre Toronto Blue Jays, your Business As Usual collection of Minimum Payday Only talent has now dropped 10 in a row to fall to 53-61 on the year. Only the continued putridity of the Mariners is keeping you out of the cellar. But that's OK, because this is all according to plan, right?

I shouldn't be so hard. I mean, Brad Ziegler's still throwing zeros for cheap, unlike Huston Street, who has blown more saves than anyone in the AL and wasn't dealt at the deadline for reasons I can't quite fathom. The offense is paced by the breathtaking contributions of a younger version of Jason Kendall (Kurt Suzuki, who the East Bay will enjoy for another whopping two years until his contract makes him untenable), and the always amusing Jack Cust, whose .808 OPS is somewhat undercut by the fact that only about a third of his at-bats end up requiring anyone but the pitcher and catcher. (Jack swings, misses, walks or goes yard. It's exciting!) Oh, and trade chip Matt Murton is certainly making everyone forget about Harden with his .262 OPS. Well, at least Harden as a hitter.

How about Sean Gallagher, the talented young arm they got back from the Cubs? Well, the good news is that he's striking out a man an inning. The bad news is he's nearly walking that many, too, and when you combine that with the had to cool off Justin Duchscherer, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith, it means the bullpen's getting exposed now. Toss Street and his 6 HRs in 49 IP (ouch) to the mix -- seriously, has anyone in town trusted him since the ALCS ending walk-off homer to Magglio Ordonez? -- and you've got...

Well, a bargain basement team, bereft of interesting offensive talent, that's dropped 10 games in a row and is going to find it's true level at 70 wins for the year. If we're lucky. But hey, that's all OK, because this is Business as Usual!