Oakland Athletics 2006 Season and Off Season

The Oakland Athletics 2006 regular season went fairly well for the organization and the fans. In 2006 the A's won the American League West making the playoffs after missing the playoffs in 2005.

The A's had some question marks on their roster. They signed free agent Frank Thomas, to a one year contract, to take over as their DH. Thomas was coming off back to back injury plagued seasons. He played in 74 games in 2004 and just 34 games in 2005. In 2005 He batted just .219 with 12 home runs and just 26 runs batted in. How would Thomas preform in 2006? The gamble they took on Thomas turned out to be a great move. He bounced back in 2006 and batted .270 with 39 home runs while driving in 114 runs.

A big question for the A's was about Barry Zito. There was some speculation that Zito could be traded before the trading deadline. He was in the final year of his contract and was going to cash in big with his next contract. Zito stayed with the team the whole season preforming very well. His record was 16-10 with and ear of 3.83.

To continue fixing the starting rotation Esteban Loaiza was signed to a 3 year contract. Loaiza had some injury issues in 2006. He pitched in 26 games and through just 154.2 innings. He finished with a record of 11-9 and an ear of 4.89.

The A's finished the 2005 season with an 88-74 record for 2nd place, and missed the playoffs. In 2003 they finished 96-66 and in 2004 their record was 91-71, making the playoffs both years. However, they got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round both years.

Changes were need for 2006. Signing Thomas and Loaiza to go along with keeping Zito panned out for the A's. They made the playoffs again, and made it out of the first round of the playoffs but they did not make it to the World Series. During the 2006 offseason, they had both Zito and Thomas who became free agents. They knew that they were not going to be able to re-sign Barry Zito. However, they were working on trying to sign Frank Thomas to an extension.

The A's fired manager Ken Macha. To replace Macha, Bob Geren was hired to be the manager. Geren had been the bench coach. They lost Zito to the Giants, and Thomas ended up signing with the Blue Jays. The A's signed LHP Alan Embree to a 2 year contract with an option for 2009. Since the A's had an opening at DH, they signed Mike Piazza to take over as the full time DH. Piazza came off a decent year with the Padres where he batter .283 with 22 home runs and drove in 68. Being able to play DH full time should allow him to put up good numbers without having to play catcher. On February 8, 2007 Oakland sign OF Shannon Stewart to upgrade their outfield.

The 2007 season for the Oakland A's should be interesting. They will find out how well Mike Piazza does being a DH for the first time in his career. Their also going to need Rich Harden to stay health for the whole year, playing in just 9 games in 2006. If Oakland preforms as well as they have in the past without signing big name free agents then they will more than likely make the playoffs yet again in 2007.