This is subject to change until the ST dust settles .... But, right now..

I see the A's at ........... 86 wins..... and battling for 2nd in the AL West... And being out of the Wild Card/Playoffs..... A very solid year for a young potential filled club...

Sadly, they will be headed in the wrong direction for 2014 and beyond as the current crop of good players begin to leave as club salary issues/self imposed budget restraints demand their - what would be for most MLB clubs - early departures...

Being an A's fan is not easy...

I don't know about you, but the club control, arbitration, free agency rules have always confused me. I found this. It seems to clear up some of the issues:

"For a player to be eligible for free agency, he must have a minimum of six years service time. This is different from the arbitration rules, where the top one-sixth (in terms of service time) of the players between two and three years of service are eligible for arbitration."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/help/faq.html#fa

This sounds like arbitration eligibility starts after either 2 or 3 years of service and free agency after 6. If that is the case, the team can retain a player for 6 years if they a.) submit to arbitration or, b.) sign the player to a contract to avoid arbitration.

I've noticed the A's tend to sign promising players to multi-year contracts rather than go to arbitration, thus avoiding the possibility of having to pay market price :-)

I'm saying 98. Nice to see the doubters out again so early! Obv last yr was a fluke & little old Oakland has no history of winning division titles & such. Smdh

A'S FOREVER

Yeah, I prefer to be optimistic, too. After last season, I think I learned that performance on the field isn't necessarily linked to name recognition or size of the paycheck.

I love the fact that the Angels paid Vernon Wells $21M last season for the following output:

77 Games
.218 BA
11 HR
29 RBI

The better news is that they get to pay him another $21M in 2013 and yet another $21M in 2014.

Great acquisition, Arte!

Louky: 86 wins and maybe 2nd is a doubter??? WOW!!!! That is a fine MLB season by me....

Are you putting the farm on that 98 total????

I really like your take on our season...optimism is a great and hopeful outlook...eeegad! I was hoping for something ridiculous like 100-62. And NO, the Farm Teams are on their own .

Really! I so much respect you statisticians; keepers of all the stats; true fans and students of the game! Thank you for all your much needed input and Happy Holidays to you all! You guys keep these threads of Fan Input ravel-ling and I for one, appreciate and enjoy your posts.

Wells is just a paperweight that will not play for the Angels. With the additon on Hamilton, he now sits as the 5th outfielder behind Trout, Hamilton, Trumbo and Bourjos.

The one team that can afford an expensive paperweight is the Angels. That kind of move would have devastated the A's.

"That kind of move would have devastated the A's."

The A's don't often sign washed up outfielders with ridiculous contracts.