Eagle Era
Bay Area Baseball to Get Back on TrackTuesday, April 17, 2012 By Segun Giwa
Last year was a bad year for the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants with neither team reaching the playoffs. This 2012 season, both teams look to rebound after disappointing seasons. Last year was a long, disappointing season for the A’s. Nobody expected much from them last year, especially after they fired their coach midway through the year. After the season, the team traded away most of their star players to save money. Now the team is relying on young players, and the pitching of the team will likely be one of its weak spots. The season opened with a loss to the Mariners in Japan and it showed what the A’s have been lacking in previous years: offense. The team was only able to score one run in 11 in innings. Prediction: It’s going to be a long year for the A’s especially since they play in a tough division. A last place finish is certainly not out of the question. Last year was also disappointing for the San Francisco Giants mainly in part because they failed to reach the playoffs. Unlike the A’s, a lot was expected out of the Giants because the year before they had won the World Series. Things went downhill when fan favorite Buster Posey got injured. The team wasn’t able to score and they lost many low-scoring, close games. This year may be more of the same since the Giants did little to significantly alter their lineup. Posey coming back is a plus however and maybe the Giants can build off of that. Predicition: Weak offense will keep the Giants out of the playoffs yet again. Unless the Diamondbacks lay an egg, don’t expect a first place finish. “I think both bay area teams won’t do too well because neither of them have enough on their team to do well,” sophomore Ryan Barker said. |