World Series 2016: Jon Lester vs. the Indians Offense

Jon Lester gets the ball in Game One for the Chicago Cubs against a tough Cleveland Indians offense. Who has the upper hand on paper tonight? Let's find out. All stats and photos courtesy of ESPN.com

Recapping the August 31st Trade Deadline in MLB

The Major League Baseball waiver wire trade deadline has come and gone and if you weren’t constantly clicking refresh on your MLB Trade Rumors app or webpage you didn’t miss much. In case you want to know what you missed here is a quick, and I mean quick, recap of all the “action” that went down yesterday before the deadline.

• The Cleveland Indians have acquired Coco Crisp from the Oakland Athletics for pitcher Colt Hynes and cash considerations.

• The Baltimore Orioles have acquired Kyle Lobstein from the Pittsburgh Pirates for LHP Zach Phillips. The Orioles then released Lobstein after claiming Drew Stubbs off release waivers from the Texas Rangers. Okay then. 

• The Yankees traded Ben Gamel to the Seattle Mariners for a pair of prospects and one rant from this guy right here. Don't worry, it's coming.  The rant is coming because the team then turned around and acquired Eric Young Jr. from the Milwaukee Brewers to be their stolen base specialist for the month of September. 

What a boring deadline. I guess it normally is traditionally but this one seemed to be especially slow for whatever reason. Oh well, anyone traded or acquired after the deadline yesterday will not be postseason eligible in 2016. Trades and moves can be made until the very last day of the season. Here we go boys and girls, it’s time to sprint. 

Fantasy Baseball: Who are the Oakland Athletics?

Just because it’s Prospects Month here on the blog doesn’t mean we’re going to abandon Fantasy Baseball and the goal of winning your fantasy league altogether. Instead we’ll simply just refocus our efforts and give it a prospect or young player twist much like we did with our New York Yankees post. The goal is to still help you win your league and dominate the later rounds of your fantasy draft so rest assured, we’re still here. 

With that in mind we will not be talking about Sonny Gray or Sean Doolittle in this post and we likely won’t talk too much about new arrivals Jed Lowrie, Yonder Alonso and Rich Hill. Instead we will focus on the younger guys that may not be household names yet outside of many Oakland based homes. That player list includes outfielder Billy Burns, Mark Canha and Henderson Alvarez. 

Burns is an outfielder that will likely get the everyday starting job for the Oakland A’s. The Athletics need an everyday center fielder to replace Coco Crisp and Burns seems to be that guy after a strong 2015 campaign. Burns hit .294 with 25 stolen bases and 70 runs scored in 125 games last season and can add a high runs scored total, batting average and stolen base total to your team very late in the draft. If you reach the 20^th round or so and he’s still there it may be in your best interest to grab him. 

Another name you may not know from the Oakland A’s is Mark Canha. Canha is not likely to have a starting job when the team breaks camp this season but he should still get plenty of opportunities throughout the year. Canha is listed as a first baseman and the backup to Yonder Alonso and is also listed as an outfielder. This is especially important as the A’s search for a suitable backup to injury-prone left fielder Coco Crisp. Canha will be the first out of the trenches and into the field if and when Crisp goes down. Keep him in your queue just in case.

Finally we have Henderson Alvarez was acquired this offseason after the Miami Marlins cut ties with their former farm hand. Alvarez is a big question mark heading into the season after tearing a muscle in his shoulder and undergoing a serious surgery on it. Alvarez will not be ready on Opening Day and may not be ready at all in 2016, although he is expected to be, but he is still a name that should be on your watch list. Alvarez was an All-Star for Miami in the last season he pitched in 2014 and the talent is there as long as his shoulder allows it to be.

So there you have it, three Oakland Athletics prospects and/or young players that can help you win your Fantasy Baseball league’s this spring. Hope the information helps and if it did feel free to share this and any of my fantasy posts to help out others as well. Thanks!

Nuno's Rough Start Dooms Yankees in Rubber Game

In his last start in Seattle, Yankees Pitcher Vidal Nuno gave us something to smile about.

The struggling lefty, who began the season as a long reliever, tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball, giving the Yanks a much-needed chance to win.

After that performance, it was only reasonable to believe he'd do something similar today, although that simply didn't happen, as Nuno didn't even make it out of the fourth in a 10-5 A's victory.

For the rookie, the game ended pretty early, as Derek Norris and Coco Crisp each hit three-run home runs in Oakland's first two at-bats.

After giving up another pair in the bottom of the fourth, Nuno's outing was finally over, with his line reading a tough 3+ frames of 8-earned run ball, dropping his 2014 record to 1-3 and raising his ERA to 5.90.

From that point on, the Yanks' bullpen did hold their ground (getting a combined four scoreless innings from Shawn Kelley, Adam Warren, and Matt Thornton), something that didn't really matter, as the scoreboard read 10-0 Oakland after four innings of play.

In the final five frames, the Bombers' bats did begin to improve after Jesse Chavez' (6 IP, ER, gave up an RBI Double to Mark Teixeira) departure, bringing the contest to within five thanks to a Sac Fly from Derek Jeter, a Solo Homer from Carlos Beltran, and a two-run shot from Brett Gardner.

Still, the double-digit deficit they faced proved too large for them to overcome, as they lost for the second time in the three-game series, fell to 35-33 overall, and lost the second wild card spot to the suddenly-hot Royals.

As for their road trip, its record dropped to 5-4, with two of its three sets resulting in frustrating defeat after the openers were won.