The A’s have placed 26-year old closer Andrew Bailey on the 15-day disabled list with a strained intercostal muscle. Bailey has pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the A’s this season and he is 1-3 with 20 saves, a 1.56 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. 31-year old righty Mike Wuertz and 29-year old lefty Craig Breslow will likely share the closers role until Bailey returns to action. Wuertz has pitched in 31 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 2-2 with 3 saves, a 5.01 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Breslow has pitched in 50 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 4-2 with 1 save, a 2.81 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Breslow has been outstanding this season whiffed 49 batters in 48 innings while only giving up 32 hits. The A’s will miss Bailey but Wuertz/Breslow will likely do a decent job in their place. The A’s have activated 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Brett Anderson from the D.L. to replace Bailey on the roster. Anderson has started 6 games this season for the A’s and he is 2-1 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.

The Oakland A’s have placed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Ben Sheets on the 15-day disabled list with a elbow injury. This could only keep him out a couple of weeks or possibly the rest of the season. His elbow has swelled up badly after each of his last two starts. Sheets has started 20 games for the A’s this year and he is 4-9 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He has given up more than his fair share of gopher balls as he has given up 18 homers in 119 1/3 innings this year. This could be a catastrophe for the A’s as Sheets was signed to a 1-year, $10 million deal with the full intention of trading him at the deadline. The A’s have called up 32-year old lefty reliever Cedrick Bowers to replace Sheets on the pitching staff. Bowers has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 0-1 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.

UPDATE: (7/29/2010) - Sheets will miss the rest of the season as he will need a second flexor tendon surgery. This could end his career.

31-year old lefty swinging OF/DH Jack Cust was the final cut of the A’s this spring as they decided to give Eric Chavez another chance. Cust wasn’t happy with the decision of the A’s front office and that was understandable. In his first three years with the A’s, Cust played in 421 games in which he was 335 of 1,389 (.241 avg) with 226 runs scored, 89 homers and 229 RBIs. He led the A’s in homers in each of his first three years with the A’s. He is off to a solid start this season for the A’s as he has played in 49 games in which he is 44 of 152 (.289 avg, .856 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 6 homers and 26 RBIs. If Cust keeps getting a lot of P.T. I’m pretty sure he will lead the team in homers for a 4th consecutive season as the A’s don’t have much power.

The Oakland A’s won’t be big time sellers at the trade deadline but I still see them making some moves. First off I see the Cardinals dealing 3B/OF Allen Craig and SS Tyler Greene to the A’s for Ben Sheets. After that I would trade lefty reliever Craig Breslow to the Red Sox for outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin. I would trade lefty reliever Jeremy Blevins to the Padres for lefty reliever Cesar Ramos who I think has a nice upside. Finally I would send outfielder Jack Cust to the Giants for outfielder Nate Schierholtz and infielder Matt Downs. Craig, Lin, Greene and Ramos are solid prospects with nice upsides. Schierholtz and Downs could help the A’s off the bench in the near future.

The A’s have lost 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Ryan Sweeney for the rest of the year due to right knee surgery. Sweeney played in 82 games for the A’s this season and he is 89 of 303 (.294 avg, .725 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 1 homer and 36 RBIs. Look for Rajai Davis and Gabe Gross to see a bump in playing time with Sweeney out of action. Davis has played in 79 games for the A’s this year and he is 76 of 282 (.270 avg, .695 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 4 homers, 28 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. Gabe Gross has played in 64 games for the A’s this year and he is 41 of 167 (.246 avg, .596 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 1 homer, 18 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The A’s won’t likely miss Sweeney too much as Davis is a solid player too.

27-year old lefty reliever/starter Travis Blackley is off to a good start for the A’s in the minors. Blackley has pitched in 7 games (4 starts) in AAA-ball for the A’s this year and he is 1-1 with a 1.63 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He has whiffed 30 batters while walking 13 in 27 2/3 innings for the A’s in AAA. He will have to tighten up his control a bit before the A’s give him a chance. Blackley has pitched in 13 games (5 starts) for three different teams in AAA-ball this year and he is 1-2 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP.

The A’s are 43-46 on the season which has them in third place in the A.L. West, 7.5 games behind the Rangers. The A’s just don’t have any power and it has ruined the season so far. Here is a look at the surprises and disappointments for the A’s so far this year:

Pleasant Surprises: 22-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Cahill has really developed in his second year in the majors. He has started 15 games for the A’s this year and he is 9-3 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Cahill has only given up 70 hits in 95 innings this season as he’s missing a ton of bats. 24-year old lefty starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez has finally learned how to pitch. Gonzalez has started 18 games for the A’s this year and he is 7-6 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He still has walked 53 batters in 107 innings so Gonzalez is far from perfect. 27-year old righty swinging infielder Adam Rosales has played all over the place this season and he’s doing a solid job for the A’s. Rosales has played in 68 games for the A’s this season and he is 60 of 217 (.276 avg, .744 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 6 homers and 27 RBIs. 31-year old DH/OF Jack Cust started the season in the minors which was dumb of the A’s. Cust has played in 44 games for the A’s this year and he is 40 of 136 (.294 avg, .831 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 4 homers and 18 RBIs.

Disappointments: The A’s expected 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff to give them some thump in the starting lineup but it just hasn’t happened yet. Kouzmanoff has played in 86 games this season and he is 90 of 338 (.266 avg, .688 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 8 homers and 40 RBIs. The A’s signed starting pitcher Ben Sheets with one eye on the trade deadline but I don’t think they’re going to get much for him unless he pitches well in the next couple of weeks. Sheets has started 19 games for the A’s this season and he is 4-8 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. 31-year old righty reliever Michael Wuertz had a career year for the A’s in 2009 but he has been pretty awful this year when healthy. Wuertz has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the A’s this year and he is 2-1 with 1 save, a 5.60 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. 32-year old DH Eric Chavez started the season as the A’s full time DH and he was awful before injuring himself. Chavez has played in 33 games for the A’s this year and he is 26 of 111 (.234 avg, .610 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer and 10 RBIs.

The A’s are 41-43 on the season which has them in third place in the A.L. West, 8 games behind the Rangers. I think the A’s will wait another couple of weeks to decide whether they will be buyers or sellers. If the A’s become sellers they have a lot to move to other teams. Ben Sheets, Mark Ellis, Rajai Davis, Jack Cust, Coco Crisp, Brad Ziegler, Michael Wuertz and Jerry Blevins all likely will have good value for the A’s. The A’s also likely wouldn’t hesitate to trade Gabe Gross if they find a taker for him. I think A’s GM Billy Beane will get a good return for his players and I think he will be very aggressive especially if the A’s don’t play better the next couple of weeks.

The A’s have placed starting LF Conor Jackson on the 15-day disabled list with right hamstring tightness. Jackson has played in 14 games for the A’s so far this season and he is 12 of 45 (.267 avg, .676 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The A’s have recalled outfielders Matt Carson and Matt Watson from AAA. The 28-year old righty swinging Carson played in 4 games earlier this season for the A’s and he was 1 for 9 (.111 avg, .556 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. 31-year old lefty swinging Matt Watson has played in 28 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 36 of 115 (.313 avg, .958 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 8 homers and 23 RBIs. Watson last played in the majors in 2005 with the A’s. He has played in 34 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 13 of 71 (.183 avg, .470 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 7 RBIs.

22-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Cahill has been selected to play in his first All-Star Game. Cahill has started 13 games for the A’s this year and he is 8-2 with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Cahill is missing a lot more bats than he did as a rookie. He has given up only 61 hits in 82 innings this season for the A’s. Cahill pitched in 32 games (all starts) as a rookie last season and he was 10-13 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. The improvement Cahill has shown has the A’s excited and he definitely deserves the honor of being on the All-Star Team.