By SportsDirect

POSTED: 2:10 pm MDT June 9, 2011

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — With his banged-up team mired in a nine-game losing streak and rampant speculation about the tenuous status of manager Bob Geren, general manager Billy Beane felt he had no other choice than to make a change at skipper.

The A’s fired a manager during the season for the first time in a quarter century on Thursday, letting Geren go after four-plus seasons and bringing in former Arizona and Seattle skipper Bob Melvin for the rest of the season.

“It felt like at this point a change was necessary,” Beane said. “It got to the point where the emphasis was on the status of the manager on a daily basis and no longer on the field. When that starts to happen, you need to shift the focus to what’s really important, which is performance. That’s how we came to this decision.”

Geren’s tenure in Oakland was marked by numerous injuries, a lack of offense, questions about his communication skills and high-profile departures as he was unable to post a winning season after taking over an AL West championship team from Ken Macha.

Geren posted a 334-376 record, including a 27-36 mark this season that has left Oakland eight games behind Texas in last place in the AL West.

The A’s currently have four starting pitchers on the disabled list, including a season-ending shoulder injury for Dallas Braden. Oakland also was without injured All-Star closer Andrew Bailey for the first two months and is last in the American League with just 223 runs through the first 63 games.

“Bob Melvin will inherit some of the challenges that Bob had,” Beane said. “Bob lost four starting pitchers in the space of three weeks. That was a tough body blow for the team. That was very difficult from Bob’s standpoint.”

Melvin, 49, took the helm for the series opener in Chicago against the White Sox on Thursday night. He posted a 493-508 record in seven seasons as manager with Seattle and Arizona. He led the Diamondbacks to the NL West title in 2007 and also won 93 games in his rookie season with the Mariners in 2003.

Melvin was also on Bob Brenly’s staff as bench coach in 2001 when the Diamondbacks won the World Series and the following year when they won the NL West. Melvin also coached for Milwaukee and Detroit.

“He really knows how to work with young players,” said Oakland outfielder Conor Jackson, who played for Melvin in Arizona. “It’s a great team for him. We have a lot of young talent and I feel like he’s a pretty good molder of personalities and baseball players as well.”

Melvin played 10 seasons in the majors as a catcher with Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Kansas City, Boston, the Yankees and White Sox. He batted .233 with 35 homers and 212 RBIs in 1,955 career at-bats.

Melvin is a Bay Area native who was born in Palo Alto, went to high school in Menlo Park, played college ball at Cal, spent time with the Giants in the majors and now gets to manage the A’s.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “This doesn’t happen very often in baseball, where you literally get to come home in the capacity that I do.”

The beleaguered Geren had come under criticism from his bullpen in recent weeks for a lack of communication with reliever Brian Fuentes and former Oakland closer Huston Street publicly criticized him.

That started the speculation about whether Geren would make it through his final season under contract.

“I can’t say it was a surprise,” Fuentes said. “Regardless whether it was our team or any other team, when things don’t go well there are always moves that are made.”

It was the rash of injuries and the total lack of offense that led to the current losing streak that finally spelled the end of Geren’s tenure.

With no homegrown hitting stars and disappointing starts by offseason acquisitions like Hideki Matsui and David DeJesus, the A’s find themselves in last place despite a stellar young pitching staff headed by All-Star Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and recently injured Brett Anderson.

“It’s got great pitching, good athletes and we’re going to try to play the game we’re suited to play,” Melvin said. “We’re probably not going to sit around and play for three-run homers a whole lot. We play in a ballpark that’s probably more conducive to being aggressive and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

The current skid is the longest for the A’s since a 10-gamer in July 2008 and the fifth-longest single-season losing streak since the team moved to Oakland in 1968.

This is the first time the A’s have fired a manager during the season since getting rid of Jackie Moore after 73 games in 1986. Jeff Newman took over for 10 games on an interim basis before Tony La Russa was brought in to start a run that included four division titles and the 1989 World Series championship.

Beane said he started the process of evaluating Geren’s status a few weeks ago before making the ultimate decision.

“Whenever you replace your manager, it’s a drastic move,” Beane said. “I’ve never had to do it in my tenure as general manager. This is a new script for myself. I don’t know if you ever know what the right time is.”

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AP freelancer Bradford Doolittle in Chicago contributed to this report.

Former Athletics manager Bob Geren, right, had come under criticism from his bullpen recently for a lack of communication and a sluggish offence. (Elsa/Getty Images) (Elsa/Getty Images)

The Oakland Athletics fired manager Bob Geren on Thursday in the midst of a nine-game losing streak that has sent them tumbling to the bottom of the American League West standings.

“It felt like at this point a change was necessary,” general manager Billy Beane said. “It got to the point where the emphasis was on the status of the manager on a daily basis and no longer on the field. When that starts to happen, you need to shift the focus to what’s really important, which is performance. That’s how we came to this decision.”

Former Arizona manager Bob Melvin will take over for the rest of the season as interim manager in the first midseason managerial change for the organization in a quarter century.

Geren’s four-plus season tenure at the helm in Oakland was marked by numerous injuries, a lack of offence and high-profile departures as he was unable to post a winning season after taking over an AL West championship team from Ken Macha. Geren posted a 334-376 record, including a 27-36 mark this season that has left Oakland eight games behind Texas in the AL West.

This was the final year of Geren’s contract.

The A’s currently have four starting pitchers on the disabled list, including a season-ending shoulder injury for Dallas Braden. Oakland also was without injured all-star closer Andrew Bailey for the first two months and is last in the AL with just 223 runs through the first 63 games.

“Bob Melvin will inherit some of the challenges that Bob had,” Beane said. “Bob lost four starting pitchers in the space of three weeks. That was a tough body blow for the team. That was very difficult from Bob’s standpoint. We also have to be realistic here starting out of the gate how we manage around those four guys on the disabled list.”

The beleaguered manager had come under criticism from his bullpen in recent weeks for a lack of communication with reliever Brian Fuentes and former Oakland closer Huston Street publicly criticized him.

Rash of injuries

But it was the rash of injuries and the total lack of offence that led to the current losing streak that spelled the end of his tenure.

This is the first time the A’s have fired a manager during the season since getting rid of Jackie Moore after 73 games in 1986. Jeff Newman took over for 10 games on an interim basis before Tony La Russa was brought in to start a run that included four division titles and the 1989 World Series championship.

Beane said he started the process of evaluating Geren’s status a few weeks ago before making the ultimate decision.

“Whenever you replace your manager, it’s a drastic move,” Beane said. “I’ve never had to do it in my tenure as general manager. This is a new script for myself. I don’t know if you ever know what the right time is.”

Geren, a longtime friend of general manager Billy Beane, was hired to replace Macha after the 2006 season. The A’s won the division that year and their first playoff series since 1990 before being swept in the AL championship series by Detroit.

Melvin, 49, was to take over the helm for the series opener in Chicago against the White Sox on Thursday night. The Bay Area native posted a 493-508 record in seven seasons as manager with Seattle and Arizona. He led the Diamondbacks to the Natoinal League West title in 1997 and also won 93 games in his rookie season with the Mariners in 2003.

Melvin was also on Bob Brenly’s staff as bench coach in 2001 when the Diamondbacks won the World Series and the following year when they won the NL West. Melvin also coached for Milwaukee and Detroit.

Melvin played 10 seasons in the majors as a catcher with Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, Kansas City, Boston, the Yankees and White Sox. He batted .233 in 1,955 career at-bats with 35 homers and 212 runs batted in.

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics activated infielder Adam Rosales from the 60-day disabled list Monday and recalled infielder Scott Sizemore from Triple-A Sacramento.Both moves were made before the slumping A’s faced the Baltimore Orioles.To make room for Rosales and Sizemore, the A’s optioned third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and right-hander Fautino De Los Santos to Sacramento.Also Monday, the Athletics sent left-hander Brett Anderson (3-6) back to Oakland to have his arm examined by team orthopedist Will Workman.Anderson allowed five runs in five innings against Boston on Sunday. In his previous start, he gave up nine earned runs over 5 1-3 innings against the New York Yankees.Manager Bob Geren wouldn’t discuss specifics about Anderson’s arm, or whether he might miss a start.”It’s just an all-around good idea to have him checked out. Nothing real specific,” Geren said.Rosales, who missed all of spring training with a fractured right foot, batted seventh as Oakland’s starting third baseman on Monday night.”Rosales is a good player, an exciting player,” Geren said. “He brings a lot of energy to the team and plays a lot of different positions.”Sizemore was acquired from the Detroit Tigers on May 27 for left-hander David Purcey. He hit .222 with 10 walks in 17 games with Detroit.In nine games with Sacramento, Sizemore hit .267 with 12 walks and 11 runs scored.Kouzmanoff was hitting .221 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 46 games. He also had nine errors. “I didn’t see it coming,” Kouzmanoff said. “Obviously, as everybody well knows, I started off slow on both sides of the ball, and I did not play to my potential. All I can do is go down and get my work in and get my reps and try to work my way back.”Geren said, “Kouzmanoff has had a rough start for us both offensively and defensively and he hasn’t played up to what he can do. He will go down to Triple-A and work on his game.”De Los Santos joined Oakland on Friday in Boston and made his big league debut Saturday.

Veteran reliever Brian Fuentes did not back down from the comments he made about manager Bob Geren’s lack of communication with him about his late-inning role with the Oakland Athletics following Monday night’s loss to the Angels.
The only thing the four-time All-Star left-hander regretted was venting his frustrations to the media instead of Geren himself. And before Tuesday night’s game they had a closed-door meeting in Geren’s office, where they apparently resolved their differences.
“I meant what I said and I stand behind what I said. It was just the wrong outlet,” Fuentes said at his locker. “I heard a lot of criticism on why there weren’t discussions with the manager first before going to the media. From the outside in, it appears one way, and it’s really not.
“There had been discussions. There had been multiple discussions, and I felt like it wasn’t getting anywhere. It was more of a frustration thing. It still wasn’t right what I did, but it wasn’t getting through.”
Geren was satisfied with the results of the meeting, and said there would be no disciplinary fallout.
“I gave Brian my thoughts, he gave me his thoughts, we shook hands and everything’s fine,” said Geren, who had been using Fuentes to close in place of the injured Andrew Bailey. “We’ve lost some games and people are frustrated.
Geren added, “I told him that until he strings together a few good outings in a row that we would stay with (Grant) Balfour for the short-term. I just told him to be ready late in the game and he has no problem with that.”
Fuentes, who led the majors with a career-high 48 saves in 2009 while with the Angels, had plenty on his mind after becoming the first Oakland reliever ever to absorb a loss in four consecutive appearances.
On Monday night, Fuentes was pulled with one out in the eighth inning and a runner at first base. Geren brought in Michael Wuertz, who gave up a tiebreaking RBI double to Torii Hunter and a two-run single to Jeff Mathis in the A’s 4-1 defeat.
“That’s where it all started. It was a little confusing for me,” Fuentes said. “But I realize that he’s the manager and I’m a player, and his decisions are the right ones — whether I think they’re right or wrong.”
The run charged against the 11-year veteran raised his ERA to 5.06 in 23 appearances. Fuentes has allowed 20 hits and 10 walks over 21 1-3 innings.
“Most importantly, and I know that I need to start pitching better,” Fuentes said.
“Someone said, ‘Well you’re not pitching well, so you shouldn’t say anything.’ But whether I throw up 50 scoreless (innings) or give up 50 runs, if I have something on my mind, I’m going to state it, you know? Should I have stated it the way I did last night? No.”
The controversy was a subject of discussion on the other side of the field, where Angels manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher did their best to stay above the fray.
“We had an open line of communication when Brian was here,” Butcher said. “When he had a bad outing here, his comments were always that he was going to turn the page — even when he had a good game. He was the master at turning the page and letting go of whatever happened that day. He never brought a good or a bad game into the next day. And that’s what makes good closers.”

PHOENIX — The Oakland Athletics’ starting rotation came into focus over the weekend when manager Bob Geren announced Brandon McCarthy as his fifth starter.

McCarthy, a 6-foot-7 right-hander, joins Trevor Cahill and left-handers Brett Anderson, Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Braden, who will precede McCarthy in that order.

Signed to a one-year, $1 million deal in December, McCarthy is 1-1 with a 4.50 earned-run average in six appearances (three starts) in the Cactus League. His ERA inflated after a poor outing Friday against the Los Angeles Angels, when he allowed 10 hits and six earned runs.

But McCarthy, 27, strung together a series of strong performances before that while showing pinpoint control. He has struck out 20 and walked just one in 26 innings, a main factor in Geren’s choosing him over right-hander Tyson Ross.

“He’s got some previous experience and had a great spring,” Geren said. “It wasn’t an easy decision, and I’m happy it wasn’t. That means guys are throwing the ball well.”

McCarthy is 20-24 with a 4.56 ERA in 110 career games (56 starts) with the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers. But injuries have limited him to 45 appearances in the majors since 2007. He suffered stress fractures in his right shoulder in 2007 and 2009, and inflammation in his right forearm sidelined him for the first four months of 2008.

Given those setbacks, winning a rotation spot is an accomplishment. But McCarthy won’t spend much time celebrating.

“That’s the trap you can fall into with spring,” he said. “It’s the beginning of a six-month journey. It’s a nice accomplishment to leave here with that spot, but you want to keep earning that for the next six months.”

Cahill, 23, will be the opening-day starter. The sinkerballer took a quantum leap last year in his second season as a big-league starter, going 18-8 with a 2.97 ERA and making his first All-Star team.

“He’s deserving,” Geren said. “He made the All-Star team, he led our team in wins and he had a great spring. The great thing for me was that a lot of guys were deserving.”

With closer Andrew Bailey (forearm) likely to start the season on the disabled list, either Ross or Bobby Cramer, a lefty, is likely to make the bullpen.

Six spots in the bullpen figure to go lefties Brian Fuentes, Craig Breslow and Jerry Blevins and right-handers Grant Balfour, Michael Wuertz and Brad Ziegler.