Oakland Athletics Tickets

2010 Oakland Athletics Season Preview The Oakland Athletics finished under the .500 mark yet again in 2009, leading many of general manager Billy Beane's detractors to question his baseball philosophies.

It comes as no surprise that Beane is steadfast and confident in his ways and has no doubt that the Athletics are on their way to a much brighter future, possibly beginning with the 2010 season.

Beane has quietly retooled his roster, once again focusing on starting pitching as the backbone of a potential future contending team.

He is certainly looking forward to the return of pitcher Justin Duchscherer to the starting rotation. Duchscherer has spent time in both the bullpen and rotation, but seemed to find a home as a starter in 2008. Injuries derailed his 2009 season, but he looks to be 100 percent healthy again.

The A's also took a chance on pitcher Ben Sheets, signing him to a one-year deal. Sheets is coming off an arm injury, just one of the many in his career, but he can be a top-of-the-rotation starter when healthy.

There a number of talented youngsters who will compete for spots in the starting rotation this year. Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Lenny DiNardo, Gio Gonzalez, Vin Mazzaro and Josh Outman will all battle for spots.

In the bullpen, Andrew Bailey had an outstanding rookie season, going 6-3 with 26 saves and a 1.84 ERA. I guess the Athletics don't miss Houston Street after all.

The A's have put together a very solid bullpen in front of Bailey with guys like Michael Wuertz and Brad Ziegler.

To try and all some pop to the lineup, the team made a deal for third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. The Athletics love Eric Chavez, but it just looks as though he will never be able to stay healthy.

Oakland may lack some of the big bats that other teams have in the division, but they could be a darkhorse in 2010.