24 June 2015

2013 SEGA Card-Gen Extravaganza 11: Oakland Athletics

It's been 7 months since I last featured a team in the 2013 SEGA Card-Gen set. A 2014 set never materialized, and I believe that there was an official announcement recently that the card game will be no more. These are some of the more fun cards on the market, and it is sad that there won't be any more of them to look forward to. The next team in the set is the Oakland Athletics, who are arguably my second-favorite baseball team behind the Astros (my Top 4 are the Astros at the top with the Athletics, Blue Jays, and Royals grouped under them). That means there are a couple of PC guys in this bunch, although overall there isn't a lot of star power in the group. The A's get 11 cards in the set, or two under the average per team of 13.


Starting things out, as usual, is the catcher spot. The Athletics get two catchers in this set, with the first being George Kottaras, who played in 27 games for the A's in 2012. By 2013 he was with the Royals, playing in 46 games for them during that season. He played in a total of 18 games across three teams in 2014, and this year he is playing AAA ball for the White Sox organization.


John Jaso spent 2013 and 2014 with the Athletics, putting up decent numbers as he has throughout his career. He is currently with the Rays, but was injured on a slide during the season's first game and has been on the DL since. He might get back on the field after the All-Star break. It is interesting that both of the A's catchers get the same descriptor on this set, 'Good pitcher-handling catcher,' which is probably short-hand for, 'Not known for his offensive skills.'


Filling in at first is Chris Carter, who is now a key part of the Astros. After going 0 for 5 in a 2-1 extra innings loss against the Angels today he is hitting under .200 on the year, with decent home run and RBI numbers. He led the league in strikeouts in 2013 and leads the league again this year. That's good if you're a pitcher; not so great when you're a hitter.


Jemile Weeks played a few games for Oakland in 2013, spending the rest of the season on their AAA roster. He spent most of 2014 on Baltimore's AAA club, and he has spent nearly all of 2015 on Boston's AAA roster. I can recall having him as a backup source of steals on fantasy baseball teams in 2011 and 2012, but his other stats were never really good enough to make the speed worthwhile.


Coco Crisp is one of my secondary player collections. I don't really seek out his cards that much, but I notice them when I get them. He has put up some good numbers over the years, but if he's on your fantasy roster you need a backup plan because injuries are going to take some time from him. This year he has only played in 13 games because of a neck injury. At 35 years old, I wonder how many more years he has left in the game.


Josh Reddick is one of the main players I collect, and I have even chased a Super Rainbow of one of his cards. He puts up good numbers when he's on the field and seems to have a good time while he plays.


Tommy Milone had a couple of pretty good seasons with Oakland, then got traded to the Twins for Sam Fuld in 2014. He finished out that season on a pretty bad run for them, but seems to have put things back together this year, He doesn't strike out enough guys to be relevant in fantasy leagues, but he's got a 4-1 record in 8 starts for the Twins, with a 4-0 stint in AAA for the month of May.


Jarrod Parker had a pretty good rookie season in 2012, an okay 2013, and injuries and surgeries have taken away his 2014 and 2015 seasons.


Jerry Blevins is a relief pitcher who seems to stick around pretty well, which I guess is how you gauge relief pitchers. He was traded to the Nationals for 2014 and then to the Mets for 2015. Early in the 2015 season he got hit by a batted ball and broke his forearm.


Ryan Cook was an All-Star reliever in 2012 and pitched pretty well in 2013 and 2014 before control issues led to him starting 2015 in AAA. He got called back up for a few appearances in 2015 where he put up ugly numbers and got himself sent back down after 4 appearances. He might not be back up with Oakland anytime soon.


Balfour went back and forth with Ryan Cook for the closer role in 2012, was an All-Star closer for the A's in 2013, signed with the Rays in 2014, lost the closer role early in the 2014 season, and early in 2015 he was released by the Rays and then signed to play for their AAA team. For what it's worth he has been pitching pretty well in AAA, but that has to be hard for a guy who was an MLB reliever most of the time from 2003-2014.

And that does it for the Oakland Athletics in 2013 SEGA Card-Gen. They are the 11th team featured in the set, which means I've just got 19 more to go.



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