While the Oakland Athletics continue their stumble further into the AL West cellar, there is some cause for mild optimism. Mark Ellis injured his right hamstring on Monday and was placed on the disabled for the next two weeks. The A's were short an infielder and elected to call up second baseman Jemile Weeks from AAA. After an 0-for-4 game in his major league debut, Weeks bounced back collecting the first two hits of his major league career. Weeks was 2-for-3 in his second game, hitting out of the nine spot after debuting in the leadoff spot.
Weeks has been steadily climbing up the A's minor league ranks since the A's selected him in the first round of the 2008 draft and got off to a hot start this season at AAA Sacramento. In 45 games with the Rivercats this season he had a line of .321/.417/.446 and seemed ready to stay healthy on a fairly regular basis. Now that he's up in Oakland, it will be interesting to see how long he sticks around. If he can get a hot streak going while Ellis is on the DL, maybe he'll be able to force his way onto the 25-man roster for the long haul.
Given the A's current struggles, an infusion of young blood in the coming weeks might be what's needed to salvage this season. The question at this point is when and how to promote guys like Michael Taylor, Chris Carter, and Adrian Cardenas. Carter is rehabbing at Stockton so it might take a little bit longer, but Cardenas is hitting like crazy and Taylor seems to be bouncing back now that he's healthy.
It's easy to throw names out there but given the A's offensive struggles, wouldn't change seem necessary? What do A's fans think? Is it time to overhaul this offense?