I couldn't jump in the game thread yesterday night or listen to the game live (May 8, 2012, Brandon Inge's walk off Grand Slam), so this morning I thought I'd check out the game thread to vicariously re-live the exciting finish.

Wow, there are some hilarious comments in there. I felt that the thread deserved a hindsight review. Don't take this personally, anyone...I just got a good laugh out of it. You guys and gals are awesome. My notes are in [italics]...ENJOY!

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At long last, we finally get to Opening Day! I think we are all collectively excited after one of the more interesting offseasons we've had.

This year the annual hot, heavy, and ultimately disappointing dalliance with "faint hopes of contention" gives way to a more stable relationship with "no expectations." I'm looking forward to just enjoying the days and nights at the ballpark and on AN watching it all unfold.

If you are still chasing after those faint hopes of contention, I really think you should meet no expectations. She's friendly, enjoys spending time with you and is there for you no matter what happens. If you need convincing, here it is:

ESPN Power Rankings - 29/30

A's fans should savor the team's league-leading run differential (+1) because come Wednesday and Thursday, reality will set in as actual good teams start to take the field in earnest.

Fox Sports Power Rankings - 28/30

The current 3-4-5 hitters for Oakland are Coco Crisp, Seth Smith and Kurt Suzuki. Even the Yoenis Cespedes signing can't overcome that.

CBS Sports Power Rankings - 27/30

Unheralded offseason move: Keeping the quote machine that is Coco Crisp. And he produced shortly thereafter, when he said only a demigod could unseat him in center field. (Yoenis Cespedes is the A's center fielder now, by the way).

AccuScore Projections - 77-85 (19/30)

One of the few that thinks Seattle will finish below the A's!

Seattle, meanwhile, has holes both in the lineup and pitching staff and could be one of the worst teams in baseball.

I agree with Tom Verducci - The team might not win, but it will definitely be interesting and fun to watch. The veterans are pretty fun guys like McCarthy, Manny, Gomes, and Braden. The young players are fascinating. And Cespedes!

Too bad this video has some terrible background music:

I enjoyed this piece on Tigers Fans Opening Day Stories

Some reality about our pitching staff from Slusser

"It's not sexy names," McCarthy said. "Cahill and Gio and Andrew Bailey are all guys who've made names for themselves, and here it feels more like mix and match right now. It's an easy group to joke about, and it's on us to change that. You hope around the league they realize this is a good group, but it's all on us."

A quick note, as there are so many new folks on AN. DLD stands for Daily Link Dump, although it is anything but daily nowadays. Basically it's meant to be a wide-ranging conversation that can include A's, MLB, other sports, music, food, TV, movies, cat videos, etc. Feel free to "dump" links below.

Happy Tuesday. I am in a dazed sort of fuzzy state, having gone to the mega-est music festival ever, SXSW, from Wed-Sat. I am extremely privileged that I get to go there as part of my job, which is pretty amazing. When I go, my priorities are 1) meet up with bands and artists we work with and see them play, 2) meet up with friends and people that I work with and hang out, 3) check out great new bands, and 4) go with the flow.

There a bazillion things going on at once so you kind of just have to let the festival come to you, rather than the other way around. I never really check out the biggest artists because that's not the reason I'm there (although it is pretty amazing for fans that you can see some huge artists in small venues). I meet up with artists I work with and also check out tons of new acts. There's so much to take in.

Here are some artists that I really enjoyed checking out, in no particular order. This is not an exhaustive list, I saw many other good artists but I can't list everyone! Some of these artists I know personally but trust me that I am including only performances that really were solid:

Hollywood Holt:

This guy absolutely killed it in this big warehouse full of people who were there to see Arab Muzik. I had bought a 12" of his a long time back and thought he fell off. I was wrong, he really renewed my faith in live hip hop shows; the recorded music does not do justice to his live show. Also his hype man is amazing.

The Chain Gang of 1974:

This dance-rock outfit is extremely talented and puts on a great performance. Passionate is probably the best description. Also the songs have a really strong structure to them, there's some real attention to detail.

The Doldrums:

This is an electronic/vocal act, although live they play with 2 drummers. Just a great time, they go all out and know how to rock a party. I had never heard of them before seeing them there.

Two Gallants:

These guys are a San Francisco-based two piece, saw them at the Android party, they sounded great, perfect band to see during the day. The singer Adam Stephens really has a unique voice and they generally capture an audience's attention. They can go from folk to hard rock in an instant, and sound like a full band. The emphasis on lyrics and storytelling is refreshing.

Zebra Katz:

This duo was ridiculous. I randomly caught their set and it was amazing, the way they can move the crowd is sensational. The video doesn't quite give you the real flavor of their music and live show, although it's a good start. Apparently they got a lot of press for this song because it played on loop at Paris Fashion Week. Go figure. I'm happy for them.

The Stone Foxes:

This is another San Francisco band, they just have a really great brand of bluesy rock and roll. Also everyone in their band plays multiple instruments and sings and they switch off on each song. They are extremely tight live and put on a good show.

DJ Reid Speed:

Reid Speed is a bass/dubstep/drum n bass DJ, of which there are a lot right now, but she has been doing this for a long time and rocked the party. Not exactly what I listen to in my spare time but in the right setting with the right sound system, it's phenomenal.

http://soundcloud.com/reidspeed/tequilaragefacegang-reid-speed

Kush Arora and Zuzuka Ponderosa:

Kush (DJ/Producer) is a great friend of mine but I had never seen him perform with Brazilian/Brooklyn vocalist Zuzuka Ponderosa. Some international baile funk goodness, the live show is worth seeing. I hope they get to do some serious touring together, they played about 9 shows out in Austin! Kush Arora has a deep catalog in his own right, some innovative stuff.

http://soundcloud.com/zuzuka-poderosa/zuzukapoderosa-cariocabass

AU:

Experimental pop is how they describe themselves. I guess it makes sense. They were good. Apparently they recently added a female singer/multi-instrumentalist to the group. Having never seen or heard them before, it was hard to compare, but she was awesome. They are on this record label called hometapes, which provided free nachos at their party. Hard to lose me with free nachos. But I digress.

Couldn't find a way to link the video but check out their site, tons of stuff on there.

Blackalicious, and Latyrx:

Many of you probably know these guys, Oakland hip hop at its finest, coming from the Quannum crew. But neither group has really played consistently together for the past 4-5 years. I caught some of both their sets. Freaking amazing. Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truth Speaker, and Lyrics Born are lyrical geniuses...and they were all ON POINT.

Here's the new Latyrx single: http://soundcloud.com/latyrx/latyrx-call-to-arms

Classic Blackalicious track -

Antoine Reverb:

This Mexican indie-rock/pop outfit was pretty adorable. Solid music too. One of the things I love about SXSW is randomly seeing bands you never heard of and had no expectation of seeing, and liking them.

Vampillia:

If you have never seen a metal band, or a Japanese metal band (or as they describe themselves, a brutal orchestra that turns classical music into metal), you should definitely come out tonight to the Independent in San Francisco and see Vampillia. I think the ZZZ's (Japanese girl punk band) are touring with them. Let me say that seeing Vampillia for 15 minutes at SXSW was life changing. Go! Tonight!!! Their live show is indescribably amazing.

Which brings us to Japan, and OPENING DAY right around the corner!

Dump your links, and please do share other bands/artists/tunes!

Let me preface this post by saying that I prefer that the A's stay in Oakland, but I grew up in San Jose and lived there for 20 years, so I'm not at all opposed to them moving there. I see positives in both cities and like most A's fans, I just want them to play in a new stadium in the Bay Area, whether it's in SJ or Oakland.

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Great Baseball Nation article showing us how good Sizemore was (vs. our other post-Chavy 3Bs). Not really that high on Donaldson.

Donaldson has spent the last two years at Triple-A, and hit .252/.331/.454 there. The average Pacific Coast League hitter posted a .286/.359/.448 line, but they also didn't have to contend with Sacramento. A's prospects at Triple-A get a good taste of what life will be like in the majors in that park, as it's one of the few PCL stadiums that kills offense -- especially homers.

The projection systems aren't optimistic, though. ZiPS has Donaldson at .210/.289/.356, and PECOTA projects him to .227/.306/.374. Amazingly, due to the poor offensive conditions in Oakland, PECOTA's line isn't that far below-average -- he's projected for a .252 True Average, whereas the average third baseman last year sat at .257. It's not pretty, but considering he entered camp as either a bench player or on his way back to the minors, it's not awful, either.

One thing I find fascinating about society today is the ability to directly converse with people we don't know, but we know a lot about; following Brooke Sizemore on Twitter as all this was going on is a window into that world. Can't help but feel bad for both of them as you read the instant reactions.

On a lighter note, BWH shared this the other day, I think it deserves wider attention: Bad Spring Training Twitpics. This is why journalists are journalists, and photographers are photographers...

The following is an incomplete list of players who are in the best shape of their lives:

Jay Bruce, Matt Diaz , Billy Butler, Brett Anderson, Kurt Suzuki, Mat Gamel and Aubrey Huff.

Your chance to sing the national anthem at a Stockton Ports game.

When are we gonna see this guy? MLB seriously has no friends in the immigration department?

manolo hernandez d.‏@beisbolporgotas

"He is a great player": #WhiteSox SS Alexei Ramírez to mlbcom, excited to play against his countryman Yoenis Céspedes #Athletics

I've never lived alone. Living Alone Makes You Weird

I don't eat seafood, but even I've eaten at The Old Clam House in SF...150 years, still going strong.

New iPad coming, I'm sure this one will feature minor design changes and get millions to drop another $600.

Dump away!

On Saturday, a week after the Oakland A's fanfest my friend Dan was celebrating his birthday by heading to the Giants fanfest at AT&T Park. I was at home, minding my own business, when he called and said he was in a crazy long line to get in, and if I wanted to join. Because it was his birthday, and he was by himself, I said fine. It's only a short bicycle ride from my place in SF to the park, so what the hell. I was planning to do chores or start my taxes...the Giants fanfest couldn't be worse than that, could it?

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While I know we will be getting some primo content from our AN members that got to do the blogger event at Fanfest, I thought it would be nice to have a spot for all of us to comment/chat/share our thoughts on the event...

As you might have have heard, the A's threw their (hopefully) annual Fanfest yesterday, which went well. There was a general feeling of optimism, good vibes, and baseball in the air. Which, for the middle of winter, is a good thing. I think having it in the Oracle Arena worked out fine, except that only one beer stand was open (seriously?) and we couldn't see the A's locker rooms, etc. (and get to experience the stench first hand).

Some observations:

David Justice noted that Oakland is in his top 3 fan bases that are best at heckling opposing players. He noted that once one of his teammates on the Indians, Richie Sexson, actually asked to DH a game because he didn't want to play OF and deal with us. I agree with justplainAJ that we need to preserve this reputation.

Hatteberg said that he lives in a small town and nobody knew that he was a former MLB player until Moneyball broke the news to them.

Vida Blue said the most memorable moment of his career was when he and teammate Gene Tenace got called up from minor league Omaha to join the A's on the same day, and then he got arrested and went to jail for jaywalking that night.

Michael Taylor fielded a baseball trivia team against Braden...Taylor's "Stanford" team kept getting questions like "how many stitches are on a baseball?" where Braden's "Stockton" team got softballs like "what's the difference between a no-hitter and a perfect game?" Taylor complained that the game was rigged but Braden said "good things happen to good people!"

Curt Young said McCarthy will be the #1 starter, Colon #2. Also, they won't need a 5th starter until mid-April, so Braden will have a few extra weeks to rehab.

Lew Wolff was booed when they mentioned the one-on-one interviews, and a notable number of fans started a "Lew Wolff Sucks" chant. Kind of ugly.

I got a few pics of some of our shiny new additions.

Seth Smith, pondering his platoon splits and sample sizes.

Jonny Gomes, showing off his new mohawk. Kid with mohawk just found his new favorite player.

Brad Peacock.

A few more pics here

Links:

PHUT! got the now-famous CoFro bobblehead autographed by Coco himself! What did Coco say when you showed it to him?

via mobilebullpen.com

Our beloved SuSlu breaks down the event. The ManRam rumors continue to fly.

Assistant general manager David Forst confirmed that the team would consider signing [Manny] Ramirez, who'd be a non-roster signing because he must serve a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy before he could play any big-league games.

"He's just a pure hitter, and he knows what he's doing," starter Dallas Braden said of Ramirez, who has 555 career home runs. "If something like that does happen, we can only benefit. But we're also creating something here with dedication, hard work and appreciation for the game, and anybody who comes on board is going to have to accept that."

She posted another summary here, sharing some more opinion

Added: Jane Lee's Summary of Lew Wolff's press conference

Notable Tweets:

Dallas Braden @DALLASBRADEN209 Odd, Dave Justice & limo waiting on @BMcCarthy32. Late 4 dinner, late 4 fanfest. Weird cuz @Mrs_McCarthy32 says ur usually early most nights

Dallas Braden @DALLASBRADEN209 On a scale of 1-sweet, I had a mind blowing good time @ FANFEST! Thanks OAKTOWN 4 the faithful dedication u show 2 the green & gold! 209 out

They read this one out to the crowd:
Brandon McCarthy @BMcCarthy32 @athletics Suzuki: the candy necklace you wear looks delicious. Can you tell us all where to get some?

Joe Stiglich @joestiglich Barton says throwing should be 100% by mid-March, and he's aiming to be ready Opening Day. But might put him behind in 1B battle #Athletics

Joe Stiglich @joestiglich Braden is throwing off mound for first time since surgery tomorrow in Stockton. "Buy a ticket," he cracks.

Susan Slusser @susanslusser What Barton needs to do to win the 1B job back is: hit, hit, hit. #Athletics

Susan Slusser @susanslusser #Athletics 2B Jemile Weeks says his brother Rickie is godfather to Prince Fielder's kids. I asked if that makes him god-uncle and (cont) Weeks replied, "If he asked me, I'd accept the position. Especially now." #Athletics

For those who attended, I invite you to drop your general comments, tweets, links, and pics below, would love to see them.


Post-fan fest my wife and I went to this place called homeroom on 40th Street in Oakland. That's right, it's an all mac 'n' cheese restaurant. SOLID end to Fanfest.

I had this post drafted for a while, and I'm throwing it on today to piggyback on ElCroata's Kurt Suzuki post.  Unofficial Kurt Suzuki day!

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I used to like Kurt Suzuki, a lot. I even got his t-shirt, back when he was the blasphemous #24. Kurt wasn't the greatest but after Kendall he was an encouraging young bright spot on the team.

Here are his hitting stats in 2008 and 2009: Not bad for a catcher. Not an obvious liability in the lineup.

.249/.346/.370 - 7HR - .320 wOBA (4th out of 9 qualified C's) - 3.0 WAR (5th)

.274/.313/.421 - 15HR - .321 wOBA (4/9) - 3.0 WAR (5/9) 

I'll take that from the catcher position.  Given that he played so many games, it was generally well above average for major league catchers as a whole.

Skipping ahead to 2011, his stats are pretty abysmal. And they are somehow better than his 2010!

.237/.301/.385 - 2.2 WAR (better than only John Buck and Miguel Olivo...Yikes).

He was 8th in wOBA and 7th in WAR out of 9 qualifying catchers. It's worth expanding the view beyond just qualifying catchers, with the understanding that catching enough games to qualify could tend to impact stats downward due to the workload.  Still, by my count, there are approximately 35-40 catchers who saw time in the majors in 2011 that hit better than Kurt, including such luminaries as Ryan Hanigan, Wilson Ramos, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Ryan Doumit, and Nick Hundley. 

One obvious flaw that we are all familiar with as A's fans is his penchant for infield pop-ups and GIDPs with runners on base and in high leverage situations.  This is not an illusion, in 2011 he had the lowest Fangraphs clutch score out of all mlb players.  Yes, an abysmal -2.46.  Most sources say clutch is not a great predictor of future clutchiness (career stats are better) but it does tell you how bad he was in 2011, last in the league.  Which made him extremely painful to watch.

Also, I know this was just one AB, but I can't really get over the HBPK. I imagine his teammates still rag him about that. It's doubtful he could live that one down. But he's great at defense, right?

As far as I can tell, there's no great way to quantify catcher defense, and how well he works with the staff, but his percentage of runners thrown out is awful.  ElCroata broke it down for us in a previous post:

Suzuki actually only threw 16 guys out in 92 attempts for a 17% CS. It doesn’t really change the tendencies (he is slightly worse than in 2009, but better than in 2010) but does put the number down even more. BB-Ref keeps a good track of that here.

The league average this year is 23%, btw.

Also ElCroata just showed today that Kurt was good at blocking pitches, but is on a significant decline.

I have no idea how much of an impact catchers have on pitchers, but he certainly didn't help anything with the Gio and Cahill implosions this year.

So, assuming any defensive/intangibles don't really outweigh his lack of offense, what are our options?

With no obvious catcher prospects waiting in the wings, ideally we would find someone who would be with the team for more than one year, especially because I don't see 2012 as a contending year (though you never know, of course).

Internal options:

• Landon Powell - can't play every day, and can't hit.
• Josh Donaldson - ??
• Anthony Recker - has not looked good in extremely limited MLB time.

I feel like Donaldson and Recker deserve a chance to compete for the backup C job in spring but I think either of them would actually be worse than Suzuki as a starter.  I also think that if we could acquire a better backup who would actually make Kurt worried that he could lose playing time to a good backup, then we should do that.

Free Agents (via MLBTR):

Do Not Want (mainly because they are old and/or worse than Suzuki): Rod Barajas (36), Ivan Rodriguez (40), Henry Blanco (40), Jason Varitek (40), Jason Kendall (38), Josh Bard (34), Henry Blanco (40), Ramon Castro (36), Dioner Navarro (28), Brian Schneider (35), Gerald Laird (32),

Yes:

Ryan Doumit (31) - $7.25MM club option for 2012, $8.25MM club option for '13 with a $500K buyout.  The Pirates have a guy they like in Jason Jaramillo who is way cheaper.  I think there is a very good chance to trade for Doumit even if the Pirates do sign him.

Yadier Molina (29) - $7MM club option with a $750K buyout.  He's never played for anyone else but the Cards.  My guess is they are picking up his option (especially as they went to the WS).

I would mention Kelly Shoppach but his option is definitely going to be picked up by the Rays at $3.2M.  Damn the Rays and their smart contracts.

Maybe?

Jose Molina (36) - Jose is still good, and I am willing to bet he will stay good for at least 2012.  The downside is he has only been a full-time starter for one season in his career (but that might actually mean that his age isn't as much of a factor).  Also, the Molinas are pretty much guaranteed to be awesome.  Can we sign their kids now?

Ramon Hernandez (36) - This is kind of an emotional pick, obviously, but he has played well for the Reds.  My worry is that in the O DOT CO I'm not sure if he would be an upgrade over Suzuki.

Chris Snyder (31) - $6.75MM club option with a $750K buyout.  Is this a typo?  Who signed Snyder to this crazy contract?  Anyways, option will almost certainly be declined since they have Doumit and Jaramillo available.  He has brought his K rate down quite a bit, resulting in a good season of part-time play.  An unknown quantity to some extent, who knows if he would be better than Suzuki as a full-time starter.  0.7 WAR in 34 games is decent though.

So, the free agent pool isn't really guaranteed to bring any significant upgrade over Suzuki.

Trade Targets?

My feeling is that generally speaking, very good catchers are not traded that often. But there might be blocked backup or minor league catchers that we could try to pursue.  There might also be Saltalamacchia-like reclamation projects that would be worth bringing into the fold as a backup who could push Kurt. 

In terms of major league catchers, here are some names of potential trade targets, trying to stick to players that might be realistically gettable...although the two questions that pertain to all of them are:  1) are they available? and 2) do they really represent an upgrade over Suzuki?  Not sure on any of them:

Nick Hundley - his 2011 was definitely better than Suzuki, but career has been up and down for the Padres.

George Kottaras - backup for BrewCrew.  Had a better wOBA than the starter, Lucroy, but that doesn't tell us much, as I believe Catchers' hitting stats generally go down with a higher catching workload.

Francisco Cervelli - I actually think that he would be good in a full-time role, he is not going to get the chance with Russell Martin in front of him.

Wilson Ramos - Do you think the Nats would part with him?  I like him, very solid, 3.1 WAR, .267/.334/.445

Jason Jaramillo - If the Pirates pick up the option on Doumit, Jaramillo is the backup, we might be able to make a play for him (at this point I would rather have him at his price than Suzuki at his current price).

Ryan Lavarnway - I think the BoSux get rid of Varitek, but they have Saltalamacchia starting.  I think Lavarnway could be had.  However they probably want to try to package Lackey in any trade.

Geovany Soto - Theo might be cleaning house there.  He may want Kurt (whose popups would play better in Wrigley than in Oakland).  Soto might be had.  Not sure if he is much better than Kurt though.

I am not familiar with most teams' prospects, but potentially we might be able to get a blocked prospect at the catcher position from some other team (maybe from a team like the Giants, Braves, etc., who have an entrenched star catcher).

Given the above:

• Should we replace Kurt?
• If so, who should we replace him with?
• Is the replacement really an upgrade?
• Is Kurt a black hole of suck?  Or is he a decent MLB catcher and our best option? 

I had always gone to A's games in the past, but 2011 was my first year with any season ticket package to the A's (a 22 game fielders choice pack with my sister Janani). While my wife, sister, and some friends all went to Saturday's game (the 5-3 win) vs. the Tigers, Janani and I decided to stick it out for the season ticket holder party as well.

It started off looking like a real boring scenario as we were herded onto the warning track waiting for players, but as it turned out it was pretty fun, shaking hands and taking pics of players, then moving into the club area for live A's talk, free food, and an all around good time.  Pics and descriptions after the jump.  Apologies for the photo quality, I suck at taking pictures.

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UPDATES IN BOLD CAPS:  So Tyson goes down with the oblique injury AND MCCARTHY GOES DOWN TOO, SCAPULA.  Whenever I think of oblique I think of opaque, mainly for the oque but also because we have little info on how long it could last.  I remember Kurt Suzuki being out for a while with one of these.

MCCARTHY COULD BE OUT MUCH LONGER GIVEN HIS INJURY HISTORY

Anyway, I wanted to throw out some candidates to come up in place of Tyson AND BRANDON, hopefully just temporarily BUT CLEARLY WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE:

Josh Outman

via imgs.sfgate.com

The year before his injury, he pitched decently with the big club.

2009: 4-1, 3.48 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 7.08 K/9

He has started off extremely poorly in AAA, but lately has been better:

2011 AAA overall:  8 games, 37 IP, 4-1, 4.78 ERA. 

Last 2 starts: 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 13 IP, 9K, 8BB. 

Good candidate, except for the walks (which is somewhat typical coming off surgery)

Bobby Cramer

via www2.pictures.zimbio.com

Again, decent at the majors: 

2010: 2-1 (4 Games), 3.04 ERA, 5.49 FIP (wow), 4.94 K/9 

But, via sfgate:

But Bobby Cramer is on Triple-A Sacramento's disabled list with -- yes, an oblique strain.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/athletics/detail?entry_id=89344#ixzz1MqgBm2SF

So Cramer might be an option later, not now.

Guillermo Moscoso

via www1.pictures.zimbio.com

2011 AAA: 8 games, 3-2, 4.02 ERA, 2.36 FIP, 9.6 K/9

The plus for this guy is he's already on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding roster move necessary.

Found this tiny blurb on Scout.com: Moscoso is known for a plus low-90s fastball with plenty of late movement, however the inconsistencies of his breaking ball and changeup have held him back.

Graham Godfrey

Came over in the Scutaro trade:

"It's no secret we need an injection of talent in the minor leagues," Forst said. "We have good scouting reports on both of them. They throw up to 93-94 and could compete for jobs in Double-A." (when the trade happened)

AAA line this year.

 4-0 in 5 games, 2.43 ERA, 2.32 FIP, 8.49 K/9

Armando Gallaraga/OTHER FREE AGENTS?

Perfect game aside, his FIP is over 5.  But he has MLB experience, recently DFA'd by the DBacks, and could be revived in the Coliseum, haven to journeymen pitchers.

Now that we have to get 19 starters we may be looking at Jeff Suppan in this role.  Hey, the Yankees got Bartolo Colon to be useful, maybe we can get something out of nothing?

TRAVIS BANWART

via media.scout.com

Here's Banwart's AAA stats in 2011 (he spent part of last year at AAA as well):

6 Starts, 1-2, 2.93 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 6.98 K/9