Well it's been a few days, I'm sick, and thus still awake so I thought I'd do the deed and put one of these together. Plus, I get some enjoyment out of making DLDs even though mine certainly aren't as grand as most.

Bran is served, commence dumping!

Continue reading this post »

Helloooo all! I haven't made a DLD since June so I figured what the heck, now's as good a time as any to make another. I was sitting here listening to some good ol' 60's music (currently the Zombies) and thought maybe I'd make a themed DLD for the first time in my life.


The theme is this: I would like each person to pick their favorite band from the 60's, A's player from the 70's, Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from the 80's, TV show from the 90's, and electronic gadget of the 00's.

I didn't go back any further than the 60's because I didn't feel like it. Nothing in my life really points to the 50's so I don't really take an interest in them, but I mean no offense to those who have a deep, rooting interest in them. Feel free to name your favorite something from any decade not mentioned above, it's a DLD after all and anarchy shall reign supreme! You can even name something you really like from the decades above even if it doesn't fit the theme.

To aid you on your quest I will provide ye with some ideas for Arnold movies. We should be pretty covered with 60's bands and 70's A's players, but as for our dear Governor's (chiseled) body of work I provide you with: Conan the Barbarian and the sequel Conan the Destroyer, The Terminator, Commando, Predator, The Running Man, and of course Twins.

My picks are: The Doors, Sal Bando, Predator, Simpsons (beginning) and South Park (towards the end), and of course the iPod, without which I would surely be lost.

And finally, in my last DLD I provided the link to Kitten Cannon, I give you Avalanche.

Proceed with your regular scheduled dumping...

It's been reported by foxsports.com that OF Grant Desme has announced his retirement from baseball in favor of pursuing his priesthood.

I'm incredibly shocked by this news and pretty disappointed too. There have been many debates on AN about whether Desme is for real or not but you can't deny that it's a shame we'll never know for sure because Desme could've been something special.

That being said, I wish him the best of luck and admire his decision because it cannot be easy to give up on your (initial) dream, especially when you're still young and talented. At least he'll be leaving after a healthy and productive season as opposed to his two previous years.

It is officially my birthday now so I thought I'd give a gift to all of AN and make a DLD for this wonderous day!

Today is the 169th day of the year and there are 196 days left until everyone wakes up with an enormous hangover. Some highlights of this day include, but are not limited to:

• Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, although this time she was merely a passenger, in 1928.
• Sir Paul McCartney was born in 1942 on this day, as well as non-Sir Roger Ebert.
• As far as baseball goes, Jack Buck sadly passed away on this day in 2002 and Larry Doby followed in 2003. Well there goes my thoughts of jubilation...
• And for all you Tom Cruise fans, today is Academy Day if you are a Scientologist.

As for some real stuff:

Scientists have discovered transparent frogs, Kyle Farnsworth is the other other white meat, and this man is the human race's best candidate for being the first person to fly.

Finally, since it's my birthday I feel that I should be lucky today. So I'm going to try my hand at one shot of Kitten Cannon. My score is.......... a measly 738 feet. I guess I won't go to any casinos today.

That's all I got folks, prepare for dumpage in 3...2...1...wait we have a leak. Oh well, maybe next time.

Hello AN! Let me start by saying how happy I am to see the big league club FINALLY performing well and starting to gel as the weather starts to warm. Sound familiar?

Now on to business...

This past offseason should have been a happy time for every A's fan on earth unless you were a fan of Huston Street, Greg Smith, and/or Carlos Gonzalez. However, what ended up happening was AN lost a large number of its more prolific posters. This has happened a lot since I joined this wonderful, A's-loving community but not to this degree. I remember the wonderful DLDs where Sharon, Jennifer, and salb918 had countless discussions about a certain welcoming, larger-than-life snowman. I remember PaulThomas' excellent stats, dry wit, and (at times) harsh demeanor. I remember monkeyball's poetic interludes, jd44's blunt yet needed analysis, grover's and xbhaskar's regular posting, Apricot, Ice Cream, and McFood as themselves, and most importantly the AN of the past.

Before the current residents of AN begin polishing their proverbial pitchforks let me say that I still love AN. There isn't a day gone by where I haven't checked this website many times. I'm not here to condemn the current heads of this site and I'm not here to say that the people who do post regularly are subpar. What I am doing is asking that AN's long lost brothers and sisters return, despite their differing opinions on the current state of this blog.

Of course life can get in the way so if these missing posters are just living their lives and aren't able to come to AN regularly then they don't need to feel bad. But if they left because they felt that AN was getting too political or yahoo-ey then they need to know that there are tons and tons of members who miss their invaluable contributions. I say this because I am absolutely certain that the majority of AN misses its founding fathers and mothers. The group we have now is awesome but it certainly lacks the insights and products provided from the aforementioned MIAs.

I am writing this hoping that they still read AN enough to see this call to action and that our community will become even more populated. If nobody comes back then I would just like to say that I hope our community continues to expand and educate the uneducated, inspired the uninspired, and enrich the poor. But really the bottom line is how much better we are than Halo's Heaven and we shouldn't refuse any additional help.

On an aside: Everyone needs to stop recognizing the stats vs. non-stats debate. Stats are essential in baseball as is scouting. If neither was important then they wouldn't be used by GMs on an every day basis. Neither side needs to proclaim that they are superior because there's no reason why either should exist without the other. Respect stats and respect eyeball analysis and we're all good. But mainly respect other people and then we're definitely on the right path.

I will now defer to a (snow)man much more influential than myself to convince you to return:

via robertd.files.wordpress.com

From Slusser's notes today was this interesting tidbit about the TV woes of many so far this season:

We have been getting some questions from viewers who have Comcast but are not getting the game on Comcast Channel 89. Fans must have a DTA box to receive the games. They can not go directly from the cable in the wall to the TV. The DTA boxes are FREE of charge with no additional monthly fee. Fans can get up to two with remote controls for each home. They simply call 1-800 COMCAST and ask for a DTA Box to receive the A' s games. They will be delivered to their homes for free or subscribers can pick them up at their local Comcast Store location.

I called my Dad back home to tell him this and he rushed down to the Comcast Store in our town and sure enough he got 2 free DTA boxes for our house. He asked the agent at the store if I could get one for my college dorm and she said that it should work the same as at home as long as my college has a Comcast account. I called the store in my college town to see if this was true and he said he needed to check the account info. and would get back to me, which is where I'm at now and I'm starting to suspect that the call won't be coming but I'll update as this continues.

I know that many people have expressed frustration at not being able to watch the games, myself included, and have even resorted to possible illegal options in order to get our A's fix. Hopefully this will help everyone, I'm hoping it helps me.

Update: After talking to the aforementioned guy and a subsequent agent over the phone they told me that I needed to get housing varification from my RA and I should be able to go down to the local Comcast store and pick up a DTA box. The agent over the phone told me that it's tricky for students to get the box since we're not the names on the account but that if I can get some sort of verification I should be able to get around this issue. Hope this works for you guys as well.

I've been catching up on a few A's related tidbits and stumbled across a couple interesting things. First off, in Slusser's latest article she elaborates a little on the Ynoa name change(s) and talks about how he'll be in Phoenix in early March and April to check out the team and get acclimated to life in the U.S.

Even more interesting is the recent signing of Aussie catcher, 19-year-old Oliver Box.

...according to Owens, is a right-handed hitter with "raw power." Box will be in Phoenix for extended spring training, and then might be assigned to a short-season A-ball team if he doesn't return to Australia to play for the summer.

And finally Slusser reports that the A's are close to signing four younguns from the Dominican Republic. Along with the new scout in Taiwan, the signing of Box, and of course Ynoa it seems that we're close to becoming a powerhouse in the overseas markets.

And then then I read Urban's piece on Tyson Ross, among other things, and came across a blurb about the A's changing Ross's mechanics:

Ross' delivery has since been tweaked, the product of a postseason trip to Oakland's Instructional League.

Good news there... Then there's some not so good news here

Geren also cautioned against reading anything into the fact that staff ace Justin Duchscherer hasn't thrown in a few days. Duchscherer has been getting treatment on his right elbow, but he told Geren he's fine, and Geren said Duchscherer hasn't missed any scheduled bullpen sessions.

If past A's history holds true then Duke is hiding an injury and will be on the shelf in the beginning of May. Of course, I may be overreacting but like I said, I've become all too familiar with these types of things.

Dump Away!

Merry Christmas and a continuing happy holidays to those of you who don't celebrate Christmas.

Link Time:

Apparently Justin Duchscherer has never given a bad gift.

MLB.com: What's the worst present you ever gave?

Duchscherer: I don't really buy stuff people don't like. I don't think I've ever given a gift that someone thought was bad. Or maybe they just hid that they thought it was bad. But I think I do pretty well.

Meanwhile Brad Ziegler's dreams are sky high. An interesting tidbit from that article is this:

He started this season in Triple-A and nearly asked for his release when things weren't going his way.

Good thing I've been advised not to eat foil. I would've never known that on my own. I'll be sure to keep it away from Buddy as well.

And finally, whoever's been saying the Yankees are evil (read: everyone on AN) obviously hasn't read this story yet. God bless those generous Yanks!

Happy Holidays to all, and to all good night!

It's over. The incumbent's job is safe as of now because Rafael Furcal has chosen to go back to the Braves instead of accepting our 4 yr/40 mil offer. Rosenthal was the first to report it.

This is really demoralizing for us I feel. We were all set to add another weapon to our offense and spirits were high that we could possibly compete with the Angels next year but it doesn't appear that Furcal will be a part of that.

I'm sure many of us will be mad at him for spurning us, others relieved, and the rest sad as I am. Unless BB can pull off a trade for Escobar or Hardy, I'm hoping that Petit opens the season as the starting SS because I really really really don't want to waste a draft pick and the money to sign Orlando Cabrera. I'll attach a poll to see what you all think we should do now.

The options regarding having to trade one of Cahill/Anderson mean that you feel that we need to acquire one of those players and that giving up one of the aforementioned pitchers is acceptable. The options where we don't give up Cahill/Anderson mean that you explore the possibility but if the answer is no, you move on to someone else. I realize it's a bit confusing but hopefully this will clear it up.

Link

Free-agent first baseman Russell Branyan and the Seattle Mariners agreed Wednesday to a one-year contract.

The left-handed-hitting Branyan batted .250 with 12 homers and 20 RBIs in just 132 at-bats with the Milwaukee Brewers last season.

So there goes a lot of people's idea about having Branyan as insurance for the corner infield positions. Seems like a lot of people have been clamoring for him to be an A for so long that it seems destiny that he'll eventually wind up in Oakland.

It's obvious the guy can hit in a reserve role which would have been perfect for the A's this coming season but now we'll have to watch him hit against us 17 times next season.

Oh and I'm not sure if this has been discussed yet but Van Burkleo is officially the Mariners' new bench coach now so let the debate commenceresume on who should be the next hitting/bench coaches. I'm guessing the bench coach will come from outside the organization but it's entirely probable the hitting coach vacancy will be filled internally. That's what she said.

It appears that our "hitting" coach Ty Van Burkleo will be leaving our "offense" to join recently-departed Don Wakamatsu up north in Seattle to "coach" their "offense." Was that a good use of quotations?

The story is here. I'd put this in a DLD but there hasn't been one for a few days so instead of burying it there I thought I'd give it more of a chance of being read.

I've never thought VB was anything special as a coach, certainly not all he was cracked up to be when we hired him away from the Angels. He was supposedly great at working with young hitters especially but the only younguns that seemed to have any success last year under his tutelage were Sweeney and Suzuki. Barton, Buck, Gonzalez, and Hannahan all fell apart and were pretty hopeless at the plate for a while if not the whole season. The offense as a whole was god awful but we don't need to get into that as we're all already painfuly aware of that fact. Maybe it wasn't his fault that they underperformed but in any case it wasn't like he helped them really turn it around either. Perhaps now we can fill the bench coach and hitting coach positions for more than a year at a time to create some continuity.

Auf Wiedersehen!

I was perusing the mlb.com Hot Stove Roundup and the first part of the story is about how the Padres are shopping not only Jake Peavy but Khalil Greene as well. Yes he had a poor, injury-plagued season last year, but the year before he hit 27 homeruns playing half of his games in pitcher-friendly Petco Park. He's known for playing above-average defense also and is signed for this season at $6.5 MM. So to look at him overall: he's relatively young (just recently turned 29), has hit pretty well in years past, and plays good defense.

Now the big knock on him is his discipline. It's bad. His career OBP is .304 which hurts his career OPS (.731). The most walks he's taken in a season was 53 in '04 and he hasn't approached that number since then (25, 39, 32, 22). He's also missed a chunk of time in every season besides '07, but I wouldn't call him injury prone. Last year's big injury was due to him breaking his hand from a punch to a trash can. Stats

I'm not saying that Greene is going to take us to the top, because it's entirely possible that he could be just as bad if not worse than Crosby. I am, however, trying to think outside the box and maybe a change of scenery could work, especially if we can instill some sense of the strike zone within him. If he doesn't work out then let him go at the end of the season, but if he shows improvement then we may have an answer at shortstop for the next few seasons. I'm sure it won't take a whole lot to get him, probably an Eveland or a Smith. If you want to expand the package to get more than just Greene then throw in a Mazarro or so.

I pose the question to you AN, Oui or Niet?

C-c-c-can it be? EMIL BROWN FILES FOR FREE AGENCY

I thought I'd have more to say on this subject but surprisingly I'm at a loss for words. I was really hoping Forst or Beane would come out and say "You don't file for free agency because I DFA you!" but there was no such luck. Seemed like a nice guy at FanFest this past year and started off pretty well for us (not counting his baserunning in Japan) but obviously tailed off quickly and then turned into a grouch. Oh well...

Now for the sobering numbers:

All told, he batted .244 with 13 homers, 59 RBIs and a .297 on-base percentage in 117 games.

 

So long DFA, we hardly knew ye.

Also in that link is the fact that time is counting for the A's to decide on Alan Embree's fate. My fingers are crossed that he'll be bought out and shown the door. There's no need for a guy who can't get outs on this staff any more, especially at that price.

Update alert: Embree Declined. This probably means the end of the aged one, and for some reason we claimed a 33-year old "hitter" from Miluakee. Hooray! Offensive troubles cured!

via asthruz.mlblogs.com

via boston.redsox.mlb.com

Press Release

"The Oakland Athletics today named Mike Gallego as their third base coach, which completes Manager Bob Geren's coaching staff for the upcoming 2009 season.

Gallego, a member of the A's 1989 World Series championship team who played eight seasons in Oakland, will join Ty Van Burkleo (hitting), Ron Romanick (bullpen), Don Wakamatsu (bench), Tye Waller (first base) and Curt Young (pitching) on Geren's staff."

Seems like a good choice since we lacked a true infield coach last year and the article says that he improved Colorado's infield D a lot during his tenure there. He could serve as a good instructor for our young infielders like Patterson, Pennington, and Staple-Dome. If anything it's news in a newsless day and since there's no DLD here ya go.

Slusser's Piece

This one has quotes directly from Gallego and updates on TV and radio coverage. KICU (Channel 6) has been dropped and there's no word yet if they have to change radio stations.

Hello everyone at AN. I don't know how to put this is in a clever and catchy way so I'll get right down to business. The high school baseball season is beginning soon and today during our first team meeting my coach told our team that on April the 24th we (Miramonte High School) will be playing the Dublin Gaels at McAfee Coliseum. That's right, our very own heaven. The A's have granted us permission and we are to take the field soon after they wrap up their contest vs. the Twins that day. This being my final year of high school baseball and my first chance at playing in the Coliseum, I am very excited.

Continue reading this post »

As passionate as all of AN is about the MLB, and to a possible larger extent the Minors, I was wondering if there's anybody out there who pays attention to or follows High School Baseball to any extent.

Continue reading this post »

Last night I was invited to attend the game in a Luxury box above the LF bleachers. Being so high up i had a great view of the entire stadium. This view had it's advantages, and at one point this advantage came into play.

I forget what inning it was but i do know that nothing extremely exciting was going on in this particular moment but all of a sudden entire sections of fans around the LF foul pole stood up like they were watching the flight of a ball. I look around and suddenly see 2-3 guys in a full-scale brawl. Punches were being thrown guys were being thrown over seats and nobody seemed to want to interfere. The fight lasted a good 30 seconds longer after i first saw when finally about 6 cops came and dragged the guys off each other.

Anyone here who saw/heard what was going on? Any specifics because it's not every day i get to see an awesome fight like that.

Wow. Just wow. Reading the ESPN article on Radke and all he's been through not only this year but his whole career is what makes baseball such a great sport.

He's been pitching for 2 years now with a torn labrum yet still goes out there and pitches his game, and pitches it well. He's said he's retiring after the season ends so tomorrow could conceivably be his final start and what a way to go out if it is.

Don't get me wrong, I want our A's to clinch tomorrow even if that means pushing 10 runs across the plate against him, although I'd really prefer for him to pitch 6 shutout innings, leave to a (hopeful) standing ovation from our fans, and then have us come back after he leaves to win the game. I've always thought of Radke as a good pitcher but now that I really know how much pain he's had to go through really makes me respect him.

In addition to the pain, Radke had to endure the losing. Lest we forget that the Twins were absolutely horrible from when he came into the league in '95 up until '02. To me Radke is the definition of a ballplayer. He's putting his health on the line big time tomorrow, knowing this may very well be his last start for his career. Hats off to Brad Radke!

"The Anti-Pavano, Radke takes the mound in Game 3 with the only big-league team he's ever known down 0-2 to the Athletics and on the brink of elimination. He has a torn right labrum. He has a stress fracture in the same shoulder. His arm hurts with every pitch. Heck, it hurts enough that he avoids lifting his children. But no matter. With such an important game, Radke will pitch as long as he can, even if it requires duct tape.

You think Curt Schilling's Game 6 start in 2004 ALCS was impressive? Hey, at least his right arm wasn't broken."

Here's the article

While watching the game tonight and hearing Glen and Ray discuss the fact that if Detroit and Minnesota finish tied in the division, the winner of the season series will win the division and the other the wild card. This got me thinking, what is the point of all the coin flips? I can understand if the two teams play an even amount of games against each other over the course of the season and finished tied in the season series, but for teams that play an odd amount (e.g. division rivals) why would you need a coin toss?

Take the A's and Angels for instance. Had they finished tied for the division they would've played the tie-breaker in Anaheim as a result of the coin toss. If that's the case, why wouldn't Detroit and Minnesota do the same thing?

I think I may have found the answer myself in that the coin toss only comes into effect if the two teams tied are fighting for ONE playoff spot and not in the case of Det and Minn where they're both going to the playoffs no matter what. But, I'm not sure and it's really bugging me to have the right answer so if some fellow Aner could help me out here it would be much appreciated and may answer the question of another person.

I just came across this while looking through the Contra Costa Times' website. It's an article about the new radio coverage and how it won't be able to reach some listeners in some areas. But, it shed light on a pretty exciting development. Here's a little tidbit from the article:

"There is one wild card that could dramatically improve the A's radio coverage. KNTS has been granted a permit to build a 50,000-watt transmitter just north of the San Mateo bridge, which would immediately give the A's full coverage across the Bay Area. But receiving a permit and actually getting the job done are two different things."

here's the link to said article:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/sports/baseball/mlb/oakland_athletics/13895362.htm

I hope this gives some hope to some A's fans.

The purpose of this diary if for myself and for any others who have any last minute questions.

My first question is what would be a good time to get to the stadium if i am to sign up for clubhouse tours? Add to that, where do i go to sign up for one of these? Also, how much does a ticket for one person for a tour cost?

My other question is does anybody know for sure if the field is going to be in use. I am aware that the weather outlook for tomorrow isnt good but hopefully the sun will burst through.

Sorry this may be a bit short but hopefully it will help others as well as me.

In everyone's favorite book, Moneyball, it was made clear that Billy Beane is very much infatuated with OBP. It was said that while many GM's were focused on other, less important offensive statistics, Beane was ahead of the curve in stockpiling hitters with high OBP. For discovering that OBP was undervalued in the market at that time, many said Beane was the best GM in baseball. Could it be that Beane has struck gold again?

In the new steroid agreement the testing will include many new drugs, including amphetamines or "greenies". Many players have said that just about every player on every teams roster uses greenies throughout the season for quick pick-me-ups. With greenies being banned is it really out of the question to expect a lot of clubs to seem sluggish towards the end of September? Many teams may need to utilize their bench more than ever and if a team is weak on the bench they may find themselve SOL.

This offseason Beane, for the first time as GM, has been able to add talent without subtracting any at the same time. By signing Esteban Loaiza he was able to move Kirk Saarloos to the bullpen where he is better suited due to his inability to pitch deep into games. When he acquired Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez later in the offseason he was able to strengthen the defense exponentially by having 3 CFers in the OF every night. Also by moving Swisher to 1B and Johnson to DH, he improves the infield defense greatly to go along with Ellis, Crosby, and Chavez from 2B to 3B. Also Perez will be able to spell Chavez a lot more often to keep his shoulder from flaring up over the course of the long season. Now by acquiring Frank Thomas and inserting him into that DH slot, it moves Johnson back to 1st and Swisher back to the OF and Payton to the bench. Now im coming to the point of this thread.

My point for this thread was to explain the incredible amount of depth the A's have. I'll start with the pitching staff. In the rotation Zito, Loiaza, and Haren are all locks to pitch 200 innings if they stay healthy. Blanton could very easily get to that plateau as well. The only real question mark is Harden. When healthy Harden is one of the best pitchers in the majors, hands down. If he can stay healthy he could also very easily reach the 200 inning mark. But lets say one of these pitchers can't stay healthy. Insert Saarloos, who pitched very well last year as the No. 5 man. Say another starter goes down. Insert Joe Kennedy. This brings me to the bullpen. With Saarloos and Kennedy in the 'pen it adds a lot of insurance should a starter go down. In fact, everybody in the 'pen with the exception of Street and Calero, has started at one point (or multiple points) in their careers. Lots and lots o' depth.

Now to the OF. Kotsay and Bradley have a history of injury problems. No problem here if one needs a break, insert Payton or Kielty. To the infield. Chavez will get his days off this year or at least be put to the DH slot to spell Thomas who will also need his days off to remain healthy. No problem, slot Perez in at third, he's more than capable of taking care of that spot for a day. Say Ellis or Crosby go down, as they have been apt to do over the last couple years, once again we have Perez, or even Scutaro, waiting to fill in.

My point people is that Beane has such an abundance of depth, that he's ready should any scenario play out. I feel that once again Beane is ahead of the curve in finding the one market inefficiency once again, which will also come in handy without those terrific little greenies.

I know this has been discussed adnauseum, but i thought i'd just get all the points together in one extremely long thread. thanks for taking the time to read through it.

Go A's!!!

Now before I get started, I know a lot of people here either: A). dont know what myspace is or B). think it to be evil. But, I happen to like it, and i thought that it would be a great idea to make an A's Myspace and spread the word of A's Brand Baseball.

BobbyCrosby'sGirl has an excellent myspace that has a ton of A's info and pictures on it, but it also doubles as her own profile, but if she wants to show you, you can see for yourself what it's like.

If anyone would be interested in helping me make one i could use any pictures or suggestions. Sorry this isn't newsworthy at all, but at least it's A's related.

Go A's!!!

For the first time in a while as an A's fan, I feel extremely at ease and excited (as always) about what might happen this offseason. After this signing of Loaiza (which i commend) and reading the subsequent articles, it's been made clear that the purse strings are definitely a little looser, and ownership (including Beane) is committed to winning NOW. It seems like Beane is not only hoping to acquire the big bat we so desperately need to take it to the next step, he expects too. It also seems like Mr. Wolff won't let budget constraints stand in his way. And here's to hoping this feeling will intensify once Barry is extended and some slugger is standing in the DH slot come ST. What are your feelings on the upcoming months.

Okay I've been mulling this over for a few days now and i thought it was a pretty good idea. But then when i saw Thome was traded for Rowand it didn't look too good. Anyway, i thought i'd put it out there. Here it is:

To Philly: Barry Zito LHSP

To Oakland: OF Bobby Abreu

I heard rumors that Abreu was being shopped but probably not anymore now that the Thome deal has gone through. You can throw out some prospects on either side if you wish but i dont feel much like thinking too hard. Happy Holidays!

Over the last couple of weeks, we ANers have posted numerous diaries focusing on acquiring a masher for the middle of the order. Now, it's my turn. My target: Carlos "El Caballo" Lee.

The reason this might work is because the Brewers would receive plenty of compensation for him (see below) and they have a plethora of young sluggers already there and on their way up. In his first season in a relatively subdued environment, and his first as the top-dog in the lineup, he absolutely raked. Add him to our lineup and we would deffinetly have a better one than Anaheim. He plays relatively good defense and would have no problem switching back to the AL since he already played here with the ChiSox. Since we already have Payton here, we would deal him to a team in need of an OFer. So here below are my two trade proposals:

To Oakland:
Carlos Lee LF/DH

To Miluakee:
Dan Meyer LHP
Jairo Garcia RHP
Andre Ethier OF

The Brewers get some young studs to continue their drive towards the playoffs, and we get our RH hitter we need. Now for the subsequent trade:

To Oakland:
Jason Marquis RHP

To St. Louis:
Jay Payton OF

The Cards get the OF they'll need since Walker and Sanders may be gone, and the A's get a young fireballer to make our rotation even stronger. Plug Marquis into the 4th or 5th spot depending on what you do with Zito and you have this:

Zito             Harden
Harden           Haren
Haren      or    Blanton
Blanton          Marquis
Marquis          Saarloos/Kennedy/Cruz/Rheinecker