...BFF!

"I said when the trade happened that Milton is an MVP-type player, and I still mean it,'' A's third baseman Eric Chavez said. "I'd go to bat with him any day.'' He took some heat for his temper on that trip in a July 20 column in the Examiner that called Bradley "a tired act'' and asserted that he has "about seven screws loose.'' Bradley's teammates took notice of the criticism, and after his game-winning homer against Toronto, "tired act'' was scribbled on the team message board in a show of support for him.

"He's like a family member, like everyone in here, and when someone takes a shot at a family member, you're going to defend him,'' Kotsay said.

"I thought that was great,'' Chavez said of the message. "We were all aware (of the column). With the kind of stuff he goes through, there's some satisfaction, some pride that we all feel about his accomplishments. Everyone is happy to see him do well. We love him as a teammate. He's a big part of what we're going to do.''

"Sure, he's intense, but it never goes too far. Kotsay is pretty intense, and so is (Jason) Kendall, but Milton takes it to another level, and I think that's great. You take it all when you have a player who's that's intense a person. He's already one of my favorite teammates all time.''

Clearly, this is a sinking ship.

I'm still waiting for the article that refutes this:

They're also tired of Macha playing the role of enabler. And I'm dead serious. That was the most shocking line in the entire column. Enabler of what?!

Bunnies is going on the DL. Blame Jennifer.

I apologize for the short link dump. I wanted to get one up as soon as possible.

And so it begins.

After stumbling while rounding first base on Wednesday, Bradley appeared to be injured, and badly. So pronounced was his limp that he that he didn't even try to get back to the base, so the throw from the outfield to shortstop to first base got there in plenty of time for Bradley to be tagged out.

As he was being carried off the field, it looked like Bradley was headed for another stint on the DL. But no. There must have been some kind of medical magician in the dugout, because Bradley was back out on defense the next inning, even diving for a ball.

So the fans let him have it, and rightly so.

It put a huge damper on a nice win for the A's, and while none of his teammates would go on the record (nor would Bradley, who didn't talk after the Boston game, either), it was clear that they are tired of Bradley's act.

They're also tired of Macha playing the role of enabler.

Weird... Until Saturday, Bradley had been on his best behavior. Of course, it's easy to behave when you're on the disabled list, which is where Bradley has been for most of the year.

Is anyone else confused by that? He was on his best behavior until Saturday, but the team is already tired of him? So, the incidents since that day have been such an annoyance that Bradley is...

...becoming a bigger problem by the day. And if the problem isn't nipped in the bud, the A's won't be in first place much longer. Is there more to this story? And have certain players actually gone to Urban and told him how they felt?

About a month ago, Urban wrote this:

Bradley, meanwhile, is now on the DL for the second time this year. He's missed 44 of Oakland's 72 games, and he's still looking for his first double the season. On the bright side, he hasn't bitten anyone's head off, and that was a legitimate fear when the A's picked him up. His teammates seem to genuinely like him, too.

Then again, if you can't make nice with everyone while batting .213 and spending more time in the trainers' room than on the field, you really ARE crazy.

(emphasis mine)

I am very confused. And unfortunately, I'll be away for most of the day.

If you missed Saturday's game, check out gotgreen's  pictures of the dugout in the bottom of the 17th.

College-like attitude visible with A's the more they win:

There are plenty of reasons why the A's were able to bounce back this month after yet another slow start.

You've got to put their upbeat, college-style attitude on the list. No, not at the top, where top-notch pitching, hitting and fielding belong. But certainly among the leaders.

Well...what else is on that list?

THE OTHER DUGOUT

Fun.

Lost somewhere in the middle of the Dodgers' 17-inning marathon with the A's on Saturday night was a veteran showing up a rookie.

In the eighth inning of the game that ended with Jae Seo walking in the winning run, second baseman Jeff Kent, a likely Hall of Famer, was on first base with rookie outfielder Andre Ethier at bat.

Kent tried to steal second. He had a good jump, and it looked as if he would easily be safe. But Ethier swung at the pitch, lofting a lazy fly ball into left field.

Kent watched the ball sail into the air -- it was obvious that it would be caught by Nick Swisher -- and, instead of retreating to first base, he got to second and took his helmet off as the ball was caught. Swisher threw to first for the double play.

Kent was later seen jawing at Ethier in the dugout. When asked if he thought Kent could have made it back, Ethier offered this: "It's a question you don't even need to ask," he said. "It's at his discretion if he wants to or not."

Flores was called up yesterday, and poor Jeremy Brown was sent back down. Also, Duke will pitch in Sacramento tonight. Woohoo!

And the A's have been playing so well lately, I failed to notice this: (scroll down)

Matt Kemp's stolen base in the second inning was the 11th straight time a runner had been successful against A's catcher Jason Kendall. After starting the year by throwing out eight of the first 14 attempted thieves, Kendall has caught just two of the last 23.

This isn't how it was supposed to be. Sure, losing Harden and Bradley for some time wasn't surprising, but Duchscherer, Kennedy, Street, Loaiza, Witasick, Crosby, Ellis, DJ, Blanton...whether they were hurt or just plain sucked, it wasn't something I saw coming.

That streak we're all waiting for? The big turnaround? I'm afraid that's only going to happen if the A's stay healthy, and I'm not sure that they can. Duke could be closer to returning (scroll down), but Kennedy seems nowhere near that...he paid a visit to Dr. Lewis Yocum. "No rotator cuff tears, just tendinitis, so he needs more rest."

Chavy was scratched from last night's lineup due to back stiffness.

Chavez took two rounds of batting practice before shutting it down. He was bothered by the same problem the night before, first feeling it on a routine chopper in the second -- and it was still bugging him when he homered off Scott Sauerbeck in the eighth.

The five-time Gold Glove winner revealed after the game that he's been playing all year with a strain in his left hamstring where that muscle is attached to the glute, an injury he expects to linger all year. As a result, he has been running differently, and he believes that has led to some recurring irritation in his back. (He was scratched from an eventual rainout at Kansas City in late April with the same problem.)

Larry Davis said the A's planned to rest Chavy for one day in Cleveland anyway. But that hardly makes me feel better since that planned day of rest was to come in a series following a day off (Monday). This is pretty serious, and while a lot of people have called for Davis to be fired for all of the injuries the team has endured, this is where I expect him to shine. He has to keep Chavy healthy. The hamstring is going to be an issue all season, so Davis needs to be proactive. Chavy should get rest from time to time, because the last thing this team needs is to lose him. There's just too much going wrong right now. If Chavy gets hurt because he's not getting the rest he needs, the blame goes directly to Davis. Not Macha.

As for the game, it sucked.

"Whatever," Blanton said. "A three-run homer, a solo homer, yeah, that's four runs, but I felt like I give up a lot of bloop hits, balls through the infield, off the end of the bat, like that." Pitchers make comments like that all the time. But it's been two months. Although Blanton had a fine rookie season, I expected less from him this year. However, I didn't expect this implosion.

Jay Witasick sucked, too. Though he's probably rusty.

Jay Witasick, in his first action since spraining his ankle in April, gave up two hits and two walks -- one of them intentional and the other to Martinez with the bases loaded, forcing in a run in the sixth.

Asked if Witasick's ankle was a factor Wednesday, Macha said, "He's been cleared to go 100 percent, so there are no excuses on that."

The offense? Sucky and stupid last night. Frank Thomas needs to understand that he has no business going for a double when he can't run. He's also one ugly slide away from hurting himself again.

Loaiza starts tonight. I'm hoping he's effective (duh). I want the A's to win, and I want Loaiza to be the pitcher Beane thought he was getting when he offered that contract. But also, Macha will have a short leash for Haren and Zito in New York. Zito has thrown 120+ pitches in two of his last three starts. Haren threw 122 pitches in each of his last two starts.  Harden will be on a pitch count of 90, I believe. I don't think the A's can afford to have Loaiza completely bomb tonight. If he does, it could get ugly against the Yankees. The A's offense will be facing Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, and Shawn Chacon.

JASON GRIMSLEY

Ozzie Guillen and Jeff Nelson will share the Most Amusing Reaction to the Jason Grimsley Investigation Award.

In discussing Grimsley's situation, Nelson brought up Rafael Palmeiro, who reportedly said teammate Miguel Tejada provided a vitamin that might have led to Palmeiro's positive test for steroid use.

The difference? Palmeiro compiled Hall of Fame-caliber numbers. Grimsley journeyed to seven teams and has a career ERA of 4.77.

"This isn't some superstar player who's coming out and naming names," Nelson said. "How much credibility is this guy going to have? You look at the guy's past.

"You'll figure out this guy can't be very credible for what he's gone through in his life."

"I didn't like him when he was playing because he was nasty," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

"A former player should shut up and go," Guillen continued. "Shut up and move on."

Who's in charge of PR over there? Holy cow, someone needs to staple Guillen's mouth shut. You didn't like Grimsley because he was "nasty"? And what the heck is Nelson talking about? Palmeiro is credible because he's a superstar?!

Grimsley's lawyer says feds targeted Bonds

The attorney for Jason Grimsley said Wednesday that federal agents tried to pressure the former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher into wearing a listening device to lure other major league players into confidential conversations in an effort to find incriminating evidence against superstar Barry Bonds.

"It was a specific effort to target Bonds," said Edward F. Novak, one of the pre-eminent criminal attorneys in Arizona. "We were told that Jason's cooperation was necessary to their case."

Novak said Grimsley "was outed by the feds" because he refused to cooperate.

Novak denied Grimsley volunteered the names of any fellow players and former players. He said, instead, federal agents questioned Grimsley about specific athletes and asked what he knew about their illegal drug habits. "They asked him specifically about Barry Bonds and Jason said he didn't know Bonds well and didn't know if he did or didn't use drugs."

Novak said investigators then asked Grimsley whether he knew anybody on the San Francisco Giants, Bonds' team, who he might get to confide about the slugger who is now second on the all-time home run list.

Grimsley refused and, according to Novak, told investigators that "baseball players don't go around talking about who is using and who isn't."

Novak said: "There is a lot in the affidavit that my client would dispute."

Grimsley affidavit links O's, scandal

"It's like another Palmeiro issue," said Orioles designated hitter Javy Lopez . "I just hope he didn't mention any guys here. That would be shocking news again. That's the last thing we need here, the same kind of thing that pushed us back last year."

Third baseman Melvin Mora agreed.

"I hope nothing negative comes from this in the clubhouse," Mora said. "We have a lot of young guys in here, and we don't need what happened last year to happen again."

Update [2006-6-8 9:55:9 by Sharon]: Thanks to asfaninTX for this news...Harden is on the DL with a sprained ligament in his right elbow.

DJ hit a homerun last night. I know that he's been terrible. I know it's best for the team to have someone else in the lineup if DJ continues to struggle, but I don't want to lose him. I'm afraid if he gets sent down, we'll never see Scott Jr. again. I suppose it could be argued that we stopped seeing him in August of last year, but you guys know what I mean.

Before the game, A's manager Ken Macha strongly hinted his patience with Johnson was near its end.

"Dan Johnson's our best defensive first baseman," Macha said. "I like defense, but that's an area where you've got to have production."

I want someone to ask Wash when he gets back. No, I want someone to ask Forst and Zaidi.

"In all likelihood" Harden will start on Sunday. And Loaiza...

Probably the most encouraging thing for Loaiza was he said the radar gun clocked him in the 89-91 mph range, a significant improvement over the low-80s readings he had while going 0-3 with an 8.35 ERA in April." Macha said that Loaiza threw 6 pitches clocked at 90 mph.

Bradley may have suffered another setback.

Outfielder Milton Bradley took early batting practice and reported some discomfort hitting from the left side. Macha said that the team's training staff felt it was more a lack-of-use issue than a full-blown setback, and that Bradley is scheduled for another BP session today. "It would have been better if he'd said, 'I feel great, I'm ready to go,' but I prefer him to be honest and for it to be the end of the line as far as that injury is concerned," Macha said. It doesn't seem too serious, but that rehab assignment might be put on hold. Reliever Jay Witasick is expected to throw another rehab stint, this time with Sacramento, either today or Saturday. "I'm feeling real good," said Witasick, who went two innings with Class A Stockton on Tuesday. "I'm looking forward to going out and doing it again." Huston Street needs to give the A's his best, because I'm still not confident in that bullpen without Duke. The idea of being without him until mid-July makes me sick.

DJ, please snap out of it.

Melhuse described a potential switch to first base, even on a temporary basis, as being "a drastic move."

Even so, if Macha asked Melhuse to play first -- where he's made six appearances in his major league career so far -- Melhuse said, "I'd feel comfortable enough to not embarrass myself."

Good news. That's all I'm willing to post today. And let's face it, any slight step forward in the recovery of those injured is the best kind of news right now.

Harden is close.  Slusser writes that he could be back in a week to 10 days. That's music to my ears. Tomorrow, he'll throw about 60 pitches in a simulated game. After that, it  could be a bullpen session and only one rehab start before he joins the team.

Loaiza will likely go on a rehab assignment next week. How long can the A's keep a player in rehab? Macha indicated before that Loaiza may not find himself in Oakland until he has regained his velocity. It's critical that he shows signs of being the pitcher Beane bought on the market. This isn't like April, when some were discussing the possibility of stashing him away in the bullpen. The A's can't even afford that.

Slusser also mentions that Bradley took practice swings yesterday. 35 from the right and 35 from the left.

...Larry Davis said the idea this time around is to keep things even rather than letting Bradley progress too quickly on one side and not the other. Yes, let's not even think about rushing him this time.

It looks like the A's will be getting Jay Witasick back soon (scroll down). He will probably begin his rehab assignment "by early next week". Sounds good.

Tony F---ing Womack will probably be called up by the Cubs this weekend. I hate him.

Because I need to be reminded that a whole bunch of A's are hurt:

A's missing full deck

"The kinds of injuries that we've done that with are the type that take a few days to evaluate how severe it is or how many days it will be," assistant general manager David Forst said. "With Rich (Harden), we put him on the DL immediately. It was a clear-cut injury. The obliques, the hamstrings, you don't want to make too hasty a judgment because a player might bounce back sooner than you thought."
Harden not pumped up about theory "Yeah, it's really frustrating when people think I lift too much or I'm trying to get big just to look good," said the A's top starter, who is expected to be out another two or three weeks. "I'm not trying to be on the cover of Men's Health, that's just a cheap shot. I put all my time and effort into being in the best possible physical shape for baseball. Everything I do is very specific for baseball and for pitching. There is a lot of thought put into it." Team orthopedist Dr. Jerrald Goldman doesn't believe there is a correlation between Harden's workouts and the muscle strains.

"People ask if (the three DL trips) are because of the weight lifting, but I don't believe it's a cause that would explain it," Goldman said. "When you look at it, Bobby Kielty also gets these kinds of injuries, and he doesn't look like a beach god."

Proper stretching is not an issue, either. Harden does rotational exercises for his torso and plenty of work to maintain flexibility, and he also does active-release techniques and deep tissue massage to keep loose. He's extremely flexible, in fact, putting the back of his hands on the floor to demonstrate. He conducts much of his winter work with Canadian sprinters who are Olympic hopefuls, and his sessions are monitored by personal trainers. Mychael Urban better watch out. I think Harden is ready to kick some ass.

In two to three weeks.

Steve Karsay will probably join the team today.

Karsay said that pitching at Triple-A Buffalo that past few weeks helped him regain his split-finger and breaking ball, pitches he'd struggled to find after shoulder surgery in 2003. He's completely healthy and looking forward to returning to his former team. Jeremy Brown will leave Oakland without an at bat. Yay.

Also, Kennedy could be available tonight.

Reliever Joe Kennedy hasn't pitched in a week because of biceps pain and then shoulder tendinitis, but he was aiming to go tonight.

According to team orthopedist Jerrald Goldman, Kennedy needs to be stretched out thoroughly to get the tightness out of his left arm and shoulder, but there is no serious problem.

Oh, and it's Cupcakes vs. Felix Hernandez tonight. Again. I would appreciate a winning streak right about now, because this hopeless feeling isn't doing anything for me. May has been brutal, and there's still two more weeks left. Guys like DJ and Crosby need to pick this team up. They're due.

Speaking of Crosby, he does not believe in the sophomore jinx.

"He's [Dan Johnson] still learning himself a little bit, but everyone knows he's a good hitter," said A's shortstop Bobby Crosby, the 2004 AL Rookie of the Year. "I don't believe in this whole sophomore thing. I don't buy into it."

But Crosby had a painful sophomore season, playing in barely half the games because of rib and ankle injuries. He still hit .276 with nine homers and 38 RBI.

"My injuries were freak deals," Crosby said. "When people think of the sophomore slump they think of people having success their first year and then guys figure them out in their second year and they struggle. I felt better in my second year than I did in my first year by a long shot.

And this year?

The Yankees are interested in trading for someone to play left field.

Brad Wilkerson, Raul Ibanez, Alfonso Soriano, Torii Hunter, Reggie Sanders, Aubrey Huff, Craig Wilson and Shannon Stewart are all on the list, one that shortens considerably when you count left fielders actually obtainable for Wright, Pavano and their big tickets. But eventually the Yankees are going to have to do something. That list shortens?! Hahahahahahahahahaha...um...yeah...

AWESOME TRADE.

Yes, he's expected to be called up today. grover and a few others had this pegged all along. Brown, not Baker or Suzuki, was on the 40-man roster. It was the only move that made any sense.

I'm going to enjoy this moment. Not for Michael Lewis, Billy Beane, Paul DePodesta, or "Moneyball". I'm going to enjoy this moment, because I know it must be special for Jeremy Brown.

Dump away...

Grady Little = motivational speaker? Holy crap, I'd have trouble staying awake through that "pep talk". --- I wonder when the Dodgers will fire Colletti, since having a ton of injuries is not an acceptable excuse. </neyersnark>

Royals owner David Glass is "out of patience". Now. He's out of patience now. Not before, but now. Yeah. What the heck did he expect? Giving your GM $25 million to spend on crap in the offseason isn't enough to cover up the failure that is your organization, Mr. Glass.

Eddie Guardado won't be closing...for now.

"I completely understand where [Hargrove] is coming from," Guardado said. "The thing I feel bad about, it messes the whole bullpen up. I don't want anyone to change because it's the ninth inning. I'm going to talk to them, because I put them in that situation, and I feel really bad."

Brad  Wilkerson left last night's game against the Orioles with a concussion.

After the game, Wilkerson said he had a dull headache and a sore right shoulder -- the same one that bothered him last season in Washington.

"I'm kind of worried about it, but I'll wait until (Friday) to see what's going on," Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson also hit his face on the wall that includes metal grates protecting the out-of-town scoreboard. He slammed into it so hard that he knocked a panel out of the scoreboard.

Ouch.

Susan Slusser has the latest on Bradley's oblique:

Outfielder Milton Bradley did rotational exercises to test his right oblique strain, but he is still a couple of days away from playing. Trainer Larry Davis said Bradley needs to be able to do the exercises "aggressively'' first. Anyone get the feeling that Bradley will always be "a couple days away from playing"?

Crosby has given himself a nickname: Bones.  Why? Because he thinks it's cool.

Gettin' ink: Outfielder Nick Swisher spent some time before batting practice giving a few teammates fake tattoos with a thick black marker in the clubhouse. His work on third baseman Eric Chavez's left biceps muscle looked like a fourth-grader's art project gone bad, but shortstop Bobby Crosby was most pleased with Swisher's work.

On Crosby's left arm, Swisher drew two crossbones with Crosby's self-appointed nickname, "Bones," over the top of them. Crosby said he gave himself the name last year while the team was in Washington after seeing the name of Bones Ely on a wall at RFK Stadium.

"I thought, 'That's the sweetest name I've ever heard,' and I was hurt at the time, so I thought it was fitting," Crosby explained with a laugh. "Everyone told me you can't give yourself your own nickname, but I stayed with it.

"I'd even go third-person on people, like, 'Bones can't do it today,' or, 'Bones doesn't like that.' And now that's what most of the guys call me, so I guess it worked."

<barf> Quick! Someone call Hatte to get Crosby a new nickname. One that is clever and cute.

Andre Ethier will make his major-league debut tonight.

In 24 games for the 51s, Ethier was hitting a cool .349 with a .444 on-base percentage and had 13 walks while striking out only 16 times.

All of which suggests Ethier, 24, might be just the balm this festering sore of a Dodgers lineup is looking for.

"We have a couple of guys in that (clubhouse) who are really struggling to get base hits at this time," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "They're not going to be hitting .190 or .200 all season long, I can promise you that. They know that, and we know that. We'll just be glad when they get started upward."

Robinson Tejeda will be called up to start for the Rangers today.

Cleveland activates C.C. Sabathia from the disabled list.

Remember when this used to be a "problem" for the A's? I miss that.

For those of you wondering how long it was going to take before DJ was sent down:

There were also whispers that had Johnson's slump continued, he would have been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento, perhaps after the trip. That would have been like losing Hatte all over again. Brutal. But just in case, I'm going to ask Jennifer to take tons of pictures of DJ in KC...stalk him between games, if possible. If he starts to suck again, just kidnap him so he doesn't have to go back to AAA.

I heart DJ.

If the whole big-league baseball thing doesn't work out, as appeared to be the case for the season's first three weeks, A's first baseman Dan Johnson might want to explore stand-up comedy.

The man turns self-deprecating humor into an art form, and he was on fire after playing the hero Wednesday in a 10-inning, 6-4 victory over the Rangers in the finale of a three-game series at Ameriquest Field.

Moments later, after being told that A's manager Ken Macha had referred to his early-season woes at the plate --- he started 0-for-27 and was batting .091 entering this series -- as "fairly rotten," Johnson laughed.

"I think that's being nice," he said. "Fairly rotten? What part of it wasn't completely rotten? The broken-bat single that ended my oh-fer string? I'd say it was rotten, period. Worse than rotten, actually. I'd probably use a word that you can't use in your story.

It's obvious that this win was a huge relief for some of these guys. Payton, whose game-winning single gave him his first RBIs of the year in his 56th at-bat, had some fun with the fact that it came against a drawn-in infield and barely eluded the dive of Texas second baseman Drew Meyer.

"If he would have gotten that, I probably would have run right at him instead of running to first," Payton said. "I would have picked a fight. Beat him up. Something."

Harden will have an MRI exam today. <barf>

<barfs some more>

The baseball gods are playing a cruel trick on us. First Huston. Then Crosby. I had a freaking heart attack when Milton went down. And this Harden thing is the last straw. I might die if someone else gets hurt.

That's how I feel right now. No, it's not because the A's lost yesterday. I just found out the game is not available on EI. <sobs>

DAN MEYER UPDATE
Pitching against Tacoma last night, Meyer recorded this line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

He's getting better, it seems. Let's hope this continues.

In case anyone missed the link in the game thread: 'Sesame Street' among pregame viewing for youthful A's.

Frank Thomas, a 16-year veteran, knew he was joining a young team when he signed a free-agent contract with the A's in the offseason.

Just how young was in evidence on the huge flat-screen TV at the back of the clubhouse Thursday morning before batting practice. The program being shown was "Sesame Street."

None of the players seemed particularly glued to the show, but second baseman Mark Ellis had clearly been paying attention. Asked if he knew what the number of the day was, he immediately went into a spot-on impression of Count Von Count.

"Two. Ah-ah-ah," Ellis said. "He's been doing that since I was a kid."

I heart this team. Even when they lose.

Sorry for the shortage of links. I don't really want to read about yesterday's game or how Street's arm fell off, but I can't live without a link dump.

Poor Ian Kinsler is headed to the DL with a dislocated thumb. He was injured while attempting a steal early in last night's game against the Angels.

"I knew it wasn't good when I looked down and I saw the top part of the thumb pointing in at me," Kinsler said after the Rangers' 5-4 loss. This is all Macha's fault.

Surprise, surprise! Kielty won't be called up today, and it's possible that he won't see the A's until they play Detroit next week.

Kielty, who is hitting .238 at Sacramento, was sent down at the start of the season so the A's could keep lefty Brad Halsey in the bullpen as insurance if a rainout or two messed up the rotation. It's not hard to tell that Macha would prefer to keep Halsey rather than have a fifth outfielder to juggle.

"I like two lefties in the bullpen,'' Macha said, a sentiment he has expressed numerous times.

My source tells me that Macha carries a home-made bag with Halsey's face plastered on it...with tiny hearts littered all over. He also has a matching shirt that says "I like two lefties in the bullpen!" on the back. I haven't figured out how Macha managed to make it rain last week, but I have to say that I'm impressed. --- Seriously (not really), shocking news isn't it?

If Chavy looks bigger this season (as some of you have pointed out), it's because he is.

Chavez explained that he came into spring training at 230 pounds, 25 pounds more than he was the year before after spending the winter trying to add extra strength. He's at 224 now, he said, "but I really went heavy. I wanted to go for the power.''

He also said that mentally, he feels as if he's in "the right place.'' He might be getting a boost, too, from having a hitter such as Frank Thomas behind him, although opinions vary on that. Crosby believes Thomas is a factor in Chavez's fast start ("I'm sure he is. ... They can't pitch around Chavvy because they'll pay for it if they do.'') and manager Ken Macha does not, because Thomas is batting .080.

"I just know when I'm getting a pitch, I'm hitting it,'' he said. "I remember a time I was fouling off those pitches. I'm not doing that a lot now.''

Haren is one of those marveling at Chavez's display.

"It's awesome,'' Haren said. "Finally, maybe he'll get some recognition here as the player he is, because his tendency (in the past) is to get hot at the end of the year. He's just carrying our team right now.''

Is there any way we can keep Macha away from Chavy? I don't want his loser-y ways rubbing off on one of our best players. Plus, it's kind of obvious Mach tried to throw the game last night, and since Chavy doesn't care about anything (and has no heart), he would be easy to recruit.

A's making progress in negotiations with Cisco:

Oakland A's co-owner Lew Wolff is very close to finalizing negotiations with Cisco Systems Inc. over a

143-acre parcel -- a deal that would clear a major hurdle in allowing the team to move to Fremont, City Manager Fred Diaz said.

"I think we are the lead candidate for the new home of the A's," Diaz added. "If there's a deal to make for both the A's and the city of Fremont, then we'll find it and make that happen."

Some city officials also were present at a March 29 Washington Township Men's Club meeting where Wolff told the crowd of more than 200 people that he is serious about pursuing a new A's ballpark. If a deal between Cisco and the A's is completed, the next step would be for the A's to submit a development application for the site, which is adjacent to Interstate 880 and just south of the Pacific Commons shopping center. An environmental impact report for the land then would be issued, which would take about 12 months.

Talks have progressed so far that only a few issues, such as stadium naming rights, remain unresolved, Diaz said. "That is my understanding through (talking with) Lew Wolff," he said.

If you don't like this news...blame Macha.

The Rangers want to be more like the Angels.

They play the game with a style that we're striving to reach," general manager Jon Daniels conceded Tuesday. "They pitch well. Their bullpen has been excellent. They're a great organization." Notice that Daniels mentions the pitching. Here's what Showalter had to say: "They can play games against guys like [Josh] Beckett and [Curt] Schilling, when a pitcher is on top of his game, and beat those guys," manager Buck Showalter noted. "They can manufacture runs. They make guys go deep in the count and they can put pressure on every play. (emphasis mine) --- No, dumbass. Your offense makes pitchers go deep in the count.

I was very hungry after the game last night, so I made myself a salad. And I swear, it was the best <censored> salad I've ever had. Amazing what an A's win can do.

MARCO!
SCUTARO GETS AN A
Who else? Scutaro gets it done
Super Marco: Scutaro comes through again

Scutaro fills super-sub role again

Clearly, Joe Torre isn't familiar with the legendary Marco Scutaro.

With first base open, the winning run at second and the No. 9 hitter on deck, Torre did what any manager would do, and what everyone in the A's dugout knew was a mistake.

"After he intentionally walked Swisher, everyone in the dugout was saying, 'Oh, they shouldn't have done that,'" Mark Ellis said. "(Scutaro) gets up and we know he's going to get the job done. He's awesome. Typical Scoot." General manager Billy Beane told Scutaro before the game: "Don't wait till the ninth inning to get the winning hit."

With apologies to the boss, Scutaro knows no other way.

SCUTARO! There was a closeup of Wash during Scoot's at bat, and you could see into the dugout behind him. Payton was there, sitting next to someone (Chavy maybe?), and that someone pointed up to left field. And of course, Scoot obliged.

X-RAYS NEGATIVE <wink wink>
According to Larry Davis, Crosby's deep gash in his finger will force him to miss at least a week.

"I told him before the game, 'Stay healthy, man,'" Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said.

Crosby's finger was in a splint, to keep it immobilized and covered to fend off possible infection.

When I saw Crosby's finger in a splint, I panicked. Fosse and Kuiper were ridiculous with the "we'll explain that to you later" stunt. It felt like hours before they explained why.

STUPID NEWS
Apparently, there's been somewhat of a "controversy" involving Billy Wagner's usage of Metallica's Enter Sandman as his entrance music. As we all know, Mariano Rivera uses the same song. Before reading about the story, I thought it was basically Mets fans and Yankee fans fighting over it. Well, once I did read the story, I was shocked to find out that it was the METS FANS who disapproved of the song and booed Wagner as he entered the game on Opening Day. Yeah. That's right, his own fans booed him because he was using Rivera's song. WTF?!

Peter Mensch, Metallica's manager, had this to say:

"Frankly, they could have played it louder as far as I'm concerned," said Peter Mensch, the band's manager and a Mets season-ticket holder. "My comment is: Go Billy." Oh, and for Mets fans ticked off because Wagner is using Rivera's song: For the record, Wagner used the song first, even if it's synonymous in baseball circles with Rivera's entrance.

While with Houston during Wagner's rookie season in 1996, teammate Jeff Bagwell disliked the lefty's entry music, George Strait's "They Call Me the Fireman," and persuaded Wagner to switch.

Rivera didn't begin using the song for another three years. Yankee Stadium personnel had been so struck by the crowd reaction in San Diego the previous season when Trevor Hoffman entered games to AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" that they sought to find an anthem for Rivera. Scoreboard operator Mike Luzzi brought in a bunch of CDs and the Yankees tested different tunes, including Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City." They settled on "Enter Sandman," which drew the best crowd response. Rivera didn't even know anything about the band.

"I know Mariano's got it. Lord forbid, the Earth should crumble if two people have it," Wagner said after his first Mets save.

Rivera said he has no problem sharing.

"If the guy feels comfortable using the song, then let him be. I know Billy. He's a great guy. He has all my respect....To all the people that are fighting over this, I appreciate the loyalty."

...Which brings me to: Huston's entrance music. Thanks to EI, I missed the first half of the ninth inning. So I logged on and followed the game thread. Didn't even bother to open up Gameday. Zonis asked if they were playing Requiem For A Dream for Huston. I checked on the archived audio this morning, and that's exactly what was played. It was Hate Me Now Oh, what could have been... Is that song usually played at the Coliseum, or is it :P's official entrance music?

A teeny link dump just so I can post this.

The projected order of the AL West is Oakland, Texas, Seattle, LA. Diamond Mind has Oakland winning the division with a very comfortable margin of 15 games.

After sinking to the bottom third in scoring after the departures of Jason Giambi and Miguel Tejada, Oakland has been climbing back up the rankings. Last year, they were 6th in the league in runs, and they rose to 4th in our simulations this spring. With each of the first eight hitters in the batting order projected to be above the league average in OBP, some by a large amount, this lineup is going to sustain long rallies and grind down opposing pitchers on a regular basis.

Add the league's second-best pitching staff and you have the makings of a runaway division winner. The rotation is headed up by Barry Zito and Rich Harden, the rest of the starters are solid, they have one of the league's best closers in Huston Street, and the rest of the bullpen is deeper than most.

Congrats to Japan for winning the WBC.

And how good that felt. Japan defeated mighty Cuba 10-6 on Monday night in San Diego, and then the players waved their nation's flag amid flurries of confetti. Then they retreated to the clubhouse for a 70-bottle champagne shower, where their legendary manager, Sadaharu Oh, tipped his hat to his players, among them the incomparable Ichiro Suzuki, who told his teammates, "You have to respect the old guy," which prompted them to start chanting "I-chi-ro!"

Finally, after all that, the coup de grace: Bold words to make the people back at home, gathered with their families for the holiday, even prouder.

"This," Ichiro said, "is probably the biggest moment of my baseball career."

Jim Bowden: GENIUS
Alfonso Soriano refused to take the field for yesterday's game against the Dodgers. He wants to play second base. The Nats want him to play left field. Of course, this headache would not exist if Bowden had kept Brad Wilkerson. It's not as if Soriano's resistance to a position switch was a big secret prior to the trade. Bowden knew, but at the time, he felt that Frank Robinson would be able to "fix" the problem.

Robinson said he would not give Soriano any time at second. "If he's going to play here," Robinson said, "he's going to be out in left field." I would hate to be in that clubhouse right now.

"You're sitting over there with your computer, and I don't know what you're doing."
Johnny Damon. LOL. Just read this:

"I'm really upset for Bronson," Damon said. "He should be able to become a free agent after this year, re-do his contract. This is what they were afraid of - his agent was right." "I bought a house that I could not afford at the time, in Boston because they said, `We're going to keep you, we'll get something done real soon.' This was right after we won the World Series [in 2004]. Obviously, that never happened. After they didn't come to me during the [2005] season, my loyalty to them wasn't there anymore either. I felt the loyalty from them was gone. ...
Though Damon did not mention anyone in the Boston front office by name, he indicated the reliance on statistics, contract status, age and other factors misses the point of what makes a championship team tick.

"They have their plans, and they have their computers, and they believe that's right," Damon said. "Unfortunately, computers don't judge a person's heart.

"Getting along with the younger kids and helping them along, unfortunately, computers don't [evaluate] that. As important as I was to that team, Billy Mueller was just as important. Kevin Millar was just as important. Certain players have numbers that might be sexy, but what's lost is when you get a good core of guys, it goes under the radar."

Choi  might not be with the Dodgers on Opening Day.

The strapping first baseman who was once long on potential but is now woefully short on results has a one-year, $725,000 contract. But a loophole that applies to most one-year deals would allow the Dodgers to pay Choi just 45 days' salary - about $178,000 - if they release him by March 29, something they could do only if he clears waivers between now and then. The Reds, among other teams, could use an upgrade. I love Hatte, but it was painful to watch him play last season. You could tell that he was very frustrated, and I don't want to see him like that again. I guess I don't have to watch, but it's Hatte...how can I NOT watch?

Craig Wilson just wants to play.

"I guess you could say it's not something you see around the league very often,'' Wilson said of being sent to the bench despite being productive when he plays. "It is a little unusual.'' Wilson doesn't know how he fits in new manager Jim Tracy's plans. Tracy likes to play one-run-at-a-time ball: get a runner on, get a runner in. There are no words...

Gerald Perry is a big meanie.

"I could always run," Perry said. "I was an undersized first baseman, but I could run. I was talking to Milton Bradley about stolen bases the other day, and asked him the most he'd had (17). I told him, 'When you get to 42, come talk to me,' and just started laughing." When you're with the A's, it's not nice to gloat about your personal high in stolen bases.

That's what he said. Harden, Crosby, and Street participated in a photo shoot for ESPN the Magazine, and they could end up on the cover.

"They had me up in the stands with some fans, which was cool," Street said. "They had one with all three of us with duct tape on our mouths. It was cool. I always enjoy that stuff." I think ESPN was trying to sabotage the A's chances (East Coast Bias) this season by letting them play with fire and hoping that they would burn themselves. How else can you explain letting Huston hold a flaming baseball?

And did Harold Reynolds really pick Crosby as this season's MVP? MVP. Like AL MVP?! Is Crosby the new golden boy? Well, Golden Boy is scheduled to play in the field Saturday. He describes his tendinitis as not sore, not painful, but "more annoying". As for the other shoulder update, Macha was finally introduced to Operation Shut The F--- Up. I'm only kidding (am I?), there's a little blurb mentioning that the medical staff and Chavez told Macha that they had "total confidence" that the shoulder will be fine this year. Yeah, don't be surprised if Will Carroll goes missing for the next few days.

Slusser's latest A's Notebook:

The A's third baseman respectfully contested the thought posed by manager Ken Macha the previous day that Chavez needs more time in the field to get game-ready for the season. Chavez has made three errors, but extra action is not something he believes he needs.

"I want to make 10 errors (this spring) and I want all of them to be throwing errors," he said, smiling. "I want to get them all out of my system.

"How many times do we have to go through this? I know by April 1, I'll be ready to go. (Poor spring performance) just doesn't matter."

I'm sure guys like Harden, Crosby, and Chavez are sick of the questions regarding their health, but it's impossible to not be worried about them. It is too early to panic, though. The season doesn't start tomorrow, and I can't see why Chavy wouldn't be ready by April. Of course, I expect him to get more time in the field. According to everyone before the season started, the plan was to take it slow...not cease all action and DH everyday.

Sheesh. I miss the days of only worrying about Chavy's slow starts at the plate.

One thing Chavez has discussed with hitting coach Gerald Perry is that in previous years, he hasn't used his leg kick during the spring, and he's feasted on pitchers throwing fastballs, but when the season begins, he adds the kick and at the same time, sees more off-speed stuff -- and the combination throws his timing off. So he and Perry have decided that Chavez should use the kick during the spring, too.

FREE ADAM MELHUSE!

"I just hope that the situation is not a repeat of last season," he said. "I've been told it will be different. It couldn't be any worse. Last year was the bottom of the bottom for me." "We'll see how it plays out," he[Macha] said. "Adam is probably going to get more playing time. The reason Jason got so much playing time was because of the way he handled the pitching staff. ... When a catcher gets pitchers so confident in how he catches and prepares, I'm gonna put him in there."

In the meantime, the two will continue to co-exist amidst pleasant vibes. Both said their relationship is not strained despite the working arrangement. Melhuse can go on for 10 minutes discussing what he learned from Kendall last season, and vice versa.

"Everybody wants to get out there. If you don't, you're in the wrong business," Kendall said.

"But Adam's one of those guys that never stops working even if he isn't playing that day. He helped me a lot. ... Even when he wasn't playing, he contributed something every day."

Komine impresses with three scoreless innings:

"As far as upper-level pitching prospects, he's a guy who's on the cusp of being ready for the big leagues," assistant general manager David Forst said. "He's got the ability to throw it by guys and to go to the (AFL) and do what he did in what is a hitters-dominated league showed that he's got the weapons."

JON DANIELS IS A BIG BABY
Roger Clemens visited Rangers' camp yesterday. While he has yet to receive an offer, the two sides did discuss parameters. If he signs with a team, it's likely he won't pitch until June.

I'm just kidding. grover and his trollish behavior is welcome here. ;)

(AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)

FRANK THOMAS IS TALLER THAN KEN WILLIAMS
Lots of links. I didn't read any of them. <shrugs>
Williams tired of 'idiot' Thomas
Sox' GM puts hurt on Thomas
This whole mess with No. 35 brings back memories of No. 33
Williams angered by Thomas' comments
Guillen steers clear of Williams-Thomas feud
Guillen butts out
White Sox's GM takes big rips at 'Big Hurt'

CHAVEZ AND CROSBY UPDATE
Susan Slusser writes:

Manager Ken Macha suggested Sunday at Papago Park that Chavez might DH every other day in order to rest his chronically sore right shoulder (as a preventative measure), and the third baseman might sit on back-to-back days if need be. Crosby, Oakland's shortstop, will be brought along even more slowly. Crosby threw at a distance of 120 feet Sunday ("Best I've felt,'' he said), but he, too, might serve as designated hitter from time to time.

More items of interest from the same link:

• Harden will throw to batters today, and his next outing could be in a simulated game. Harden is now participating in all fielding drills.
  
• Gerald Perry was pleased with Thomas' second day in the batting cage.
  
• Of the new pitchers, Chad Gaudin has drawn the most notice.
  
• Dan Meyer, Shane Komine and Adam Johnson will pitch against South Africa on Saturday. Don't expect to see many regulars in that game.

Bill King did not win the 2006 Ford Frick Award. Instead, Gene Elston will be enshrined in Cooperstown. Lon Simmons, who wanted to make King's introduction speech, wondered if he should have lobbied the other members of the committee.

``Maybe I should have,'' Simmons said from his home in Hawaii. ``But I don't know how much good that does. Sometimes I think that hurts more than it helps. Plus, it's unfair to the other candidates. I wish Bill made it -- I still do -- but I feel that the voters make up their minds for themselves.'' King's radio partner for the past 10 seasons, Ken Korach, said King deflected Hall of Fame talk and generally diverted attention.

``That said, I think he would have been thrilled,'' Korach said from his home in Nevada. ``Bill had an unbelievable sense and appreciation for the history of the game. He was human -- he enjoyed the recognition, especially from his peers.''

There's always next year. We'll just have to vote like crazy again. Korach said that the best thing to come of King's candidacy is the way A's fans rallied around his cause. In online voting, King was the runaway winner with 25,380 votes, followed by Niehaus (17,091) and Doucet (15,002).
In Susan Slusser's latest, Ron Washington and Chad Gaudin describe what they saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At one point, Gaudin went to help a friend check on a building in the flood zone, and even though he was wearing a mask, Gaudin said, "It was a sick, overwhelming feeling. The stench was overwhelming, the mold was black and an inch thick and it went all the way up the wall and onto the ceiling.''

That described Washington's house, which he's owned for 20 years. The water went 7 feet up, and all his walls and ceilings had to come out. He also needed a new roof and fencing. About the only things that were sound were his foundation and the outer brickwork.

Only a few personal items were salvageable, things that were stored in the attic and hadn't been attacked by mold. Even the Gold Glove that Eric Chavez presented to Washington two years ago was ruined; as it floated from the fireplace in one room into a bedroom, moisture got inside the case and, "It looks like there are leaves growing on it,'' said Washington, who was promised a replacement from Rawlings.

One of his toughest losses was Washington's beloved 1985 stainless-steel top Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz.

Macha would like to have two lefties in the bullpen. Manager Ken Macha made it clear on Tuesday that he'd like to have a second left-hander in the Oakland bullpen, which means that Ron Flores, John Rheinecker and Randy Keisler suddenly have a shot at a roster spot.

That's not set in stone, of course; a second lefty is on Macha's wish list, but it's not a done deal. One of the aforementioned three will have to shine this spring, and the A's would have to clear an extra spot, either via an injury to a position player or the trade of an outfielder.

If the A's carry twelve pitchers, someone is going to rot in the bullpen. Flores seems to be the favorite for that spot, but even Macha has said that he's not a LOOGY. And I have nothing against Flores. I wanted to see him pitch more last season.  But with Kennedy on board and an already deep pitching staff, I think it would be a waste to carry twelve pitchers.

The A's should have hired Fred Kendall to their coaching staff.

It might be worth keeping an eye on Kendall's games against the Royals.

``It's a weird feeling,'' Fred Kendall said. ``I always hope my son does well against us. There was a scenario against Detroit in 1998. Someone was asking me the same question. I said, `The best thing would be if he went 4 for 4 and we won the game.' And that's exactly what happened.

``I don't think Kansas City knew when they hired me that he hits .800 when he plays against me. I don't know what it is. I don't throw the ball, but he gets fired up to compete.''
The numbers aren't as gaudy as Dad suggests, but they're still impressive -- .403 (31 for 77), with two home runs.

``When he's been in the stadium, I've always done well,'' Jason Kendall said. ``That's just the way it's worked out.''

UGH. Shortstop Crosby and other position players are expected to report today. Crosby has a cranky right shoulder that he hurt while weightlifting in the off-season. He has been examined, and the injury is not cause for alarm -- yet. ``We'll see how he does when he starts throwing,'' trainer Larry Davis said." It's always something with Crosby. I wonder how long it's been bothering him.

I want this. I know I don't need it, but the thought of having baseball stats on my ipod is freaking awesome. I'm pretty sure some of my friends would stop talking to me if they knew about this, and others would try to stage an intervention.

Found this at BTF: Few bits of baseball lore have eluded his Net

Sean Forman was working toward his doctorate in applied mathematics at the University of Iowa during the winter of 1999-2000. The subject matter was coming rather easily to him -- numbers always have - and his adviser had gone off to Italy.

Forman found himself with some free time and no direct supervision.

On behalf of baseball fans and baseball writers everywhere, we say thank goodness for that.

And happy birthday, Baseball-Reference.com.

I can't imagine life without it. (There's something very wrong with me!)

MEET NEW REDS GM WAYNE KRIVSKY:
A long road to the top
This time around, the pieces are in place

Jim Beattie, the other candidate to make the final cut from the original group of nine, had the inside edge when the process started. Castellini knew Beattie, and Beattie had previous GM experience.

What put Krivsky over the top?

"Determination," Castellini said. "When you talked to him, you saw how determined he is to become an accomplished general manager. You saw the emotional acceptance when we told him he was going to get the job. You can't help but know he's going to perform and do a great job."

Yesterday, the rumor was that Beattie had been given the job.  Scary. Krivksy was with the Twins prior to this hire, and he was one of the many names brought up in Boston's search for a GM.

INSERT SOMETHING CRAZY AND OFFENSIVE HERE
I haven't been following the Anaheim/Angels name case, but the jury is set to begin deliberating this morning.

By the way, can anyone imagine Blez talking to us like this?  

Does anyone remember the name of that other team in the Superbowl? All I can remember from yesterday is Bettis, Big Ben, Cowher, Joey Porter's mouth, Benny-Ben-Ben, Bettis/Detroit, even more Bettis, Mountain Man Ben, Huston Street...

...I was rooting for the Steelers. My brother's favorite team is the Steelers. But I think the media exhausted every possible story on Roethlisberger and Bettis. The post-game coverage will probably last an entire month. Is it baseball season yet?

Dayn Perry's top 10 remaining free agents
Jeff Weaver is #2 on this list. If he's signed by the Angels, it's an improvement, and you're in denial if you think otherwise. It's nice that he has such poor numbers against lefties since the A's are pretty heavy on that side, but Weaver is a durable innings-eater. That alone gives them much more than Hector Carrasco could offer. <sigh> I knew the Carrasco/5th starter scenario was too good to be true.

Baseball America covers Oakland's top ten prospects today. A live chat with Kevin Goldstein is scheduled for 3pm ET.

Also, the latest Prospect Pulse looks at Craig Italiano, Jared Lansford, Vince Mazzaro, and their upcoming season with the Kane County Cougars.

"I like playing this team," Beloit manager Kevin Boles said prior to the 2005 season. "It gives us a great opportunity to really test our players and evaluate what we have by seeing them play against more advanced talent."

All of that is about to change in 2006. For the first time since becoming an A's affiliate, the Cougars roster, and in particular their pitching staff, is expected to be stocked with teenagers--many of them taken in the early rounds of the 2005 draft--an unprecedented gambit in the Billy Beane administration.

Caution is priority number one for the organization right now, as the A's expect to keep all three in the 120-innings range for the season. Throwing on strict pitch counts throughout the year, the A's will limit the three to 75 pitches per outing, with that number being slowly stretched out to a maximum of 90-100 by midseason.

With the possibility of another pair of high school righthanders--fifth-round pick Scott Deal and seventh-round pick Kevin Bunch--joining the staff, Lieppman has not ruled out reverting to the eight-man tandem-starter setup the organization has used at times in the past at this level.

"There are a lot of firsts that these guys have to deal with, and the big one is failure," Lieppman said. "Jared gave up a home run in an instructional league game, and we think it was the first home run anybody's ever hit off him in his life, and it got to him.

"These guys are going to get hit for the first time in their lives, so we have to stay in touch with them mentally."

I was listening to the conference call this morning, and Susan Slusser asked Billy about the Ellis negotiations. His answer: We're getting closer, not farther...blah blah blah...this is a part of the process...blah blah blah. Ellis has had some great years. Or good years, since he is arbitration eligible. Mediocre years, actually...poor years.

On Thomas' workouts: He lives in Vegas so we had him perform in Cirque de Soleil, and he did fine.

Also, it was Rob Neyer's first conference call, and he admitted this at the beginning...which I thought was cute. :) But I guess that's just me.

A list of links on the signing:

A's add some pop in Thomas
'Big Hurt' has a huge upside
A's hope to put 'Big Hurt' on rivals
A's bang out a deal with Thomas
Thomas gone, and Sox happy all around

Ray Ratto on Frank Thomas. I think it's best to temper our enthusiasm for this signing, but I'm still excited about the season. And that would be the case with or without Thomas.

Susan Slusser: Thomas eager to join the A's: According to Arn Tellum, Thomas should be cleared to play baseball next week. According to the A's, he has a "good chance" to be ready by April, and BB considers that to be conservative.  

Chavez said that ex-teammate Jermaine Dye, who played with Thomas last year, told him that when Thomas was healthy, he was still the great hitter of old.

"Jermaine said when Frank was in there, he was hitting everything out of the park," Chavez said. "Everything is still there, the stroke, the vision. We just have to keep him healthy."

"I don't know if this impacts me in a bad way or a good way," Johnson said. "I heard I might move back to first, which is my ideal position because I can contribute more than just hitting."

That would leave outfielder Jay Payton -- who was so upset with his lack of playing time in Boston last year that he triggered a trade -- as the possible odd man out, unless manager Ken Macha can find Payton regular at-bats.

"My whole thing first and foremost is I want to play every day, that hasn't changed any," Payton said. "My thoughts to this point were that I would be the everyday left fielder. Now that's up in the air. But I haven't talked to anyone, so I don't know what they're thinking.

"I love Oakland because they gave me an opportunity and I want to be here and help them win, but if I'm not an everyday guy, I'd be open to whatever else is out there. ... If Boston had an everyday job in center field, I certainly wouldn't block that."

I'm sure he meant that he would welcome a trade to Boston. He can't block any trade. I'm still in wait-and-see mode with the Payton situation. He says he hasn't talked to anyone, so it's best to see how he feels when he finds out how playing time will be distributed. That being said, I'm not optimistic that he'll change his mind about starting or possibly being traded to another team. From Payton's perspective, he raised hell in Boston to get out, and it worked...why not do it again? Of course, there is one piece of information he should consider: Macha knows karate.

Jay Mariotti mentions that the white shoes are hideous, thinks Thomas should have retired, and doesn't believe he will be dignified when discussing the White Sox in today's press conference.

I'd prefer he retire. Because the last thing anyone wants to experience is a broken-down athlete, once among the greatest hitters anybody has seen, fracturing his left ankle again and limping away while his former ballclub of 16 years continues a joy ride. Having observed his injury scenario repeatedly this decade, I can't imagine the high risk is worth whatever reward remains for a man whose Hall of Fame berth probably was clinched last spring on Capitol Hill, where he came off as an honest slugger trying to survive in a steroids cesspool. Then there's this: Now that Williams has won the big trophy -- one that has eluded Beane, by the way -- is Mr. Moneyball joining forces with Thomas to one-up their fellow nemesis? Yes, that's correct. Mr. Moneyball, David Forst, Fahran Zaidi, and now Frank Thomas are the new Power Rangers. Scott Hatteberg and Paul DePodesta will join later (fingers crossed).


Update [2006-1-26 11:10:7 by Sharon]:
Happy Birthday to Jennifer and secret Asian man! (I'm not stalking you, secret ASian man. I was reading your latest blog entry, and that's how I know. But I'm definitely stalking Jennifer.)

Update [2006-1-26 13:4:12 by Sharon]: Also, happy birthday to Hunter!

Mr. "Increased-Air-of-Seriousness" will be guest starring on UPN's Girlfriends in a few weeks.

Monday, Feb. 6 (9:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT) GIRLFRIENDS -- When Joan lands the cover of a trendy magazine as the "It Girl" of LA, she fears that it was only because she slept with the reporter (guest star Wayne Brady). Oakland A's Barry Zito guest stars as himself.

WARNING: You may not want to read this.
I don't think Bob Cook likes A-Rod.

Now that Rodriguez has chosen the United States, Americans can rest easy knowing their entrant in Major League Baseball's Real World Series has filled its need for a power-hitting star who melts under pressure. The Dominican Republic team must be relieved Rodriguez chose the U.S, given that, in Vladimir Guerrero, it already has one big-name player who can consistently hit weak grounders with two men on base in a playoff situation.

Had Rodriguez not committed, the U.S. team, in desperation, might have had to fill its need for a narrow-throated superstar by picking up Peyton Manning.

Here's the list of American third basemen: Jones, Eric Chavez, David Wright and Morgan Ensberg. At shortstop, the U.S., on its provisional 60-man roster, has Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins and Michael Young. The Dominican Republic, which has historically produced shortstops like Milwaukee produces beer, is strong with Miguel Tejada, Juan Uribe, Rafael Furcal, Jhonny Peralta, Julio Lugo and Neifi Perez.

But check out third base -- Adrian Beltre, Aramis Ramirez and Pedro Feliz. Hardly a slouch, but not as strong as the U.S. lineup, meaning Rodriguez would be counted on much more. If the Dominican Republic was up by four runs, great. Needing a big hit? Not so much, particularly from a player who couldn't make up his mind whether he really was committed to the event, much less any team.

I understand that indecisiveness is not an appealing trait. However, the ridicule heaped on A-Rod for it is mind-boggling. It seems like the media (and it's not just the media) wants to pick on something...anything that he does or doesn't do. Not very long ago, he was seen as too calculated, too scripted, and generally a fake. Now, he's flip-flopping back and forth, can't make a decision to save his life, feeling uncertain about himself, and he's still hated. He's behaving in a manner that many people can relate to, and I would bet that some of the same critics who are so willing to trash A-Rod are just as insecure and indecisive.

I despise the "he has no heart" and "he isn't clutch" arguments, but I would rather listen to that than the attack of A-Rod on the WBC issue. The way he handled this was very messy. And I know that people have strong feelings about which country he should choose. But the reaction is far too extreme. Nobody seems to care so much about Mike Piazza or Mark Mulder. Or that Danny Haren is on two different rosters. I believe Marco Scutaro is also still undecided. <gasp>

Because the world revolves around the Red Sox...
Theo Epstein to rejoin Red Sox
Theo's back
Change of heart
Billy Beane and Ken Macha have made it impossible for me to poke fun at another team's soap opera. Well, at least one that is similar to our own A's saga.

I swear, 20 minutes before the show started, I reminded myself it was coming on...then I made a phone call to my sister and completely forgot about it. It has to be something like the 5th time this has happened to me this season. I hate Mondays.

Moving on...

Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!. The Angels are planning to start Erstad in center field. Which means Kotchman plays everyday at first, and McPherson can DH. Of course, everyone wonders how long Erstad can stay healthy while playing in center, and the Angels would actually prefer to have him stay at first. But not being able to add offense this offseason is forcing them to move him. I still think the Angels will do something. Jeff Weaver is a possibility, and he's certainly better than Hector Carrasco.

Rafael Furcal will have arthroscopic knee surgery tomorrow. He should be ready to play by spring training.

Corey Patterson was traded to the Orioles for two minor leaguers. Mark H. pointed out this great quote from Patterson in yesterday's link dump:

"I'm a guy who can get on base, and if I can steal bases and get into scoring position, that would really help the team," Patterson said. Hi, my name is Jason Kendall. And I'm a guy that hits for power.

YES! A'S NEWS!!!
Bobby Kielty was signed to a $1.85 million, one year deal. Bradley, Ellis, Melhuse, Cruz, and Calero are the remaining arbitration-eligible players.

According to Forst, general manager Billy Beane has spoken numerous times to Bradley's agent, Seth Levinson, and is happy with the progress that has been made. Forst said the team is not discussing multiyear contracts with any of its arbitration-eligible players. Also, the A's are still interested in Frank Thomas. And once again, it's mentioned that the A's don't need to trade an outfielder if Thomas is signed.

Here is a list of all arbitration eligible players.

Murray Chass writes that A-Rod has changed his mind and will play for the United States in the WBC. He should have picked a team and stuck with that decision from the beginning, but unfortunately he set himself up for jokes and even more hateful comments by baseball fans. Personally...I DON'T CARE.

The Mets and Dodgers are close to finalizing a trade.

Unable to complete a deal for Tampa Bay's Danys Baez, the Mets have turned West to fill their void for a setup man. According to officials from two major-league clubs, the Mets had all but finalized a trade to land Duaner Sanchez from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In return for Sanchez, a 26-year-old righthander, the Mets will surrender righthander Jae Seo, the officials said. The trade will probably be announced by the end of this week.

Baseball By The Numbers

"I'm afraid to actually use PECOTA in a column," Stark says, "because I don't know if it's reached the level where you can casually drop it into baseball literature without the average fan saying, 'What is he talking about?' And you can't explain it.

"Another really interesting stat I'm familiar with is VORP. Value Over Replacement Player [in a nutshell: the number of runs contributed beyond what a replacement-level player would contribute to a team]. You can explain that to people. But PECOTA, how'd you explain that to people between commas?"

The White Sox are believers. According to spokesman Scott Reifert, PECOTA is one of several systems the team uses. He says the Sox's baseball operations people consider it "one of the top couple of projection systems out there." A Cubs spokesman said that the club uses a projection system, but declined to be specific. I laughed when I read the Cubs use a projection system.

The Mets, Rangers, and Padres are interested in Bret Boone.

...it's likely that Boone will sign a minor-league deal with one of the three clubs and get an invitation to spring training, the source said.

Well, isn't it obvious? Millwood, Padilla, Eaton, Loe, and Dominguez...clearly, the Rangers are superior. Don't believe me? Just ask T.R. Sullivan.

But, for now, Millwood joins a rotation that should also include Vicente Padilla, Adam Eaton, Kameron Loe and Juan Dominguez.

Those five have a combined major league record of 219-183 with a 3.97 ERA.
They don't have as much experience as the current projected rotations of the other three teams in the American League West. But their combined ERA is lower than projected rotations for Oakland (4.08), Los Angeles (4.10) and Seattle (4.14).

So he never says the Rangers have the best rotation. And I'm not really sure what he's implying with that useless information. Maybe he thinks the Rangers' starters will win 219 games next season. <shrugs>

Billy Beane's "theory" is explained.(scroll down) Get ready for this. It's going to rock your world...

...Billy's theory = spend $30 million.

What? It's totally true! I feel so much better finally knowing what it is. For some time, I thought the theory was <throws chair>.

But seriously. TEAMBALL?!?!?!

Eric Byrnes will play center field for Arizona. Yikes.

Actually there was way more than just kissing, but I thought "Link Dump 12/23: I saw Jennifer <censored> Santa Claus" would have been inappropriate.

Since the year is coming to a close, I want to use this link dump to remember our favorite diaries/threads/trees/comments of the year. Thanks to Blez, Nico, and AN, we've been able to have some very memorable discussions...some serious and some not-so-serious. I was able to dig up a couple, but my memory is so poor. This would be really fun if we could reminisce together.

Some of my favorites...
Without a doubt, this was one of the funniest diaries of the year. I just re-read it and can't stop smiling. Apricot's post is just too much.

Most will disagree, but this was one of the best. It was so unexpected, and I thought at some point AN was going to explode. A very emotional thread, to say the least.

shhhhhhhh...

Billy hearts Hatte. I'm still waiting for ATHLETICUS.

I love this. Contrary to what many of you may believe, I don't <sob> all the time. I cry easily, but it's rare for something baseball related to bring me to tears. I love Hatte, and Sal's post perfectly described how I feel about the guy and how difficult it was to watch him play this season. It was very moving...and it brought me to tears.

So those are a few of what I consider to be the best of the year. I hope everyone can get involved in sharing what they remember, because I know there was so much more.

Oh, and I guess I should include a baseball link.
That crazy trade rumor.

The Orioles and Cubs have been in discussions for several weeks and have even gotten several teams involved in the trade talks. According to two industry sources, there was some preliminary discussion between the Orioles, Cubs and Oakland Athletics on a three-way deal that included Tejada, Bedard, Prior and Oakland ace Barry Zito among others heading to new homes. Prior and Zito were the centerpieces of the package coming to the Orioles in the early talks.

But at this point, the A's asking price for Zito appears to be sky-high, and the Orioles wouldn't be interested in obtaining the left-hander in a deal unless they can sign him - this is his contract year - to a long-term deal and that appears unlikely.

Prior and Zito to Baltimore. And what do the Cubs and A's get? Maybe they can split Miggi in half. <rolls eyes>

Use this link dump to list non-tenders. The deadline is midnight EST. You can also look here and here. I think they will update throughout the day.

Drayton McLane bought Roy Oswalt a bulldozer, keeping a promise that the pitcher would receive one if he won Game 6 of the NLCS. I want McLane to buy me this bulldozer.

Also mentioned in the article is that the Astros are determined to make a trade for offense this offseason. They've been linked to Adam Dunn, and I'm dying to find out what it will take to finally pry an outfielder away from the Reds.

The Dodgers held a press conference announcing the signing of Nomar Garciaparra yesterday.

Garciaparra will be the Dodgers' everyday first baseman, a position he never has played in the big leagues, with Olmedo Saenz and possibly Hee-Seop Choi as his backups.

"I'm probably going to start working on it prior to spring training," Garciaparra said. "Breaking in a new glove might be the biggest challenge. You might see a first baseman out there with a shortstop's glove. It's obviously a new challenge, but that's exciting to me."

Will the Dodgers keep Choi? Choi, who made $351,500 last season and wasn't especially productive, will command a 2006 salary in the $500,000 range as a first-time arbitration-eligible player. He does have a minor-league option remaining, which probably means the Dodgers are trying to sign him to a split contract that won't require them to pay his full major-league salary if he is sent down.

The Mariners signed Jarrod Washburn to a four-year, $37.5 million contract. Uh. Wow. Mariners fans are not very happy.

Kevin Millwood will meet with the Rangers. Boras wants a five-year contract for his client, but the Rangers are wary of offering such a deal after the Chan Ho Park fiasco.

Mychael Urban's mailbag.

Beane is being very vague as to whether the Bradley trade means he's done pursuing Frank Thomas. Do you have any insight, or a strong gut feeling one way or another?
---Lawrence E., Petaluma, Calif.

I don't have much for you, unfortunately. All I know is that the A's do have the financial ability to add Thomas if they decide to go that route, they do have one apparent opening on the projected 25-man roster, and I know that they've gathered copious amounts of information on the Big Hurt's health. Beyond that, I'm as clueless as the next non-employee.

The Bradley deal definitely complicated things a little. With Bradley in right, Swisher is being moved to first base, and if you add Thomas as your designated hitter, what do you do with Johnson? Right now, he's probably penciled in as the full-time DH or part of a lefty-righty platoon there with Bobby Kielty, and he's at a stage in his career where he needs -- and deserves -- regular playing time.

As Beane said last week in vague reference to the Thomas situation, having too many good players isn't a bad problem to have. But I can't see Johnson, who is both good and cheap, as a part-time player, so my best guess is that Thomas won't be signed. That's all it is, though -- a guess.

(emphasis mine) Band Camp stays. Payton goes.

 When Big Games Get Going, Nervous Executives Get Lost
<Joe Morgan>Apparently, Ernie Accorsi is too much of a wimp to watch the Giants play. How can a general manager NOT WATCH HIS OWN TEAM PLAY?! He's not a real football man. I think it's pretty obvious that Accorsi doesn't even like football. He sucks. Jerry West and Billy Beane suck too.</Joe Morgan>

"When I was sitting upstairs in the press box, I felt chained to my chair," Accorsi said recently. "It just got tougher and tougher to watch up there. And then it's enclosed, it's surreal. I felt, well, imprisoned. So last summer I was having dinner with Pat Williams - an old friend, we were in school together at Wake Forest in the early '60s and he had been the general manager of four N.B.A. teams.

"I was telling Pat my problem, about watching games in the press box, and he told me to get out of there, as he had. He'd never watch his team play. Made him crazy, though he'd sometimes listened to the game on his transistor radio."

Williams recalled that conversation. "Ernie told me he was retiring," Williams said. "I asked why. He said, 'I can't handle it anymore.' I said: 'Your ownership wants you. Just don't watch the games.' I told him I used to go to a workout room, or read a book."

Williams also told Accorsi that Jerry West stopped watching games when he was general manager of the championship-winning Los Angeles Lakers. And that Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's and the man made famous by the book "Moneyball," doesn't watch his team, either.

Andy Marte has a torn UCL. Or not.

Reports were circulating at the winter meetings that Marte had a tear of his UCL, but his agent, Don Mitchell, emphatically denied any health issue for Marte.
    "There have been no doctor visits, no surgeries, no sore elbow, no anything," Mitchell said. "He's been playing in the Dominican (Republic's winter league), he's been hitting, he's been throwing and he's been having no physical problems whatsoever." . . . "

A-rod will not be participating in the WBC.

"After thoughtful deliberations with my family, I am announcing my decision to withdraw from the World Baseball Classic," A-Rod told The Post from Miami. "When faced with the decision to choose between my country, the United States of America, and my Dominican heritage, I decided I will not dishonor either."

The Orioles have joined the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers in the Johnny Damon race. Jim Duquette says that the team has yet to make an offer.

Boston is lining up trades in case Damon does not sign with them. They offered Matt Clement for Jeremy Reed, and the Mariners have countered with a Bronson Arroyo/Jeremy Reed deal. The Red Sox have also inquired about Cleveland's Coco Crisp. Trade Reed to Oakland. We need another centerfielder. And no, Bavasi...he's not enough to get you Zito.

Ricardo Rincon doesn't want to be a LOOGY. As andeux pointed out in yesterday's link dump, Rincon is unlikely to get his wish with Tony LaRussa calling the shots.

It was fun while it lasted, but the Red Sox have finally filled the vacancy in the GM seat. Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer were named co-general mangers. But the Red Sox, being the drama queens that they are, seem to be preparing for Theo Epstein to return to the club as a consultant or the leader of baseball operations.

Brad Wilkerson won't be a Blue Jay anytime soon. Trade talks between the Rangers and Blue Jays are essentially over. JP Ricciardi says that the price is too high for Wilkerson or Kevin Mench, and for now, Wilkerson is off the market. JP also put an end to the rumors that he is interested in Milton Bradley. The A's, Cubs, Pirates, and Blue Jays were all linked to Bradley last week, but since then the rumors have died down.

Jacque Jones will reject the Twins' arbitration offer. According to his agent, Jones has two  multiyear contracts on the table. They expect to get three more offers soon. The Royals are believed to be offering Jones a three-year, $15 million contract, though he prefers to play for a contender.

Bill Mueller is close to signing with the Pirates. The proposed deal is said to be for three years and $13.5 million. The Dodgers are also interested in the free agent but refuse to add another year to their two-year offer.

Matt Morris to the Giants is official.

"Supply and demand," said Morris' agent, Barry Axelrod. "Every team needs it, and there's only a certain amount of it. Every year, there's always a signing or two that starts to define the market. When Loaiza signed, everybody kind of shook themselves and said, 'Wow. The market might be a little higher than we thought it would be.' '' "I think Morris has a better track record than Loaiza," Giants owner Peter Magowan said. "Loaiza was someone we would've been happy to get. When we lost Loaiza, we looked at other people, and a lot of the best people were controlled by Boras, and we didn't know when something could get done. There was a premium in trying to get something done.

The Mariners are expected to announce the signing of Carl Everett later this week. He will probably get a one year contract worth $3 to $3.5 million. Also, with Matt Morris off the market, the Mariners are forced to keep searching for a pitcher. They are unlikely to meet Scott Boras' demands for Jarrod Washburn or Kevin Millwood. Boras wants five years for Millwood and three or four years for Washburn.

Edgar Renteria is glad to be out of Boston and playing for the Braves.

Renteria acknowledged he wasn't prepared for the negative reception from Boston fans.

"This was my first time," he said of the boos from the home-team supporters. "I didn't know how to handle it. ... Nobody likes to get booed. You see me play, I always start slow. Maybe the fans didn't know anything about me."

Renteria described himself as "a quiet guy." He said of Boston: "It's a little tough there."

 "I am so happy," he said. "All my career I want to play with the Atlanta Braves."

Braves general manager John Schuerholz said the team received "rave reviews about the kind of man he is."

"We could not have acquired a more perfect player for us than Edgar Renteria," Schuerholz said.