Justin Duchscherer's season started yesterday with 2 perfect innings in A ball.  It' very encouraging  to say the least.

The Twins and A's aren't close on a Cabrera deal.  Apparently the Twins players really want O-Cab.

This is just my own speculation, but would the Phillies trade Jason Donald for Dallas Braden?  If so, would it be a good deal for the A's?  Perhaps Weurtz would net Donald.

Dump...  dump.... dump away...

There are some interesting rumors floating around about the A's right now.

The Brewers are scouting Duke's rehab start tonight.  

The Twins are in "deep talks" with the A's about Cabrera.

An interesting non-A's development.  The Dodgers are considering sending Loney, Kershaw or Billingsly, and prospects to the Indians for Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee.

 

Personally, I don't think the Brewers will trade much of anything for Duke.  My guess would be that Duke would clear waivers and could be traded sometime in August if he actually pitches well and looks healthy.  

The Twins could very well get Cabrera, but I think that AN will be disappointed in the return.  The Twins NEVER trade prospects of value (maybe besides the Delmon Young trade, but that would be considered prospect for prospect) so I'm guess anything the A's would get in return would be a fringe prospect unless Cabrera goes to a different team.  The Twins are rightfully stingy with their prospects.

I also don't see the Dodgers trading Loney and one of their young stud pitchers.  The Dodgers are rumored every year to give their young talent away but rarely do.  Is Martinez that much better than Loney?  Is Lee that much better than Kershaw or Billingsly?

As for the A's, I think the chances of Duke getting traded are slim, no chance of Giambi, and less than a 50/50 shot of Cabrera going to the Twins.

Interesting..

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4191562

 

 

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This post will hopefully give AN users a chance to put in their final predictions for the season.  With that, here are mine:

 

AL EAST

1. Red Sox
   
2. Rays
   
3. Yankees
   
4. Orioles
   
5. Blue Jays
   

AL Central

1. Twins
   
2. Indians
   
3. White Sox
   
4. Tigers
   
5. Royals
   

AL West

1. Angels
   
2. A's
   
3. Rangers
   
4. Mariners
   

NL East

1. Mets
2. Phillies
3. Braves
4. Marlins
5. Nationals

NL Central

1. Cubs
2. Cardinals
3. Brewers
4. Reds
5. Astros
6. Pirates

NL West

1. Dodgers
2. D'Backs
3. Rockies
4. Giants
5. Padres

• AL Wildcard - Rays
  
• NL Wildcard - Phillies
  

• AL Champion - Red Sox
  
• NL Champion - Mets
  

• World Champion - Red Sox
  

• AL MVP - Justin Morneau
  
• NL MVP - Carlos Beltran
  

• AL Cy Young - CC Sabathia
  
• NL Cy Young - Chris Carpenter
  

• AL Rookie of the Year - Brett Anderson
  
• NL Rookie of the Year - Cameron Maybin
  

Analysis: As much as I hate to admit it, the Angels are just a bit better than the A's.  Both teams will start the season with an inexperienced rotation.  The difference is that the Angels will get Lackey, Escobar, and Santana back (presumably) and the A's would get Duch back.  I don't think the A's improved lineup will prove to make the difference.  Of course, injuries can change everything.  At this point, the A's are every bit as talented, but I just don't see the A's winning the division as things sit right now.  Let's hope I'm wrong!

According to Buster Olney, Joey Devine's season may be over. LINK

To review: The Angels will be without Ervin Santana and John Lackey until May, barring any setbacks, and they won't have Kelvim Escobar back until May at the earliest, barring any setbacks. Plus, Joe Saunders struggled badly in his last outing spring. And the Athletics are loading up their rotation with 21-year-olds because Justin Duchscherer is hurt and because some of the older candidates haven't gotten the job done. It seems likely that Joey Devine -- the presumed closer when spring training began -- might be lost for the season.

 

Also, according to Olney, the A's young pitchers will be tested early.  

The Athletics are fielding some young starters, like Trevor Cahill, Brett Andersonand Josh Outman, and they will immediately be thrown into the deep end of the pool. Of Oakland's first 20 games, 13 are against the Angels, Red Sox, Yankees and Rays. If the Athletics come through that stretch with a .500 record, it would be a major plus.

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Last night, someone pointed out that Keith Law twittered that he may prefer Anderson over Haren by the end of this year.

http://twitter.com/keithlaw

I find that hard to believe.  Not that Anderson is bad or will be bad by the end of the year, it's just that Dan Haren is so good.  He pitches over 200 innings, he strikesout hitters (around 200 per year), doesn't walk hitters (55 and 40 the last 2 years), and has a great splitter.

I commented that I hoped Law would elaborate a little bit.  This morning he did.

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Maybe I'm overreacting a little bit, but it's troublesome that several of the A's players have some major health concerns.  These players are also expected to contribute a great deal this year.

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Today I took my first glance at the A's regular season schedule.  Something stuck out to me: the A's will probably need a 5th starter from the get-go. 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/teams/schedule?team=oak

 

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It was -44 below 0 on my way to work this morning in Bismarck, ND.  As I'm letting my car warm up before going to lunch I thought I'd start today's DLD.

I guess the big "news" of the day is Oakland's apparent interest in Nick Johnson.  

 

 

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I was just going to post about Heyman's report that the A's are interested in Orlanda Cabrera but didn't think it was enough.  So why not have a dump?!?!

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