Just when I was thinking about whether or not to continue producing my graphics, Billy appears to have completed another "A-trade"...

...and I guessed it was time to try to give a visual perspective of how the A's got here:

Note: Just to say that I know this (almost) breaks the rules on word count but fanshots don't allow a high enough resolution for anyone to be able to see any of the detail...

According to Susan Slusser Mark Ellis is to re-sign!

Unlike many of the team's prominent free agents in recent years, Mark Ellis will be staying in Oakland. The second baseman is set to sign a multiyear deal with the A's, and an announcement is expected in the next day or two.

It will be interesting to see the size/length of the contract and the impact it might have on the A's prospects particularly Cardenas

This is my attempt to keep track of the revolving door franchise that is the 2008 Oakland A's and provide a visual guide to who's who and how they came to play for the A's...

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I've been toying with the idea of documenting some of Billy's trades for a while and having found nothing like this elsewhere on-line I thought I'd start posting a few of the "trading routes" that I've pulled together.

I'm just experimenting with a visual way of representing the "blood lines" involved in some of Billy's bigger moves - any feedback welcome...

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Having looked at various MLB sites I'm struggling to piece together a solid understanding of how baseball contracts work and in particular the details of intra-club transactions.  I've put together a brief summary of how I think things work but if anyone can validate the meaning of the following types of transaction I'd be very grateful?

"player A has been selected" = added to 40 man roster for the first time having been signed/drafted by the Major League team

"purchased the contract of player B from AAA-Sacramento" = added to 40 man roster for the first time having been signed to a minor league contract

"player C has been optioned to AAA" - removed from active roster but retains place on 40 man roster

"player D has been recalled" - added to active roster, having already been on 40 man roster

"player E has been outrighted to AAA" - removed from both active and 40 man roster, but remains under club control

"player F has been sent down" - same as player E?

"player G has been called up" - same as player D?

Also, what is a "conditional deal"?