both lefties came over in the haren deal. have had impressive spring trainings. eveland seems to have cemented his spot as the 5th starter and Smith probably the next SP to be called up at some point during the season. of course sample size is everything...

Eveland: 15in/16h/2er/4bb/14k's/1.2 era
Smith: 13in/9h/2er/3bb/9k's/1.38era

Keith Law was at today's game: From his BLOG :

* Dana Eveland continued his bid for a spot in the Oakland rotation with another strong outing, ripping through five innings against the Royals without giving up a run. His fastball was down a bit from his previous start, as he pitched mostly at 88 but threw some fastballs as low as 85 mph. But his secondary stuff was strong, including a curveball with good depth and a sharp slider that he used as his out pitch. Even more impressive was the presence of a clear pitching plan: get ahead with curveballs and fastballs, put hitters away with the slider, show the changeup to lefties and see if they'll chase it off the outside corner. Eveland reminds me a lot of Ted Lilly, with a little less fastball and an inferior changeup; both are lefties who reached the majors with shaky control and reputations as head cases, both feature four-pitch repertoires, and both have multiple weapons to get swings and misses. Lilly blossomed as a starter when he went to the big ballpark in Oakland and didn't have to worry about giving up fly balls. The same could be true for Eveland this year.

Greg Smith has been absolutely awesome this spring. He came over in the Haren trade.One of the many candidates for the 5th SP spot with Braden/Gio/Meyer/Saarloos/Eveland etc He's been complimentd on his savvy and deception so far this spring. Very athletic and has actually hit well for a pitcher, sort of a lefty Micah Owings type. He seemingly has dominated the opposition with ease and has all but locked up the fifth starter spot.  The only question that remains is to determine whether he is in a spring hot streak or he is the real deal and could be a potential #3 Sp type or fall into the category of back rotation filler? i was thinking maybe a similar type SP to noah lowry (healthy and better control)  What do you guys think?

Ken Rosenthal wrote this about Smith a couple days ago:

Left-hander Greg Smith, part of the A's six-player return for Haren, is drawing raves for his deception and savvy.

interview with Farhan Zaidi (which is Scout Premium content):

Greg Smith, to me, has been one of the most impressive players in camp. From his first bullpen, you could tell that this is a guy who has a plan and is not throwing for the [speed] guns at all. It is easy to lump him in with a lot of the other finesse lefties that you see coming up through the minors and having a lot of success. Some of those guys are trick-pitch guys; some of those guys are just doing it with their savvy. But he's really a mix of all of those things. He can get it up to 90-91 when he wants to, but he is probably more comfortable working in the mid- to high-80s. That is when he can spot his fastball the best.
...
Obviously, he is not on the roster yet. He's definitely a candidate to be the fifth starter, but it isn't something that will definitely happen at the start of the season.

Poll

Is Greg Smith for real?

48%

yes

27 votes

51%

no

29 votes

56 votes | Poll has closed

so which prospects have you noticed during spring training??

so ths is a time you get to finally see certain top prospects play, but the nat'l media get a hold of them and find more about them. well i'll start it off. in the past week or so gammons/olney have reported on henry rodriguez. some mentioned he's been the best pitcher that the cactus league has seen in 2 seasons w/ a high 90's FB and devastating breaking pitch. Olney calls him the best prospect in the cactus league.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_8543671

 Knoedler, a nonroster player who was catching Sunday when Rodriguez was clocked at 100 mph against Milwaukee, said Rodriguez also has shown good command of a slider and changeup.

But it's Rodriguez's fastball -- Knoedler likes to describe it as "easy cheese" -- that is generating the buzz.

"Give the guy a chance to get a few innings under his belt, and he can be special for a long, long time," Knoedler said. "There's nobody in this camp with an arm like his. He's got a lightning bolt in his arm."

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2008/265726.html

Looking solely at pitchers, the rankings would be much different. Here are my top five organizations in terms of mound prospects, with their overall ranking in the Handbook in parentheses:

1. Rays (1). Tampa Bay has the best overall farm system because it has a strong balance between hitters and pitchers, and as a group, the arms are more impressive. David Price, Wade Davis and Jake McGee all ranked in the top 17 on our overall Top 100 Prospects list, and Jeff Niemann snuck on at the end. Besides frontline pitchers, the Rays also have plenty of depth with Jeremy Hellickson, Chris Mason, Glenn Gibson, Juan Salas, Alex Cobb, Eduardo Morlan and Josh Butler. The rich may get richer, too, as Tampa Bay has the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft and could target Missouri righthander Aaron Crow or San Diego lefthander Brian Matusz.
2. Yankees (5). The obvious guys are Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy, who were spectacular in brief big league stints last year and are counted on heavily for 2008. Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez and Ross Ohlendorf all could contribute in New York this year as well, while Andrew Brackman, Mark Melancon and Humberto Sanchez and Dellin Betances all combine upside with medical question marks.
3. Orioles (16, will move up a couple of spots after the Erik Bedard trade, though Adam Jones doesn't count as a prospect). Chris Tillman, part of the Bedard deal, is a Top 100 prospect, as are Radhames Liz and Troy Patton, part of the Miguel Tejada trade. A year from now, Jake Arrieta and Chorye Spoone could be Top 100 guys, and Pedro Beato and Brandon Erbe have power arms. Garrett Olson is a lefty who knows how to pitch, though he nibbled too much in his big league debut.
4. Rangers (4). Eric Hurley will pitch in the majors this year, and Matt Harrison may join him, but the strength of the Texas system is very young arms. Neftali Feliz, Michael Main, Blake Beavan, Neil Ramirez, Fabio Castillo, Tommy Hunter and Wilmer Font have yet to reach full-season ball, while Kasey Kiker has advanced to low Class A and Omar Poveda has made five starts in high Class A.
5. Athletics (27, will move up to around 10 after trading Dan Haren and Nick Swisher for a slew of prospects). The best arms in Oakland's system are recent trade acquisitions Gio Gonzalez, Brett Anderson and Fautino de los Santos. Adding them to the previous inventory that included Trevor Cahill, James Simmons, Henry Rodriguez and Andrew Bailey put the A's past the Twins, Rockies, Indians and Dodgers for the last spot on this top five.

interesting turn of events these past couple days...first we hear about white sox scouts watching lowry. now today we find out 2 giants scouts are watching dan johnson. a Johnson/Crede combo would be pretty solid, basicaally better than anything on the current roster. what do you think is traded for them?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/05/SPP8VE9CI.DTL

Johnson could draw attention from teams such as the Mets and Giants (San Francisco had two scouts at Oakland's game Wednesday), who might be looking for a first baseman, but the A's haven't been in any rush to move him because they've believed he will hit. He's out of options, so if Sweeney were to stick past mid-April, the A's would have to trade Johnson or waive him, unless they went with three outfielders plus Jack Cust or dropped down to 11 pitchers, which is unlikely.

1. Tampa Bay Rays
Last Year's Ranking: 1
Why They're Unchanged: Evan Longoria's full-season debut went even better than expected, and they added No. 1 overall pick David Price to the system.
Strengths: Yes. There are just tons of prospects everywhere, as 20 of MLB's 30 teams don't have one prospect ranked higher than Tampa's fifth-rated player.
Weaknesses: It's hard to figure out what to do with all of this talent. Seriously, they're not just No. 1, they're No. 1 by a mile.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Unchanged. Even with Longoria in the big leagues, the Rays have more than enough talent to remain at the top, and once again, they have the first overall pick in June.

2. Oakland Athletics
Last Year's Ranking: 23
Why They're Up: Their rebuilding process got off to excellent start, as the Dan Haren and Nick Swisher deals brought in a bevy of excellent prospects to restock the system.
Strengths: Their High-A rotation will have three Top 100 prospects, and there are more arms worth noting at nearly every level in the system; Daric Barton is ready to step in at first base; Carlos Gonzalez is nearly ready as a five-tool outfielder.
Weaknesses: Infielders.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: It's hard to go up, but most of their talent, especially the pitching, has a maturation date of 2009 and beyond.

3. Texas Rangers
Last Year's Ranking: 22
Why They're Up: Deadline deals filled the system with prospects, as six of Top 11 weren't with the organization at the beginning of year; Chris Davis turned into legitimate power-hitting prospect.
Strengths: Young power arms; high-tools prospects; catching.
Weaknesses: Left-handed pitching; outfielders.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Holding the line, if not going up, as only Eric Hurley might lose eligibility.

4. Boston Red Sox
Last Year's Ranking: 11
Why They're Up: Clay Buchholz became the top pitching prospect in the game, Jacoby Ellsbury grabbed the center field job, and they had a strong '07 draft.
Strengths: Right-handed pitching; toolsy outfielders.
Weaknesses: Catching; pure power prospects.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Down significantly, as Buchholz and Ellsbury move to the majors and leave no elite prospects in their wake.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers
Last Year's Ranking: 5
Why They're Unchanged: Clayton Kershaw became the top lefty prospect in the game, and the '07 draft added even more pitching depth; Chin-Lung Hu added an offensive game to supplement his already Gold Glove-caliber defense.
Strengths: Andy LaRoche and Hu make one of the top left sides in the minors, and there are more third basemen and shortstops to brag about beyond them; power arms.
Weaknesses: Outfield prospects; catchers; right-side infielders.
Outlook for 2009 Ranking: Little movement, but possibly down if the Dodgers do the right thing and make LaRoche their everyday third baseman this year.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7204

I wont include hughes/joba/bucholz/price/mcgee/davis because thats been talked about already. they are in the elite area, but how about the next tier of rookie pitchers that may get chances in 08, they ranked in that 20-60+ range by BA..how would you rank them their upside long term?

their BA rankings
Nick Adenhart (24)
Ian Kennedy (45)
Adam Miller (29)
Gio Gonzalez (26)
Nick Blackburn (56)
Luke Hochevar (63)

Five-Star Prospects
1. Angel Villalona, 3B/1B
Four-Star Prospects
2. Henry Sosa, RHP
Three-Star Prospects

3. Tim Alderson, RHP
   
4. Madison Bumgarner, RHP
   
5. Wendell Fairly, OF
   
6. Nick Noonan, SS/2B
   
7. Nate Schierholtz, OF
   

Two-Star Prospects

8. John Bowker, OF
   
9. Pablo Sandoval, C
   
10. Clayton Tanner, LHP
    
11. Charlie Culberson, SS/2B

Just Missing: Wilber Bucardo, RHP; Manny Burriss, SS; Eugenio Velez, UT

1. Angel Villalona, 3B/1B
DOB: 8/13/90
Height/Weight: 6-3/200
Bats/Throws: R/R
Acquired: NDFA, 2006, Dominican Republic
2007 Stats: .285/.344/.450 at Rookie-level (52 G); .167/.231/.167 at Short-season (5 G)

Year In Review: Seen by some as the best pure Latin American hitter in years, the 16-year-old looked to be worth every penny of his $2.1 million bonus in his pro debut.
The Good: For a 17-year-old, Villalona's offensive potential is nearly off the charts. His raw power is nearly unseen in a teenager, but he's also an adept hitter with excellent bat control, and many international evaluators specifically noted his mature approach and excellent pitch recognition. He's an average runner, and his top non-hitting tool is a plus-plus arm.
The Bad: Young and massive, Villalona is far from done growing, and will likely play his way off of third base in short order. It's not a long-term concern, as the bat will play anywhere, but it does reduce his value a bit. His fielding, baserunning, and feel for the game are all a bit raw, but not especially so for his age and experience.
Fun Fact: Villalona has an early sense of the Bay Area rivalry, as in seven games against the Arizona Rookie League Athletics, he went 14-for-31 (.452) with seven extra-base hits.
Perfect World Projection: An impact middle-of-the-order run producer.
Timetable: Villalona is already getting work at first base in spring training, and the Giants are considering making the move across the diamond now to avoid any distractions from his offensive development. He'll make his full-season debut in Low-A--he doesn't turn 18 until August.

    * http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7176

anyone have the 08 draft order?

if a type B FA signs a minor league deal, does the other team get a pick or not? i'm asking beause this...

The Jays are close to signing Shannon Stewart to a minor league contract, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports.
The team already has a respectable platoon set up, with Matt Stairs set to bash right-handers and Reed Johnson starting versus lefties and acting as a defensive replacement. If Stairs is going to play the majority of the time, Johnson, who covers his weaknesses better, makes more sense as the other half of the platoon. Stewart was surprisingly solid as a regular for the A's last season, but we're not sure how he fits here, unless the Jays think they can trade Johnson for a quality prospect. He's never been particularly good against lefties (699 OPS last year, 654 in 2005), and he doesn't cover nearly as much ground as Johnson these days.
Source: FOXSports.com

so barring any changes, there seems to be an OF roster crunch. do all make the team? or do we see a trade sometime during spring training using the OF/pitching to get some 1b/3b depth? what do you think happens? both davis/lewis stick as 4th/5th OF's, Ortmeier at 1b?

The Giants confirmed that Fred Lewis, Rajai Davis and Dan Ortmeier are all out of options this spring.
There's not going to be enough at-bats for both Lewis and Davis while the starting outfielder are healthy, so ideally, one could back to the minors to play regularly. However, that probably won't happen. At the moment, all three players are penciled in for roster spots. Ortmeier could get the majority of the time at first base initially. Because so much of the competition is out of options, Nate Schierholtz appears to have no real chance of making the team.
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Related: Dan Ortmeier, Nate Schierholtz, Rajai Davis

apparently they re in talks for adding blanton. a kazmir/shields/blanton/garza group can be very good with many more on the way. i would defintely think their elite prospects are off limit. would a brignac/jennings be available or a howell/sonnastine?

MUM ON DEAL: Andrew Friedman would not comment, as is the policy of the team, on the rumored trade with the Athletics that could bring starter Joe Blanton to Tampa Bay. "We will continue to explore throughout spring training on any type of trade we feel that will make us better in our overall plan. If we match up with a team, we'll be aggressive and act on it. By no means are we putting our feet up because the workouts are starting."

well, he has every right to since they dont NEED to trade blanton. but some of these demands for certain players just dont make sense. You cant turn down potential impact hitters like a Votto, but he doesnt fill a need especially with Barton around. now this dodgers demand with Ethier, who is a corner OF they have at least 5-6 corner OF's already on their 40 man roster. But once again doesnt fll a need.

ALso to find a common ground with either teams, i would have no problem including 1b DAn Johnson or one of the many relievers to even the deals out a bit.
forget ethier, replace him with 2 from dejesus/hu/abreu/mcdonald/elbert/meloan/young etc

forget votto, replace him with 2-3 prospects from stubbs/maloney/wood/frazier/franisco/soto etc.

rotoworld.com:

The Denver Post reports that the Athletics want Andre Ethier, Andy LaRoche and a prospect from the Dodgers in exchange for Joe Blanton.
Billy Beane is really working the "best available arm" angle to drive up Blanton's price, but it's doubtful the Dodgers would give up both Ethier and LaRoche for him.

DENVER POST ARTICLE

several reports this morning have reds, dodgers, twins, rays, red sox, etc possible teams interested in blanton. this interest can trickle down to lowry/sanchez, there's always a market for lefty pitching.

finally the market might open up after this drawn out soap operas with santana/bedard. Business will be picking up soon for big sabes!!

what will happen??

Blanton May Be Traded

1:32pm: Paul Daugherty and John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer report that the Reds and Dodgers are talking to the A's about Blanton.  Seems to be a disagreement about whether the Dodgers are in on this.

10:31am: Check out this new Ken Rosenthal video (hat tip to MetsBlog).  The video is all about Joe Blanton.

    * One Rosenthal source suggests a 50/50 chance Blanton is traded (presumably before the season starts).
    * Two teams are showing significant interest.  Rosenthal believes the Reds are one, and the Twins or Rays could be another.  He rules out the Dodgers, Yankees, Rockies, and Indians.  The Reds have had preliminary discussions for Blanton already.  How about the Phillies?  They came calling in July.
    * Rosenthal notes that the bounty for Blanton will be less than that of Dan Haren, because Blanton is slightly more expensive and an inferior pitcher.
    * On January 14th, an A's source suggested to MLB.com's Jim Molony who expected Blanton to be the A's Opening Day starter.

James Simmons
Gio Gonzalez
Brett Anderson
Fautino De Los Santos
Chad Gaudin ( i know he's more then a spect )
Trevor Cahill
Henry Rodriguez Andrew Bailey
Craig Italiano
Jared Lansford
Vince Mazzaro
Arnold Leon

Travis Banwart Scott Deal then there's a group of lesser upside guys, but more mlb ready. some may make it or not. end up w/ other teams or in a BP

Braden
Smith
Meyer
Eveland
Windsor
Komine
Madsen

I rate Cahill and De Los Santos at the top of the pack as far as potential goes.

Also, what kind of pitcher is Gio Gonzalez ? Can any white sox fans add something here? Is he a "smart" pitcher like Simmons, who doesn't have unreal stuff but can get batters out.  Does he have a out pitch or what.

I know about DLS/Hrod, they are young, projectable great fastballs and developing breaking pitches, but wayyyyy off.  I'm trying to get a feel on Gonzalez..

can anyone explain his rating system

There are so many talented young right fielders that I fear getting lost in all of them. Remember, though, we're looking for the best right fielders over the entire next five seasons (which I mention with apologies to Magglio Ordonez's many fans). In the table below, the listed ages are seasonal 2008 and the next three columns are all from 2007 (and the last column, I'll get to in a moment):

PLAYER     AGE     OBP     SLG     OPS+     '08 WARP

1. Travis Buck     24     .377     .474     130     4.5
   
2. Brad Hawpe     29     .387     .539     129     3.0
   
3. Nick Swisher     27     .381     .455     127     6.0
   
4. Corey Hart     26     .353     .539     126     5.9
   
5. Matt Kemp     23     .373     .521     125     4.6
   
6. Jeremy Hermida     24     .369     .501     125     4.6
   
7. Alexis Rios     27     .354     .498     122     5.3
   
8. Nick Markakis     24     .362     .485     121     5.8
   
9. Lastings Milledge     23     .341     .446     105     3.7
   
10. Jeff Francoeur     24     .338     .444     103     3.6
    
11. Franklin Gutierrez     25     .318     .472     103     3.3
    
12. Andre Ethier     26     .350     .452     103     3.3
    
13. Delmon Young     22     .316     .408     91     4.7
    
14. Carlos Quentin     25     .298     .349     63     2.9

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2 f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fname%3dneyer_rob

http://www.baseballamerica.com...008/265567.html

1. OF Cameron Maybin, LHP Andrew Miller, RHP Dallas Trahern, RHP Eulogio de la Cruz, RHP Burke Badenhop and C Mike Rabelo to the Marlins for Cabrera and Willis. I believe Florida would have gotten more had it traded Cabrera and Willis in separate deals. And I probably have more doubts about Maybin and Miller than most prospect analysts. Still, the Marlins did get Maybin and Miller.
2. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus, RHP Neftali Feliz, LHP Matt Harrison and LHP Beau Jones to the Rangers for Teixeira and Ron Mahay. That's two potential all-stars at up-the-middle positions, a guy who has hit 99 mph (Feliz) and a polished lefty who could be ready soon (Harrison). I almost put this deal at No. 1.
3. LHP Brett Anderson, OF Carlos Gonzalez, OF Aaron Cunningham, 1B Chris Carter, LHP Dana Eveland and LHP Greg Smith to the Athletics for Haren and Connor Robertson. Anderson and Gonzalez immediately became two of Oakland's best prospects, while Cunningham and Carter could develop into big league regulars.
4. OF Adam Jones, RHP Chris Tillman, LHP Tony Butler, LHP George Sherrill and RHP Kam Mickolio to the Orioles for Bedard. Jones will be a quality center fielder, Sherrill is a quality lefty reliever and the other three guys are intriguing arms from the 2006 draft.
5. RHP Deolis Guerra, OF Carlos Gomez, RHP Kevin Mulvey and RHP Philip Humber to the Twins for Santana. Santana's no-trade clause and contract demands restricted the market for him, and it showed in what Minnesota got in return.
6. LHP Gio Gonzalez, RHP Fautino de los Santos and OF Ryan Sweeney to the A's for Swisher. White Sox GM Kenny Williams just had to have Swisher, and he gave up his top two prospects to get him.
7. RHP Matt Albers, LHP Troy Patton, OF Luke Scott, 3B Mike Costanzo and RHP Dennis Sarfate to the Orioles for Tejada. Albers has a strong arm but is erratic, and Patton might not be more than a No. 4 starter. Yet it's still hard to see how the Astros a) really think they're going to contend this year, even with Tejada, and b) how they can keep trading young pitching.

The Rangers got the best value, considering they only would have had Teixeira for 1½ more seasons. The only better haul went to the Marlins, who gave up two all-stars. Haren is locked up through 2010, and the Bedard can't become a free agent until after the 2009 season.

 To me, the A's are setting themselves up for another move or two before the 2008 season begins; likely with the Dodgers, or Reds, maybe the Red Sox...

I know a forum group of Red Sox Fans that LOVE Huston Street and would probably be willing to ship Crisp + prospects...Colletti might still be in the market for a 3b since he doesnt trust Laroche, maybe Chavez? Blanton to Reds? Ellis to Rockies or Cubs?

What are your guys's thoughts? Any more moves coming for the A's?

interesting article and list about hardest throwers in milb.

about the list, maybe keith law saw gio gonzalez on a bad day because he didnt put him in his top 100 due to "below avg velocity". but his peak velocity is high as 96mph.

Kershaw could be the next Bedard
if Poreda goes to the pen, maybe a BJ Ryan or better matt thornton type. isnt there rumbling that morales might be better as a reliever long term too?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=708

Aaron Poreda     CWS     20     100     9.3     1.9     46     R
Clayton Kershaw     LAD     19     99     12.0     4.9     122     LoA/AA
Franklin Morales     COL     21     98     7.4     4.6     113     AA/AAA
Jake McGee     TB     21     98     11.3     3.3     140     HiA/AA
Madison Bumgarner     SF     18     97     N/A     N/A     N/A     N/A
Kasey Kiker     TEX     19     97     10.5     3.8     96     LoA
Gio Gonzalez     OAK     21     96     11.1     3.4     150     AA
Sean West#     FLA     21     96     N/A     N/A     N/A     N/A
Scott Elbert#     LAD     22     96     15.4     6.4     14     AA
Ross Detwiler     WAS     21     96     7.6     3.2     33     R/HiA

1. Carlos Gonzalez, of
   
2. Gio Gonzalez, lhp
   
3. Brett Anderson, lhp
   
4. Fautino de los Santos, rhp
   
5. Daric Barton, 1b
   
6. Trevor Cahill, rhp
   
7. James Simmons, rhp
   
8. Henry Rodriguez, rhp
   
9. Aaron Cunningham, of
   
10. Chris Carter, 1b

Jim Callis of Baseball America :

"...As it was, Minnesota;s return doesnt compare favorably to the six-player package the Athletics extracted from the Diamondbacks for Dan Haren. The A's also got two quality arms from the White Sox for Nick Swisher...." http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/265531.html

De los Santos already has two plus pitches, mid 90's fastball w/ movement and a slider. control of both. he still has a developing changeup, that maybe avg eventually...this area might be the key to his success. he is 21 and has yet to pitch higher than low A, but he could be up by 09 if he's legit, what do you think?

De Los Santos posted a H:9 of 5.09. compared to others...

Minor League Career #'s

Joba Chamberlain
6.33 H:9

Ian Kennedy
5.62 H:9

Phil Hughes
5.56 H:9

A's: Arnold Leon Farhan Zaidi said this of Leon to OaklandClubhouse earlier this off-season: OC: You mentioned Leon. How did the team first zero-in on him and do you see him as a starter long-term? FZ: We do. In the Mexican League this past summer and also in winter ball, he has pitched as a reliever, but our scouts that have seen him say that he really has a starting pitcher’s mix. Certainly, there is no indication that he would lack the endurance to be a starting pitcher. We initially identified him through his stats because he performed very well in the Mexican League over the summer. This year, we didn’t really scout the summer Mexican League that extensively, but we knew we wanted to have a presence down there during winter ball. He was one of the guys we targeted as someone that we wanted to get a number of looks at. Once our scouts actually got down there and saw him pitching with solid-average to even a plus fastball – our reports ranged from 88-92 all of the way up to 90-94 with plus secondary stuff, with plus command – we immediately decided that this was a guy worth aggressively pursuing. Especially since we had internally made the decision to be more aggressive internationally, we thought that this was a guy who would be the perfect kind of player to launch a more aggressive spending campaign in Latin America because as far as spending money in Latin America goes, this guy was as sure of a bet as you could find, in terms of pitching in the highest level you could pitch down there, which I believe is the Mexican League, and having some success. The combination of the very positive scouting report that we had seen from winter ball and the fact that he had performed well over the summer, as well as the winter, led us to pretty aggressively pursue a deal there.

    The easy choice here is Arnold Leon, who we recently signed out of Mexico.  In the Mexican League this summer, he posted a sub-2 ERA as an 18-year old, an incredible feat at any age given the extreme hitter-friendly environment in that league.  He continued to pitch well in Winter Ball, where our scouts saw him up to 94 and had high praise for his command and feel for pitching.  He will probably start out the year in Stockton, but given his success in the Mexican League (which is generally viewed as being equivalent to a AA/AAA level), he could move quickly.

any idea what a crede or chavez could get?

my guess is sanchez would be centerpiece. they'd probably ask for wilson and get denied. both thos teams could use a pure CF like davies/lewis. any ideas? maybe velez?

Am I the only fan frustrated at watching other teams making moves while the Giants stand pat? Next to signing Aaron Rowand and Omar Vizquel, the Giants have done nothing to improve their ballclub. Do you think they're done making moves?
-- Mark B., Santa Clara, Calif.

The orange-and-black-clad natives are restless, as this double helping of input reflects. The fans' impatience is understandable, since the Giants typically have reshaped their roster by this juncture of the offseason. As Ryan pointed out, many other teams are in a similar holding pattern. That doesn't necessarily excuse the Giants; it simply demonstrates that they're not as far behind the curve as many people think. Ideally, the club will address the third-base issue and add a veteran reliever to provide experience and stability before pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 13. Regarding third base, they could be waiting until the exhibition season to gauge the performance of some trade candidates recovering from injuries (Joe Crede? Eric Chavez?), but I doubt that general manager Brian Sabean wants to wait that long. Recently, defending Sabean means inviting ridicule, but despite the Giants' inactivity, he fully knows what he must do to put the team in position to win. The Scott Rolen-Troy Glaus trade could start a chain reaction that facilitates other deals -- maybe even one or two involving the Giants.

is there upside still left? A's save $2mill also.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/432477610_30c1efc025.jpg

to be honest mrs kotsay above will be missed

The Atlanta Braves have reached a preliminary agreement to acquire center fielder Mark Kotsay from the Oakland Athletics, filling the hole created by the departure of Andruw Jones. The deal will be finalized once Kotsay passes a physical for Atlanta, where he is expected to fly to on Sunday, and assuming the Commissioner's Office approves the cash negotiated to be exchanged in the deal, sources say.

"In return for Kotsay, the Braves are trading pitcher Joey Devine, and Oakland will assume $5.325 million of the $7.325 million owed to the center fielder for this year."

espn.com

very receptive to helping them out or does he do his own thing?

this would be an interesting situation if it did happen, but likely a sell out by A's ownership trying to get more $$ and fans

there are rumblings of a kotsay salary dump to braves, so maybe they use some of the savings towards the bonds budget.

here's an interesting question could the "rebuilding" A's offer more lineup protection w/ Cust/Chavez/Barton/Buck/Suzuki etc in 08 than bonds got in 07 w/ feliz/molina/durham etc?

that said, unless bodns is willing to take a paycut and with all his baggage, it seems like a long shot still

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/01/slusser-on-barr.html#comments

Slusser On Barry Bonds Possibilities

We recently named Susan Slusser Rumor Royalty for the A's.  She is the team's beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.  As part of the feature she answered a few questions for us.

MLBTR: Could you see any team beside the A's signing Barry Bonds?  In your estimation, what's the most the A's would pay for a year of Bonds

Slusser: An insider told me at the winter meetings that two other teams besides the A's had asked about Bonds, so it's impossible to rule out. If he plays - and that seems to be a pretty big if -- Oakland has the best shot, but estimating a salary is really tough. If there's no other interest and Bonds really wants to play, considering all the issues that surround him, the price tag could be pretty cheap, say $5-$6 million. If there's more interest, it could go up. The A's did pay Mike Piazza $8 million last year.

Do the A's really want Bonds, though? There are good reasons to sign him, and equally solid reasons not to. They need to put fans in the seats after moving their most popular player, and they don't have much in the middle of the order right now. On the other hand, they might alienate much of their fan base with Bonds, and a team that is in "full bore'' rebuilding mode might not be looking to spend on a 43-year-old free agent with lots of legal problems and an iffy clubhouse reputation. There is no doubt it has been discussed internally, however.

Lars Anderson

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Lars%20Anderson&pos=1B&sid=milb&am p;t=p_pbp&pid=502249

Chris Carter

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Chris%20Carter&pos=1B&sid=milb& ;t=p_pbp&pid=474892

power: carter
avg: anderson
athleticism: anderson
defense:anderson
age: anderson 1 yr younger

both seem like very good hitting prospects. anderson has the edge it seems in most categories. he's at least a top 75, carter maybe fringe top 100? anderson can be GG caliber, carter maybe destined DH..that seems to be the big difference

Poll

who's upside do you like best?

68%

Lars Anderson

124 votes

31%

Chris Carter

56 votes

180 votes | Poll has closed

Carlos Gonzalez

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/news/top50/y2008/profile.jsp?t=p_top&pid=471865

Aaron Cunningham

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Aaron%20Cunningham&pos=OF&sid=milb &t=p_pbp&pid=488811

Ryan Sweeney

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/ryan-sweeney.shtml

Poll

Who do you like best?

6%

Ryan Sweeney

13 votes

82%

Carlos Gonzalez

158 votes

10%

Aaron Cunningham

20 votes

191 votes | Poll has closed

so i posted this around winter meetings about how both teams are in the process. both teams are far from done and still have tradeable assets

Twins:

offensive core- Mauer/Morneau/Young/Cuddyer
tradeable- santana/nathan/rincon etc
looking for mlb ready players in return
made garza/young deal, added a couple stop gap FA's everett/lamb
x-factor: liriano, needs to pickup ace role for santana
lost FA's: silva/hunter

A's:

offensive core- lots of unknowns  Buck/Barton/Suzuki for now
tradeable- blanton/street/ellis + complimentary/injured players
looking for a mix of mlb ready + long term
traded swisher/haren for 9 prospects
x-factor: harden, needs to pickup ace role for haren
lost FA's: piazza/stewart

so whats your opinion how they have done so far? 7 weeks before spring training, i expect at least 1 more major move by either team. I think A's rebuild is blowing it up, Twins are trading Santana and/or Nathan due to their soon FA status.

A's Trade OF Nick Swisher to Chicago White Sox

Acquire LHP Gio Gonzalez, RHP Fautino De Los Santos and OF Ryan Sweeney

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland A's today traded outfielder Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for left-handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez, right-handed pitcher Fautino De Los Santos and outfielder Ryan Sweeney.

both 05 1st rd draft picks
pac 10 Oregon St./ASU
both had very nice auditions in 07 (Ellsbury towards the end, Buck more 1st half)
both showed to be very capable leadoff hitters, potential doubles machines
Ellsbury- Johnny Damon/Brett Butler type
Buck- Rusty Greer/Andre Ethier type

what is your opinion on their upside??
can they be both all star caliber hitters into the next decade?

mets fansare steadfast not giving up anything of value for blanton. that he's not better than maine/perez and no better than a #3/#4 SP. reasoning that mulvey can be just as good than blanton in 2 yrs and gomez is a future star

the A's perspective.
blanton is a workhorse, capable of being a #2 SP in NL. that his first several yrs in the league compare to a lackey/penny when they first came up. not settling for anything less than 1 elite prospect + a couple mlb ready players/2nd tier prospects.

so which is right?

here's blanton's career stats

http://thebaseballcube.com/players/B/Joe-Blanton.shtml

gomez was ranked in the 60's range for BA's 2007 top 100
did not rank in milb.com top 50
Sabean turned down mets in a gomez for jonathen sanchez swap at deadline

here's mulvey's write up by BA

"Mulvey throws four pitches for strikes and keeps everything down.  His fastball, which sits at 87-91 mph and touches 94, features good sink and run...His competitiveness makes his whole greater than the sum of his parts...He'll open 2008 in Triple-A, but Mulvey could get a look in the rotation by midseason. He projects as a No. 3 or 4 starter."

A's asked for gomez/mulvey/heilman recently and were turned down. if A's are truly rebuilding they dont need heilman, replace w/ a couple lower level players, can a deal get done?

in this scenario, mets still keep fmart/guerra/pelfrey/humber/heilman.

so w/ the jacked up market and blanton signed for 3 more seasons. are the blanton demands unreasonable. for the prospect experts, is gomez/mulvey untouchables. too much to give up?