If Crosby is out for a considerable amount of time...again, and our offense can't produce without him (which I find weird since it's not like he's a god at the plate), do we look outside our organization?

Scutaro
Perez
Ellis
Ginter
Bynum
Rouse

I don't know much about Perez, but the rest are all decent 2nd / 3rd basemen lacking the range and arm for a SS.  Pennington is too far away.

Lets just all cross our collective fingers and remind Macha not play Crosby in Baltimore.

If Crosby begins missing significant time, I see a trade of surplus pitching to T.B.for Lugo, who they'd love to get rid of eventually. Would fill the hole, without giving up Zito. Certainly not the greatest idea, but one that has merit.

ellis moves to short and perez plays 2b.

Won't be as important this year with Milton, Payton (wasn't there the first half last year), and Thomas. We really want his defense but Ellis would be OK. I could see the A's contending even if Crosby misses a couple months.

There is a big drop from Crosby to Marco, no doubt, but I don't think it would hurt the as badly as it did last year.  Last year Crosby was leaned on much more heavily for offense than he will be in 2006.  Last year he could bat anywhere from 2-5 in the order, but this year he'd probably be down around 6.  

Possible lineup without B-Cros...

1. Ellis
   
2. Kotsay
   
3. Bradley
   
4. Chavey
   
5. Big Hurt
   
6. D.J.
   
7. Swisher/Payton
   
8. Kendall
   
9. Marco/Perez

With the pitching staff we have this year, that lineup should easily produce enough runs to win a majority of their games.  Think about the run support Blanton got last year... with this lineup he would have had probably 6-7 more wins, and add in a few extra wins from the other starters and we're in the playoffs.  

If Crosby goes down for a considerable amount of time, and the rest of the team stays relatively heathly (meaning no season ending injuries), I think they can still make the playoffs.  Last year, no chance, this year it is possible.

That being said, it significantly hurts the team, Crosby great with the leather and energizes the clubhouse.  The A's would be much better WITH him, but I think they could survive.  I hope this injury isn't going to be long term problem, add me to the list of those crossing their fingers...  

if Crosby sits out sometime it opens up a roster spot for Bynum who will be put on waivers if he doesn't make the 25-man roster which currently looks full.

That's the only thing good about that injury. I agree this year we can survive with Scutaro or Perez at ss for a a little while.

I hope the A's let him rest his shoulder for the next few weeks or so.

   Over the course of today it's been an interesting exercise to consider the ramifications of our injury plagued shortstop. I think that in the worst case scenerio and Crosby just turns out to be a major disappointment, then the A's have options via trade or maybe promotion from within but in either case, this is not ideal in what you are looking for in a contender for the title. In the best case scenario, Macha will use his staff similarly to how LaRussa used to pace his players. We haven't seen this happen over the last two seasons but it doesn't mean it can't happen. If Macha does his part and the A's stay healthy then the WS is in our grasp.
   I am comfortable with the team as Beane has set it up. I don't think we could have expected a more productive off-season to fill some of the holes we saw on lat year's roster. Macha's options are tremendous in the case of injury. A few years ago the perception of the A's was the their youth produced a more durable roster. Over the last two seasons, it may have been youth that was responsible for injury. So things even out over time I suppose, but I still say that the collective youth AND experience will serve this team well. Over and out.  G

As a former player, I have to say that shoulder tendonitis is probably one of the trickier injuries to predict the outcome of.  I lost an entire year in baseball from tendonitis that to this day still bothers my shoulder from time to time if I throw too much on consecutive days.  I decided because of it to not continue playing at a higher level because the amount of preparation it took to keep my arm in good shape was way more than I wanted to handle.

I have known many players that have had tendonitis for only a few weeks and it has passed with no recurring symptoms, but be warned; this injury is not something to be taken lightly.  Obviously Bobby's gonna have a great medical staff working with him; however, it is not unlikely that we have a Gil Meche type problem here.  If you're not familiar with his predicament, Gil lost over a year because of shoulder pain that none of the doctors could really figure out.  I had a chance to talk to the athletic trainer for the Mariners and he was as puzzled as anyone about it.  I think surgery eventually corrected the problem.

Using one's arm for pitching and using it in the field are two different things, but I would expect that if Bobby had the same problem he'd have to watch his throwing much like Eric is doing now.  I would expect him to miss as little as 20 games this year or as many as 80, depending on the severity of his shoulder issues.  In addition, we could have a situation where he gets surgery in the offseason.  The great thing about this is that it's not like we're dealing with a broken bone, which takes weeks to heal and fully recover from.  However, the bad thing is, this isn't a good injury to put a timeframe on like say, a broken bone.

So until Bobby comes to the media and says, hey, my shoulder feels great, I can make all the throws I want, I'll be a little worried.