I'm kinda surprised we have any room in the entire system for anyone else.

I agree that Saarloos is a good guy to have around, though it's a little hard for me to say exactly what the practical difference between the Saarloos and no-Saarloos scenarios would be.

And I noticed in the transaction list you liked to that the M's have signed Arthur Rhodes to a minor-league contract, as well.

pretty much called it...

http://www.athleticsnation.com/comme...

I didn't think he was a big talent but he was very professional and effective most of the time. He fullfilled his duties as a number 5 starter for us fairly well.
However, he did so poorly for Cinci last year...it worries me to see him back. We have enough so so pitchers.

A Major League contract? When we already have our roster FULL as far as pitchers go? I could understand a minor league deal, but a MLB Contract, with a guy who nobody wants, and couldn't even get a minor league deal with anyone else?

can battle it out for a spot in the rotation!

Saaarlooos. Mostly so that when we pick him up again at age 38, he can be Saaaarloooos.

Saarloos will probably show up in Oakland at some point, but he is around mainly to fill up the River Cats' rotation and allow the organization to keep some of the real prospects at Midland rather than rushing them to AAA.

will join the A's rotation sometime this year. I personally don't see that happening. I don't even see him joining the bullpen, we have too many players ahead of him that are better.

Saarloos has never really had an awe-inspiring K rate in the Majors, nor a good WHIP, and now no longer can put together a good ERA. He had a 3.95 ERA in the NL last year and a 7,17 ERA in the minors.

As I see it, the following players would be ahead of him for an MLB job, discounting the obvious locks. In no order;

Dan Meyer
Dana Eveland
Jeremey Blevins
Gio Gonzalez
Andrew Brown
Dallas Braden
Joey Devine
Lenny DiNardo
Santiago Casilla
Brad Ziegler
Jeff Gray
Greg Smith

Thats a lot of frogs to leap to get to the Majors, and a lot of potential injuries.

to find that drink coaster Kirk signed in the Field Irish Pub back in....when was that...2005 or 06?  And to think I could have gotten it co-signed by Robert Buan...thus tripling its value.

is open possibilities to trade Blanton without necessarily gunning for a Major League ready starter.  Of all the pitchers Zonis listed, none can be counted on to pitch full seasons.  If Blanton is traded, and assuming the A's don't get a 2008 rotation competitor in return, I count 8 guys who could start.

Harden - MAJOR injury concerns
Duke - slightly smaller injury concerns
Gaudin - ditto
Eveland - never pitched a full season
Smith - never pitched a major league inning
DiNardo - oddly, the most reliable guy in the rotation, or bullpen
Meyer - Injury history, poor results in limited MLB experience
Braden - Poor results in limited MLB experience.

Add Saarloos and you've got 9.  9 pitchers to spread out roughly 1000 innings of work.  I considered leaving Harden off the list entirely, due to his certain uncertainty.  

Nine potential starters isn't too many.  In fact, it may be too few.  Save for Blanton, I'll bet anybody here a Sacagawea dollar that nobody in the A's organization right now throws 190 innings next year.  

Saarloos had a bad year last year, but only threw 43 innings.  In 305 innings with the A's, he compiled a 4.43 ERA.  Not terrible, actually pretty average, especially for a minor league contract.

Better Saarloos for the minimum than Loaiza for $7 million.

david forst says:

"We need as many bodies as we can get and Kirk is looking for a place to get himself back on the map," A's assistant general manager David Forst said. "It's good risk/reward from our standpoint and Kirk is a good guy to have around."

and kirk says:

"There's hardly anyone I even know," Saarloos said. "But it's exciting, it kind of feels like when I first came over, like I'm back where I started - coming into the spring not on the roster and trying to win a spot."

and on his terrible season with the Reds:

"Nothing seemed to go right," he said. "But the A's know what I can do and I think this is the best fit for me. Oakland's going young, they're in a rebuilding phase, and for me, it's a great opportunity because they might need a little filler so they don't have to rush these young guys or start their clocks too soon."

link

"bodies", that's why they signed Saarloos to a minor league contract with a spring training invite.

Think about it. Even if they don't trade Blanton, they are looking at a rotation that could include some combination of Meyer/Eveland/DiNardo/Braden (gulp...Windsor?Komine?)...

Gaudin won't be ready at the beginning of the season. Harden cannot be assumed to stay healthy.

So yeah, Saarloos is a body.

I wonder if Keiichi Yabu is still available.

to see Langerhans show up as signed again too, at this rate.

The sad thing is that he might be our best starter if Blanton is traded and Gaudin starts the year on the DL.  

Next signing:  John Wasdin

Buried in the same USA transaction listing was:

PITTSBURGH PIRATES-Agreed to terms with 1B Adam LaRoche on a one-year contract. Named Brad Fischer manager, Sid Bream coach and Wilson Alvarez pitching coach for State College (NYP) and Gary Green manager for Hickory (SAL).

So it was good to see that Fish hooked (no pun intended)on with someone, even if it only was in the Pittsburg minor league system.  I remember many a chat with Fish in the A's bullpen, where my season tickets are located.  He's a great guy and still wonder how he rubbed BB wrong to get the heavy ho after more than 20 years in the A's organization.

Now go kick some AAA butt!

who's thrown in a no hitter

for whatever that's worth, I guess not much

he's also part of a major league record iirc

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...

Anyone remember this game?

...why people absolutely LOVED Saarloos, while everyone hated Joe Kennedy. They seemed like the same type of pitcher to me. THeir numbers are pretty similar.

Saarloos isn't really a good pitcher. I doubt he even makes are very thin rotation...or even makes the team.

Also keep in mind Saarloos's "good" year with us, he put up a 2.9K/9IP.

Ranked 207 out of 211 pitchers...