With Gonzalez, Denorfia, Sweeney, Buck, Cunningham, Cust, and whoever else I'm forgetting to mention manning the outfield positions for the future, it has made me wonder about the future of the middle infield.

Now, I'm pretty dumb, but I'm not dumb enough to not realize that good young middle infielders are harder to come by than outfielders.  But the A's seemingly have nothing in the way of middle infielders, or hell even third basemen.

Ellis is 31 years old, and likely has 3 or 4 more seasons with his excellent defense, and competent bat.  And even now he's never shown the ability to have two good years consecutively, if this streak continues we're likely in for a .250/.310/.380 season.  Although my thesis for Ellis is hardly scientific.  But as I said earlier three or four, I think is a solid estimate to how much time he has left, before we need a replacement.

Crosby will be 28 next season, and to this point has a half a season (2005) of being a productive baseball player.  I'm not an expert on baseball scouting, or anything of the sort, but is Crosby having all of the tools, and them not translating to results?  The only thing I've noticed is that he has absolutely zero two strike approach.  Is there a future for him?  Or is he a case of a promising 2003 AAA season, and nothing else?

On the farm:

Kevin Melillo-.262/.355/.442 in Sac last year

He was 25 last season, and seems to be cursed with "doubles" power, with a homerun swing, which translates into a lot of fly outs.  He has a good eye, and I know next to nothing about his defense.  But the best I think we can hope for is Mark Ellis-lite.  But I bet he sees 100+ at bats this year, if we trade Ellis (which I don't think we will.)

Gregorio Petit-.277/.327/.353 in 235 at bats at Sac last year

By everything I've read is a wizard with the glove, but looks to pretty light with the bat. 22 is fairly young for AAA, so perhaps there is room to grow there, one can only hope.  But he's looking like a future Scutaro with a better glove.  Which isn't to say that's a bad thing at all.

Donnie Murphy-.220/.290/.441 in 118 at bats in Oakland last year

He'll be 25 next season, and showed pretty impressive power in his stint with them last year.  I'v seen some posts on here that talk highly of the guy, but I don't see it.  At best I think he turns into a Jose Valentin type player (low OBP, high SLUG), and at worst AAAA fodder.  But given Crosby's struggle and injury history, he'll see a lot of at bats and I'll have a better opinion of the man.

Cliff Pennington-.251/.343/.336 in AA

It's hard to call a 23 year old a bust, but the more he doesn't hit, the more it seems likely that's what he is. It's likely that he'll repeat in Midland this year, but if he doesn't manage to top .270/.370/.400, it might be time to forget about him.

Even further down there is Joshua Horton who showed a great eye at Kane County last year (.417 OBP), but in under 125 at bats.  So, it's too soon to really gauge him yet.

As an aside did Jermaine Mitchell ever play second base?  Or JD Pruitt who had a .460 OBP with an average under .230 last year at Vancouver, while being hit by 34 pitches.  How is that even possible?