He should get a chance this year as the backup catcher. Maybe he’ll stay healthy playing one day a week.

Possible above average major league starter

Powell
Desme
Rosario
Galarraga
House

Possible useful major league spare part

Baisley
Recker
Morla
Banwart

Having a hard time seeing him above replacement level

Barfield

Knocking out Desme and Powell due to their injuries, I’m left with Rosario.

We’re going through the A’s top billion prospects? is that right?

then I saw Sickels’ grades for the Rangers. Now I’m depressed.

The A’s have, with Sickels bumping them up, two A- prospects in Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson.

Our next highest is #3 Aaron Cunningham, with a B grade. We have a total of 6 B’s and 7 B-’s.

The Rangers have an A (Neftali Feliz), and two A-‘s (almost A and former AN Favorite Justin Soak, and Elvis Andrus). The Rangers have then another B+ (Derek Holland), followed by 5 B’s and 2 B-’s.

So while we have 15 B- or above to the Rangers 11 B- or above, the top of their system (which is what really matters as far as Star power goes) dwarfs ours, as our two A-’s had to get bumped up, and they still have an A and a B+ besides.

Damn I am so pissed that the Rangers nabbed Smoak! If only we had lost that last game of the year…

Looking at the list we’ve got going for us;

Starting Pitching:
Trevor Cahill (AAA)
Brett Anderson (AAA)
Gio Gonzalez (AAA)
James Simmons (AAA)
Vin Mazzaro (AAA)
Michel Inoa (RK)
Henry Alberto Rodriguez (AA)
Fautino De Los Santos (AA)
Alex Arnold Leon (A+)
Josh Outman (AAA)
Brett Hunter (A+)
Tyson Ross (A+)

We have a LOT of Pitching depth. Almost everyone on that list can become a #3 Starter or better if things work out for them (Mainly control, as with DSL, Rodriguez, Outman, Ross, Gonzalez) . And a huge chunk of that pitching depth is going to be at AAA next year, knocking on the door. With 6 Starting Pitchers who could be at AAA next year, not counting the existing pitchers there or Jerome Williams for that matter, I’d expect one of Outman or Gonzalez to make the A’s rotation out of Spring Taining.

But also, perhaps it is time to convert some of that surplus to offensive talent, which we’ve seriously lacked in the past few years. We’ve already started a bit of that with Holliday, trading two pitchers (one good, one not so good) and a promising centerfielder for him.

Compare it to the offensive depth charts.

First Base/Designated Hitter:
Chris Carter (AA) (probably at 3B)
Sean Doolittle (AA) (probably at 1B)
Matt Spencer (AA) (probably in the outfield or DH)

Middle Infield:
Adrian Cardenas (AA)
Jemile Weeks (A+)
Nino Leyja (SS)
Gregorio Petit (AAA)
Jason Christian (A-)
Dustin Coleman (A-)

Third Base:
Chris Carter (AA)
Adrian Cardenas (AA)

Outfield:
Aaron Cunningham (AAA)
Sean Doolittle (AA)
Rashun Dixon (SS)
Corey Brown (AA)
Matt Sulentic (AA)
Matt Spencer (AA)
Javier Herrera (AAA)

Catcher:
Josh Donaldson (AA)
Pete Paramor (C-)
Landon Powell (AAA)
Joel Galarraga (AAA/MEX)
Anthony Recker (AA/AAA)

It seems we have two good prospects (excluding Barton) at 1B, pretty much no one at 3B, and our Middle Infield prospects, outside of Cardenas, are quite a few years away, even if they are fast tracked. And Cardenas still has at least a year, maybe two before he’s ready. And even then, we don’t know what position he will end up playing.

Catcher is less of a priority, as we have Suzuki there for now, and if Donaldson can stick there, and continue to hit, he can eventually replace him. One of Powell or Galarraga might also be able to replace Bowen this or next year when the time comes.

Outfield is a place of depth for the A’s as we have two young outfielders on the roster, a guy at AAA who could be ready very soon, if not now, then a slew of OF options (Including a 1B option if he is pushed from there). My hope honestly is that Corey Brown cuts down on the Strikeouts but keeps the power and on base skills, since that would make him an All Star CF in the Majors if he could indeed put up a .260/.375/.475 batting line.

But looking at all that pitching, and the lack of infield depth even at First Base (a traditional organizational strength), if we can, I’d like to grab some offense.

From Urban’s recent Mailbag;

The Scutaro trade saved $1.5 million and brought in a pair of 23-year-old pitchers in Kristian Bell and Graham Godfrey……. “According to Lieppman, Bell was one of the best pitchers at Oakland’s Minor League Spring Training last year, and his ugly numbers in limited action (20 1/3 innings) at Double-A Midland and Class A Stockton were the result of shoulder tendinitis that cost him much of the season. Godfrey didn’t have great numbers last year, either, posting a 5.10 ERA in 31 games (29 for Stockton and two starts at Triple-A Sacramento), but Lieppman said he was one of the team’s most consistent Minor League starters.”
 Link:http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081213&content_id=3716751&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

Is there some reason that neither Bell and Godfrey aren’t at least on the long list of pitchers to be considered?

he had pretty good numbers in the minors. Yes, he might be a little old for his level but he missed time due to injury (which is another factor in itself) but every one of these players have issues