The A's have cancer....maybe

You'd have to really hear how he said it ... I tell you what, he keeps hitting the ball like he is, and the A's will keep him up. Send Sweeney, Ryan down for a bit (or Denorfia in order to get his swing back.) I think he sticks.

or else i'd say send him to AAA now.

it's annoying when players go talking to the media about internal issues!

and the season has not even started yet!

I'd much rather give the roster spot to Sweeney. Dunno what Linden has to complain about, he was signed to a Minor League Deal so it's not like we were promising him anything. If he hasn't realized this by now then he should take notes, but baseball is first and foremost a business run by businessmen.

Linden goes 1-for-1 with a three-bagger in today's loss to the Brewers.
Avg. = .714

You are absolutely correct in you comments. Going to the media with complaints about upper management is the quickest way to a promotion.

Sincerely yours,

Brad Halsey

I mean, he may have a point. He's hitting great right now and maybe he does a little more of a shot. But it seems a little classless to make statements like this to press.

What are the other outfielders supposed to think when he basicaly says they all stink? He more or less said the A's had the least talented OF in the entire league and that as a career minor leaguer he is better than the other guys on the roster.

here for those who haven't already found it. It didn't seem to me to be grousing or complaining so much as expressing uncertainty -- probably not the smoothest approach, but hardly a clubhouse cancer.

It is funny, The kid has talent and has shown it all spring, and he is getting about the same number of at bats that everyone else is and he is complaining because he feels he no longer has a spot on the roster.

I think he should just keep playing the way he has. Denorfia has not been doing that great and it looks like R. Sweeney can play a good CF. It looks to me like they are giving everyone else the chance to see what they can do and if he shuts up and continues to play the way he has he could very well be 4th OF.

to voice his frustrations, but based upon what I read in the article, I would not call him a "clubhouse cancer". Honestly, we have no idea what he was told when he signed with Oakland. I think his main gripe, is that he signed with Oakland early in the off season, with the belief that he would be given a reasonable shot at making the club. I think he believes that he was duped , in a way to signing a minor league contract early, as opposed to holding out and getting a more sure fire shot at making the 25 man roster for another ball club. At least thats how I interpret the article. I can't blame him for being frustrated, but as I stated above, I think he is using the wrong forum to express his feelings... See what happens when you jump the gun and yap to the media, you get a bunch of bored A's fans debating about your status as a cancer to the clubhouse. And the season has not even started yet!

is the team's position on the subject. I understand his position. The team has plenty of rational responses; I just haven't heard them yet.

Shut up and keep swinging. Keep batting .700+ and they'll really have no choice but to put you on the major league squad.

HItting 700 is nice though its only 17 ST ABs so far. A ML career line of 231/303/335 in 500 ABs can't help his cause.

It seems that even if he was outrighted to Sacto and continued to play well he would have had or has a chance for recall at some point during the season. He's gotta know that there are no job guarantees in the ultra competitive world of ML baseball despite what the A's may have told him.

But in this case I think he was just venting his frustration at himself for not waiting. If he plays well i am sure we all want him on the team...but he never showed himself worthy of being a major leaguer when he was a Giant and they gave him plenty of chances to do so.

here's a mike sweeney article!

He's 34 and not looking beyond this year - or even this month, considering he's on a minor-league contract hoping to make the Opening Day roster.

"I think we're going to surprise a lot of people this year," he said. "Billy made some good trades. I'm optimistic the A's will be a great team in '08, and I'd feel lucky to be part of it."

"I never played on a playoff team, and I want that before I hang up my spikes," Sweeney said. "I'm hungry for that, and hopefully it's here in Oakland. If I suit up with the A's, I'm going to help these young guys, not only by example but by words."

Mark Teahen was traded from the A's to the Royals in June 2004. A few weeks after the trade, he approached Sweeney for advice on how to cope with losing.

"He said, 'You've been through it a long time. How do you continue to play hard when you're 20 games out of first place?' " Sweeney said. "I said, 'Every time you put on a uniform, you're one of 750 people in the entire world who do that, and you should have pride whether you're five games up in first place or 20 games out.'

"You never know when you're going to turn things around. Look at the Rockies last year. They never quit and went to the World Series. You've got to take that mentality, every game being the biggest game of the year."