Braden will be sent down, and either Sweeney will be optioned to AAA or Davis will be DFA’d.

might not be a concern. If he continues to have problems with it he could be a candidate for the DL.

I’d really prefer to see Buck start hitting consistently, playing every day at AAA, before he gets activated. (By the way, I noticed he started the game in AAA playing center field.)

There is not a chance that Brown or Devine goes anywhere. Foulke was a wild-ass play by Beane, but there’s no way he sends out one of the younger guys who are performing like studes for Foulke. I can see Braden going back to AAA, which does leave the pen righty heavy. Perhaps Smith or Eveland goes to the pen when Harden comes back? That’s a tough one because they really need those guys ready to start when Harden next goes down. I can’t imagine pulling Smith from the rotation at this point. So maybe Eveland to the DL if he feels anything funny on his next start. Buck in CF at Sacto tells me that Sweeney will get the boot when Buck is ready to come back. They could also try to slip Davis through waivers and go with 12 pitchers to see if Harden is really healthy.

I know he’s supposedly been “clutch” (which to me looks more like he’s a #5 hitter who gets up to bat a whole lot w/RISP), but his OBP is .296 and his SLG is .398, he’s 33 years old, and he’s one a one-year deal and isn’t going to be a part of this team after this season.

Sending Sweeney or Denorfia down could work, but I still don’t understand why Emil Brown is getting at bats. In my opinion, every at bat he gets not only typically hurts the A’s chances of winning now (Because he mostly sucks with a few bright spots), but he’s taking an at bat away from a younger, more talented, and more deserving player.

I would go with 11 pitchers because of the unresolved questions for the offense, where there is less flexibility.

Offense:
1)I think maybe they should keep Sweeney around awhile longer, as insurance against Frank being done. On the other hand, the problems with that are that he is currently a wasted roster spot/taking pt from Barton and that if insurance is the reason to keep him around, the Frank-being-possibly-done issue needs a month more since Frank has most of the upside of the two, and the roster crunch will come before then. Plus, even without Frank, Sweeney + Cust-in-the-OF is not really any better than Cust DHing, with some other OFer. Basically, I just convinced myself that Sweeney should go, nice guy and everything…

2) I would rather keep Davis than Brown. Davis looks to be a plus plus CFer and a great guy to have off the bench, whereas Brown looks to only have a platoon role.

3)To avoid that decision, which would lose one of those players, R. Sweeney should be the first to go. He’s a pretty worthless major league player at this point.

So… Buck should replace R. Sweeney, a possible 12th pitcher (if they do that) should replace M. Sweeney, and the Patrol Craft should replace Brown when he gets healthy.

Rotation:
I would send Eveland to AAA for Harden so he can keep making starts. Sending him to the bullpen would be be bad. He needs to make starts. He can come up to replace Harden at any time.

Foulke: Replaces Braden, I guess. I would not mind it if they just cut him… He’s better than Braden as a reliever, but it’s a bit risky to go without a long man.

I would keep Davis over Denorfia (both speed guys but Davis is a better fielder and can get you SBs.) and send down Braden. Wait a while on Buck, he needs to prove he is healthy enough to give the A’s consistent PT and he needs to find his swing. Down the road, Brown might be the one ass out, R. Sweeney has been pretty clutch and although he has no power at all, he looks like a ball player. All of this will work itself out because in a few weeks we will have a better idea on whether this fast start is a fluke and the A’s need to go with a major youth movement this season or if they can hang and need guys around like M. Sweeney and E. Brown to solidify the line-up/bench. I really can’t wait to see Chavez in the mix with the rest of these bats instead of the horrible Murphy/Hanahan combo.

Duke is my first choice to leave the rotation. Again, it’s about who is a part of the future. Eveland and Smith are. Duke isn’t. And he has already been hurt, too. I think it’s only a matter of time until he goes down again. Why not put him in the bullpen where the impact of that will be cushioned significantly?

Plus, I think Eveland and Smith are going to be better in the long run anyway.

He simply has not been hitting this year, so there’s no reason at all for the A’s to call him up until he gets going. He has his full slate of options available, so there’s little harm in using one, if necessary, to keep him down longer than the 15 days of rehab time allowed. When he comes back, assuming everyone is still healthy and playing more or less like they’ve played to this point, I’d definitely send Sweeney down.

I’d send Braden down to make room for the first pitcher and Smith down to make room for the second. We have an embarrassment of riches in the rotation, as long as Harden is healthy, so we’re not really losing anything by sending Smith down. It might even be better for us and him, in the long run, to limit his MLB innings a bit this year, helping to keep him fresh and healthy. (AAA is a more controlled, less stressful environment in which to pitch)

who we need to send down vs. last year who was left to call up and fill in.

Thx Billy for giving us this “tough” dilemma.

Who would be the back-up 1B if we let M. Sweeney go? I know Barton showed some durability by playing in the first 25 or so games, but he’s probably going to need a couple more days off as the season wears on. Would they be as few and far between as to make it ok for Frank to be the official back-up? Or is there someone else already on the 25-man whom I’m not aware of that is serviceable at first?

Personally I’d like to see Mike stay on the team. He’s been hitting well and it seemed like he was just finding his power stroke as his playing time was diminished. Add in the insurance against Frank being done, his place in the all-righty lineup, and potential trade-bait and it seems like a good idea to keep him around.

Harden comes back -> Smith sent down
Foulke comes back -> Braden sent down
Buck comes back—> Davis is DFA’d

Those also seem to me to be the most sensible moves. Smith is pitching well right now, but I don’t see any big rush to make him a cornerstone of the rotation. The other guys have been pitching well, too, and offer a lot more in terms of trade bait with continued success. Braden has been well short of overwhelming, and his option for this year has already been used anyway. See ya later, thanks for the changeups. Davis doesn’t seem to stand out in any respect other than speed. Luis Castillo with no bat. Sweet.

If there is ever a really huge roster crunch, I am at least open to the idea of releasing Embree, and making Eveland the LH setup guy. Watching Embree pitch is pretty scary, his G/F ratio has gotten very low, and I really swear these flyouts are going to start leaving yard. At this point, Embree is almost a LOOGY anyways, Eveland in the pen can get tough lefties and not leave me covering my eyes vs righties.

To me the question is, if Eveland is going to be squeezed out of the rotation, do you want him starting in Triple A or relieving in the majors? If you want him to be relieving in the majors, then Embree might have to lose his job. I would feel bad, he’s a nice guy who loves crossword puzzles.

I’m going to cling steadfast to my insistence that until Duke pitches his way out of the rotation or injures his way out of the rotation, he has earned the right to get an extended look at starting.

SO:
Foulke’s return sends Braden down.
Harden’s return squeezes Eveland from rotation (Roster spot either Eveland to AAA or Embree out to pasture)
Buck’s return sends Sweeney down
I’d prefer to dump Brown when Cargon is ready, but probably have to demote Denorfia for political reasons.

I miss swisher…

He was the only reason my mom watched games.

This is Ellis’s last year, yeah? He’d be likely to command some serious dough on the open market. Are the A’s going to be able to re-sign him? I’d hope so, but if not, where the trade at…

But though this doesn’t necessarily help with the roster crunch, I would sign Barry Bonds. If we’re making moves that assume competition for the playoffs this year (which seems to be the case) signing Barry is the best move. I would run the roster like this

C Suzuki
1B Barton
2B Ellis
SS Crosby
3B Hannahan
LF Bonds
CF Denorfia
RF Cust
DH Thomas

C Bowen
IF Murphy
IF Sweeney
OF Davis
OF Buck

SP Blanton
SP Gaudin
SP Eveland
SP Smith
SP Harden

SW Duchscherer
RP Casilla
RP Embree
RP Brown
RP Street
RP Devine

So I guess that would send out Braden, R Sweeney, Brown, and Foulke. None of the 4 are all that useful this year imo, so send them down if possible if not DFA.

I would keep Davis and Buck because with that OF group we will need defensive replacements a lot + I want guys who are at least serviceable in CF (solid in Davis’s case, I think serviceable in Buck’s) as there will be a lot of ground to cover with Bonds in left and Cust in right.

As for the rotation situation I prefer duke in a relief role as I’m not sure of his sustainability as a starter, plus I expect Harden to be hurt quickly and he can slide back in as a starter.

As for the relievers I suppose you can swap Foulke and Devine if you’re really enamored with Foulke but its more of a feel good story to me then usefulness this year.

Any plan that does not spell out the contingency when (not if) Harden goes down is not a complete plan.

I just don’t see us losing one of our hitters. Our offense will not be nearly as “non-sucky” if we didn’t have this many options.

I’m OK with sending Smith down at this point, even with the 10K game. First, I don’t think he’ll continue to be that good, if he pitches a no-hitter in AAA after he goes back, you can all sue me. Second, I don’t think he’ll have to stay at AAA that long. If he does, that means the whole starting staff stayed healthy, and pitched well, and we wouldn’t be worried about Smith staying in AAA for a little while longer.

My list is Braden, Smith goes down for Harden and Gaudin. If Buck hits, then send Sweeny down for Buck. Smith is the one back once Harden gets injured.