SportsBlogs Nation is really fortunate as we have John Sickels writing the best minor league blog on the Web in Minor League Ball.  Sickels does excellent work at that blog and I suggest you make it part of your daily reading.

I figured it was a great time to check in with him since that's what most of us A's fans have done with 2008, and that's look forward to 2009 and beyond.  Oh and make sure you pick up Baseball Prospect Book 2009 when John releases it next year.  It will be chock full of A's prospects.  Hope you enjoy.

Blez:  - The A's got Eric Patterson, Sean Gallagher and Josh Donaldson back for Rich Harden and out of all of the Billy Beane deals in recent years, this one seems to get the most heat.  You gave Patterson a B, Gallagher a B and Donaldson a B.  You're also a notoriously hard grader so a B is a very good prospect.  What do you think the A's ultimately will have to show for a pitcher who couldn't stay healthy?

John Sickels:  Well I like Gallagher a lot, he has been a personal favorite for some time. He is erratic, yes, and he needs to get his walk rate down closer to what it was in the minor leagues, but as long as he remains healthy I still think he's going to be a solid number three starter, an inning-eater type. Patterson isn't really a .195 hitter, I think he's more of a .260-.270 hitter with flashes of power and good speed. He's not terrific but he should be useful. I might have stuck with him a bit too long as a Grade B prospect. Donaldson was having a bad season before the trade, but seemed to get back on track at Stockton after it. Granted, that's a better place to hit than the Midwest League, but still, the Cal League is a level higher than the Midwest League and at least some of the improvement is real. I'd rate him a Grade C+ right now. If everything pans out, they will have a number three starter, a speedy guy who can cover a couple of positions, and power hitting catcher.  

Blez:  Many minor league experts talked throughout the year about the A's young pitching in their system as being the envy of all of baseball.  Of Cahill, Anderson and Mazzaro, which do you think can make the jump right into the rotation next year?

Sickels:  Tough question. I like Cahill and Anderson better than Mazzaro at this point since they have been more consistent. I suspect that Anderson will be ready the soonest, but that Cahill will end up as the best pitcher of the group in the long run. Mazzaro was great in the Texas League obviously but got hit around in the PCL. That's hardly damning of course, but I'm not quite as sold on him given the entirety of his track record. I want to look at more scouting reports as I write my book before I grade him.      

Blez:  Are you higher on Sean Doolittle now?  You gave him a B- in this year's Prospect Book due mostly to his lower batting average.  He was up over .300 this year. 

Sickels:  I was actually more worried about the lack of power in his first look at pro pitching in 2007 than I was about his batting average. He slugged .560 in the Cal League, but reverted to .388 in the Texas League with much worse strike zone judgment and a high strikeout rate. I might go with Grade B now, but I haven't decided yet.

Moving up a level can play havoc with a guy. Look at what happened with Craig Italiano this year; dominant in the Midwest League, then horrible in the Cal League. I saw Italiano early in the year for Kane County and he looked terrific, was really in gear with his combination of stuff and command, but it fell apart for him against better competition. I root for Italiano actually, given the injury adversity he's been through. I got to talk with him some this spring and he's a very interesting guy.

Blez:  What do you think of Henry Rodriguez now that he's kind of gone through major ups and downs this year?  Reliever or starter?

Sickels:  Probably a reliever in the long run. And a good one.    

Blez:  Finally, who would you rank as the A's best hitter in the system right now and the best pitcher?

Sickels:  Ask me again after I write up the Athletics system for my book. At this point I really don't know. They have so many people who would have to be considered. The turnaround in this system has been remarkable, through trades and the draft, that to do the question justice would take some time. Let's do this again after I write the Athletics up.