The A's parted ways with first baseman Daric Barton and left-handed pitcher Travis Blackley today in favor of two minor league pitchers. Blackley's release is something of a surprise - Barton's isn't at all.

The A's have now concluded their Cactus League action, and head back to the Bay Area for the traditional preseason showdown with the Giants.

If you don't care about Cactus League results, then you probably don't care that Oakland evened up its record at 12-12. But they still did.

What should the A's do about Daric Barton, the team's longest-tenured position player?

Shane Peterson, and his "for-realness" level, are the subject of John Sickels' lead post on minorleagueball.com this morning.

Some morning A's related links, and we will keep the gametime discussion here, too.

Today, the 8-8 Rangers face off against the 8-8 A's. Our mighty bearded heroes will battle for second place, as the Mariners are still leading the AL West pack with an 11-7 record. Were it not...

Athletics Nation reached out to him to make sure our Community Prospect List was included, to add "a local flavor to the mix", as he said. To summarize, Addison Russell is at the top, and everyone...

Yoenis Cespedes recently had a huge burden lifted when his family arrived safely in the United States.

My focus for this interview was less baseball itself, and more the remarkable year it has been for a kid who, at this time last year, was not quite yet getting ready for the prom.