Athletics Nation, an Oakland Athletics community

The inside scoop on Josh Reddick, Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, Brad Peacock, A.J. Cole, Derek Norris, Miles Head, Michael Choice, Sonny Gray, Sean Doolittle and more…

A’s super scout and Moneyball bad guy Grady Fuson talks about his life in baseball and A’s top prospects Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Choice, Sonny Gray, Sean Doolittle, Jermaine Mitchell, Yordy Cabrera and Blake Hassebrock – and even answers the burning question, "What happened to Ben Grieve?"

Baseball and punk rock! Interesting to see what was being said about steroids, budgets, the importance of on-base percentage, and the necessity of the A’s having to re-invent themselves ten years ago.

Billy Beane talks about Yoenis Cespedes, the Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey deals, the starting rotation battle, what he looks for in minor league players, and his favorite bands.

...more than The Natural, Field of Dreams and Bull Durham

It's not surprising that a Chicago writer is taking a shot at the 2012 Athletics payroll - the key paragraph follows. "MLB should have a minimum payroll. It would require all teams to at least attempt to be somewhat competitive, and fairness is an issue. For instance, how much of an advantage will the Angels and Rangers have in the wild-card race because they have 19 games each against Oakland?" It does impact the WC possibilities in other divisions to have such a potentially weak team in the AL West.