I was reading Slusser's latest post when close to the bottom I noticed these tidbits (in the blockquote) about the centerfielder position:

Crisp back on radar? Boston has considered moving center fielder Coco Crisp since the end of last season, and the A's have been linked to Crisp several times. Now, the teams are believed to be discussing Crisp again.

If the Red Sox were to ask for any of the A's top prospects, Oakland would want someone like young center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury rather than Crisp.

Chris Denorfia, the frontrunner for the A's center field spot, is batting .138 this spring, and Ryan Sweeney another possibility, is batting .200 and might be best suited to a corner spot. Denorfia, who is from New England, might even be a Boston target.

Briefly: A's manager Bob Geren said that outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is unlikely to play in the next week because of a right hamstring strain. That puts Gonzalez's status for the Japan trip in doubt, although Geren said nothing has been decided. Gonzalez, obtained in the Haren deal, had an outside shot at a roster spot, but was considered a better bet to open the season at Triple-A Sacramento, and this injury might clinch that

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I figured, what better time to do my first DLD? Mine will be all A's. (Of course, feel free to dump on anything, as I'm sure you will!)

First off: Mychael Urban writes that the A's could surprise in 2008. Sure....there are all kinds of surprises. Anyway, I'm a little surprised he didn't pencil in Eveland or Meyer for the starting rotation, since both are out of options. Also he put Gaudin as #2 in the rotation (way too optimistic, I really doubt he'll be ready for at least the first month of the season following hip and foot surgery).

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As Blez and Nico pointed out in front page posts this week, Beane seemed to be leaning toward making a run at contending in 2008, which would mean keeping Haren (and perhaps Blanton), plus adding extra players for the short term ("Voldemort"). Several sportwriters also had supported this latest turn (Marty Lurie's blog today had an entry to this effect.)

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The Elias rankings are out for major league players. They are used to determine whether  a player is considered "A" or "B". While most players listed are not free agents right now, this of course has been used to determine what kind of draft compensation a team can expect if they lose a player to free agency.

Players' performance over the past two seasons are used to rank them. I'm sure there will be some questions about the rankings, but it's certainly interesting.

AL rankings are here

NL rankings are here

As far as our Oakland Athletics go, only Swish is rated "A" among outfielders, first basemen, and DH's. None are "type A" for 2B, SS or 3B...Ellis is a "B"...Haren and Blanton are "A" starters, while Street and Embree are "A" relievers. Street is considered the third best reliever in the AL, behind only JJ Putz and Joe Nathan.

who saw this one coming?

Brad Fischer, Rene Lachemann and Bob Schaefer have all been let go. Beane did say when he extended Geren's contract that he wanted Geren to have a chance to choose his own coaches...so the older ones (who weren't hired last year, except for Curt Young) got canned.  Then again, Bob Schaeffer was also hired last year, but I think the hiring process was well underway before Geren was named manager.

Wonder if Geren had any input on hiring of the Two Tys last season?

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I have one ticket for sure -- possibly two -- available for the A's last game of 2007. The seat(s) are together in Section 226. They are season tickets and thus were $18 apiece. However, I'm willing to let one -- maybe both if you want two -- for a reasonable offer.

As far as getting the tickets, I will be at today's game so could arrange to meet you there. Alternatively, I live in Oakland so can meet somewhere mutually convenient.

If you're interested please respond in this diary.

Ken Korach just told Marty Lurie that the A's are planning to have Rich Harden make two starts this month. The first will be on the road, at Cleveland, while the second start is planned to be against the Angels during the closing weekend of the season -- at home, on Friday (fireworks night).

Just thought I'd post this for those of you who don't get to listen to Marty's show.

or perhaps leave baseball entirely, had the A's out of desperation not acquired him.

I just read Ostler's story about Jack Cust. Quite moving:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...

Certain phrases, such as 'seeing players who couldn't carry his bat' get MLB jobs, being "half asleep" during endless minor league games in front of 100 people, even going to his hotel room these days and "staring at the walls" until it was time for the next game, make it clear that he doesn't feel he's in a fairy tale now, just where he has deserved to be for some time.