http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3712578

"On other matters, Wolff said he's inclined to keep newly acquired outfielder Matt Holliday for the entire season, even if he becomes a free agent next November and leaves the A's.

"I'd rather take the two draft choices than lose him in the middle of the season," Wolff said.

Holliday, obtained from Colorado, is represented by Scott Boras, who advocates that clients not sign contracts before filing for free agency."

He also said something about a one-game playoff in the first round. Not cool given the A's history in the playoffs. That kind of looks bad.

Don't say that I can blame him, but personally I would rather the ace of the staff just suck it up and take the ball every five days.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_9929305?source=most_viewed

"It's tough. I played with all three of those guys for a while," Duchscherer said before Friday's 7-1 A's loss to the New York Yankees. "Sometimes you wonder as a player what the organization is doing, giving up on the season or what? But I'm just going to go out there and do my best to help us win."

...and

"As a player, obviously we want to go out there and win. We're trying to win a World Series. I believe as an organization that's our goal also," Duchscherer said. "(But) when you start trading these three guys within 10 or 15 days, you start thinking, 'Are we trying to get guys in here that are going to help us get to there, or are we trying to rebuild because they don't think we're good enough this season?'"

Two A's farmhands will wear the red, white and blue this summer. Kind of weird, the US looks to be taking minor leaguers instead of college kids.

"The team's first game is against Korea on Aug. 13. Team USA, which won gold in Sydney in 2000, is back in the Olympics after missing out on a bid in 2004.

Eight major league organizations landed two players on the Olympic roster: Oakland pitchers Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill; St. Louis outfielder Colby Rasmus and infielder Brian Barden; Angels infielder Matthew Brown and pitcher Kevin Jepsen; Philadelphia infielder Jason Donald and catcher Louis Marson; Colorado outfielder Dexter Fowler and pitcher Casey Weathers; Detroit infielder Mike Hessman and pitcher Blaine Neal; Dodgers pitcher Mike Koplove and infielder Terry Tiffee; and LaPorta and pitcher Jeff Stevens of the Indians.

The other six players are Baltimore pitcher Jake Arrieta, San Francisco pitcher Geno Espineli, Florida outfielder John Gall, Mets pitcher Brandon Knight, White Sox pitcher Clayton Richard and Texas catcher Taylor Teagarden."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3481747

I for one think with Sexson and Cust, the A's would have the market cornered on strike outs. Anyway, here's the story:

"The Mariners would have loved to have been able to trade the .218-hitting Sexson, but his $14 million salary this season made that nearly impossible. So now Seattle is eating the rest of that money in what may be the first of multiple moves to rid the last-place team of underperforming veteran players."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/s...

No matter what you thought of the guy while on the bump, I think we all felt a loss.

"Former major league pitcher Joe Kennedy, who passed away in November while at his in-laws' home near Tampa, was found to have died of natural causes, specifically hypertensive heart disease, according to the Hillsborough County (Fla.) medical examiner department."

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/sha...

Please oh please, let this rumor be true. Seems like John Schuerholz liked the Huddy deal and wants some more.
But, a rumor is a rumor.

"But as I’ve said, I still think the Braves might make a move or two before opening day, including the addition of another stopgap center fielder. And there is reason to believe that Oakland’s Mark Kotsay could be the guy.
I’m not saying a deal is imminent or even that the Braves have strong interest in the veteran Kotsay, but I’ve talked to people connected with both teams and have yet to have anyone tell me it’s not gonna happen. Maybe that’ll change soon, but so far nobody is shooting down the possibility, and that tells me something could be up."

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/new...

I guess someone has to pitch....

"The A's trimmed their list of arbitration-eligible players to three on Wednesday, signing righty Justin Duchscherer to a one-year deal for the 2008 season.
Per club policy, financial details of the contract were not disclosed. Duchscherer, 30, made a reported $1.19 million in 2007; a raise came with the new deal, but it did not move the former All-Star setup man (2005) over the $2-million mark."

Thanks to Bill Simmons for posting a similar link to the Boston Red Sox page: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/links/071227

Doing a little digging on the Cot's page (clicking on the A's link), I found the same page about our boys. Pretty interesting stuff.
http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2004/12/oakland-athletics.html

My favorites include:

Chavvy is on the hook for $11 mil plus a .5 million bonus this year. He also has veto rights to TOR MON TB NYM MIN MIL FL CLE

Ellis only got $1,000 signing bonus.

Harden has an escalator for innings pitched (smart move).

It actually says Casilla was formerly known as Jairo. Classic.

They have it linked over at www.firejoemorgan.com, but www.bustedcoverage.com has a 64-team tourney for best sports blog.

One round has FJM against a pretty popular site. Athleticsnation is heads up with Basketball Jones, and is in the lead. Here's their description:

"Visitors should read MoneyBall before visiting. You’ll be expected how to find undiscovered talent in the NY Penn League. Your typical team-specific site."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/s...

"The Arizona Diamondbacks and outfielder Eric Byrnes have agreed on a three-year contract worth about $30 million, the East Valley Tribune reported, citing an unnamed source."

Wow, I guess, good for him, but good god man. $10 mil a year. My dad always said you are only worth what people will pay. Hopefully this will quell all the folks who said the A's should have kept him. No way Billy Boy forks out that coin.
But just for the record, both guys the A's got for him are no longer with the team. I'm just saying.