FanPost

DLD 3/19: More trade news

Firstly, check out my Freddie Bynum diary and weigh in with your thoughts.

Now that we've finished the shameless self promoting, here are todays top stories:

Juan Cruz in the trade winds?: In the notes part of today's A's notebook (Susan Slusser) there is a brief part (in the section titled "briefly") about interest in Juan Cruz.

Briefly: The White Sox have interest in reliever Juan Cruz, who's slated to go to Triple-A Sacramento. Cruz picked up a cut fastball and hasn't allowed an earned run in his six innings.

Very interesting... I don't think the A's should trade him yet. If he's picked up a new pitch, he can still be valuable. Problem is, there is no room. They should hold on to him for now. Candidates?

The bulk of the notebook is more good news about Frank Thomas.

And here is another article by Slusser, this time about the 4 younguns who are key to the A's success. Very nice things to hear.

About DJ:

After hitting .332 for two months, Johnson batted .187 over his final 31 games, but many observers believe he'll bounce back. Several American League scouts this spring have said they believe Johnson could have a big year, and Billy Owens, the A's director of player personnel, said, "I think Dan is primed for a break (out)year.'' He cited Johnson's almost even strikeout-walk ratio, 50 walks and 52 strikeouts, along with his consistent numbers at every level.

"D.J. can flat-out hit, holy smokes,'' Swisher said. "I'm looking for big things from him.''

A's notes from MLB.com courtesy of Rick Eymer.

In there is more about Thomas' day and some stuff about our returning WBC'ers.

Street said one of the best parts of the Classic experience was being able to watch Roger Clemens prepare for a game.

"I never had an extended period of time with him, but I picked his brain, listened to him and watched him do everything," Street said. "I'm not really much of an autograph guy, but this was a select group of guys, and I got autographs from pretty much everyone on the team."

Street, sporting a beard, also pointed out his bag full of souvenirs and a box full of mementos.

I don't have much time, so i'll finish with this:

MY BRACKET SUCKS, IT'S THE WORST I'VE EVER DONE. I literally have to be right about EVERY SINGLE game from here on AND have 14 seed Northwestern State beat 6 seed West Virginia to win this thing. At least there is still hope.

P.S. I had a great fantasy draft last night with other AN members. It's on!

Update [2006-3-19 11:6:24 by ohad]:: FJM weighs in on some stupid fantasy baseball article.

My favorite part:

There are some players who are just much better on the field than they are in the box score. Here is an All-Star team of players who aren't the best choices for your fantasy squads.

FJM:I've skimmed a little bit ahead, and let me just say, if these guys were all on your team, "All-Star" is not one of the words you would be using to describe them. Also, the premise for this article is borderline retarded. (italics mine)

LOL