Elephant Rumblings: A’s Exec on Mateo, Broadcast Schedule Announced

A lot of talk coming out of FanFest was centered around top prospect Jorge Mateo, so I asked an A's exec about him. Here's what he had to say:

— Julian McWilliams (@JulianMack105) February 2, 2018

On what he sees from Mateo overall: "The first thing that stands out about Jorge is his speed. And it’s the top of the scale speed. He’s easy to stand out in that sense. He’s an athletic defender, he’s quick twitched."

— Julian McWilliams (@JulianMack105) February 2, 2018

On where he sees Mateo hitting in lineup: "I think one or two hole. (He's the) top of the lineup or the bottom of the lineup type of guy. He’s not a power-oriented type of guy, (but) he’s wiry strong."

— Julian McWilliams (@JulianMack105) February 2, 2018

On if Mateo will stick at shortstop: "I sure hope so. I think he’s still learning and growing into the position. He does some things that you can't teach athletically. To play up the middle you have to be very, very consistent and again that’s where he’s learning and growing."

— Julian McWilliams (@JulianMack105) February 2, 2018

Also mentioned that he played some center with the Yanks in Double-A and his manager raved about him there. But the A's still see him as a shortstop.

— Julian McWilliams (@JulianMack105) February 2, 2018

One other note on MLB’s pace-of-play proposal: Mound visits would be limited to six per game in 2018.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 1, 2018

Mound visits are underrated. Here’s a story I wrote about them last year: Visiting pitchers can be a hoot https://t.co/epwFy8T1Ph via @sfchronicle

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 2, 2018

Report: MLB prepared to accept MLBPA's proposal to bring back bullpen carts in 2018. https://t.co/XsY0UOWr70 pic.twitter.com/NTJ5LWqt9p

— theScore (@theScore) February 2, 2018