Elephant Rumblings: Oakland’s Catchers Have Room To Improve, 5 A’s Prospects Land on BP’s Top 101

A’s Coverage:

• Five A’s Break Into BP’s 2018 Top 101 Prospects...
• Introducing A’s Plus, The Chronicle’s podcast on the Oakland Athletics...
• A’s great Dave Stewart to be guest instructor this spring...
• A’s Bruce Maxwell may have resolution to legal issues before spring training...
• A’s catchers have room to improve at plate in ‘18...
• Oakland Athletics 2018 top-50 prospects: Greg Deichmann, OF...

MLB News:

• MLB players union says reports of a potential spring training boycott are ‘false’...
• Rangers add more rotation depth, sign veteran Bartolo Colon to a minor-league deal...
• Dominican Republic snaps 11-game slide in Caribbean Series...
• Astros, OF George Springer agree to 2-year, $24 million deal...
• J.T. Realmuto loses to Marlins in salary arbitration...

Baseball Interest Stories:

• Baseball payrolls could drop for first time in nearly a decade as free-agent freeze deepens...
• A Possible Path Forward for the MLBPA: Disband...

Today in Baseball History:

• 2002 – On what amounted to a busy day off the diamond, Major League Baseball announces the withdrawal of its plan for contraction this upcoming season, but the sport is still determined to eliminate two teams in 2003. Attempts to contract the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos this season could not be accomplished due to a series of legal decisions and fierce opposition from the Players Association.
• Also on this day in 2002, the Houston Astros file a motion in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, asking the court to determine whether the 30-year naming agreement with Enron signed in 1999 should continue. The team does not want to call its stadium Enron Field any longer due to the financial burden placed on many Houston-area residents caused by the bankrupt energy company’s disputable business practices.

Best of Twitter:

• It’s certainly possible the A’s still add a bigger-name starter...

• This was an enjoyable moment...

• Michaels then referred to Trout again, this time saying he played for the ‘Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’...