Introducing three new Athletics Nation writers!

We’re nearly 11 weeks into the MLB lockout, and in the meantime there is virtually no baseball news. Teams can’t make trades right now, nor do any transactions involving major leaguers.

Fortunately, Athletics Nation is not under the same restrictions, so we’ve signed three free agents to join our roster. Hopefully the league will follow suit soon!

Also, this is technically news. Let’s cover it!

We got lots of wonderful responses to the last couple calls for contractor applications, and I regret that I wasn’t able to personally respond to everybody who took the time to submit something. I will try to double back and do so, but if I don’t, then thank you for your interest and effort. This also isn’t the only round of hiring we’ll be doing this year, especially when (if?) the A’s start playing games, so there will be more opportunities upcoming.

In the meantime, we’ve got three new names to meet! Including two we’ve met before.

Daniel Tatomer

Happy 2022, AN! Some of you may remember me as CatfishBunter. I hosted game threads and did recaps for the site before the pandemic, and I’m very excited to be back as a contributor.

I live in Los Angeles but have been a lifelong A’s fan, being born in Stockton, CA to parents who backed the green and gold. I dreamed of being a big league pitcher when I was a kid, and I once struck out eight consecutive batters in little league. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there for me. Maybe I should have stuck with a sidearm delivery!

I live vicariously and enviously through those of you who actually live in the Bay Area and see games at the Coliseum regularly. I do have some very good friends and family up there, so I pay a visit and catch a game from time to time. I live in LA’s Eagle Rock neighborhood with my lovely wife of 13 years and four cats. When they set off fireworks at Dodger Stadium, I can hear them at home. But never a bandwagon jumper have I been — Let’s Go Oakland!

Cody F. Schmidt

Hey AN Faithful! I’m Cody, and I’m overjoyed to be back writing for you all.

If you don’t remember me, I’m a Canadian A’s fan up in Edmonton. I’ve been following the team closely for over a decade now, and have even made my way south to the Coliseum a few times to enjoy an 805 in the sun.

I also was part of the game recap crew for the 2019 season, where I got to cover such highs as Mike Fiers’ No-No. For now, I’ll be part of the Elephant Rumblings crew, keeping you up to date on what’s going on in the wide world of baseball.

Here’s hoping the lockout doesn’t push the season too far, and we can get back to watching the Athletics take the field soon!

Connor Ashford

Hey Athletics Nation! I’m Connor, Bay Area born and raised. In 2006 when I was 12 I was looking for something to watch on the TV when I saw the Oakland A’s were facing the Colorado Rockies and put it on. The A’s won 3-2 in extra innings thanks to two Nick Swisher home runs, including a game-tying 9th inning bomb, and it was so exciting I put the A’s on the next day, and then the next, and well, here we are 16 years later and I’ve hardly missed a game since then. I still have my Nick Swisher poster from that year (side note: was devastated when they traded him).

Writing about the A’s has been the goal since that fateful day in 2006, attending Sacramento State and covering the baseball and softball teams with the sole ambition of getting my Bachelors in Sports Journalism so that my job in life was getting to write about the Oakland A’s. So you can imagine how stoked I am to get to write for Athletics Nation, a website I’ve read obsessively for years.

I literally can not wait until the season starts and I get to start covering some games for everyone. Here’s to a fun 2022 for the Athletics!

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To start out, you’ll see Daniel and Cody splitting the Elephant Rumblings daily links, with Connor providing team analysis. Welcome to our new writers!