3/25 A's Notes

Things are actually going on with the A's while I'm busy here getting philosophical (what is a fifth starter) and writing 1500 words about A's catchers.  Let's get to them in a blogger's favorite way...bullet points!

• The A's acquired Edwar Ramirez from the Rangers for Gregorio Petit.  Some fans and analysts (and the A's to a certain extent) had hopes that he could be a major league utility infielder.  His career minor league batting numbers are uniformly bad (save for a half season in Midland.  He hit hit .244/.292/.336 in Triple A last year and will be 27 this season.  Despite his ability to play every infield position, he isn't worth a major league roster spot.  And with Adam Rosales (who may make the big league club) and Steve Tolleson on board, Petit was potentially looking at a bench role in Sacramento.

• Ramirez is a former Yankee reliever (he was acquired by the Rangers for cash considerations earlier this Spring) and is mostly known for his killer change-up.  As much as I love his strikeout rates (he struck out 10.62 hitters per 9 innings between 2007 and 2009) he does everything else too poorly to be much of an asset in the pen.  He walks way too many batters (5.13 per nine between '07 and '09) with last season being especially horrific (7.36).  He's also a flyball pitcher who's worst season in the majors was his most recent.  He was brought in mainly to provide depth in the bullpen and, assuminga mostly healthy bullpen, will pitch in Sacramento.

• Speaking of bullpen health, there's some good-ish news coming out of Arizona on that front.  Andrew Bailey has resumed throwing, Michael Wuertz will pitch in a big league today, and Craig Breslow will resume throwing off of the mound.  This puts them all on track to be ready for Opening Day.  Joey Devine is even throwing again, though he's expected to start the season on the DL.

• On Sunday the A's sent nine guys to their minor league camp: pitchers Lenny DiNardo, Fernando Hernandez and Marcus McBeth, catcher Josh Donaldson, infielders Adrian Cardenas and Eric Sogard and outfielders Corey Brown and Matt Carson.  Gregorio Petit was also sent to the minor league camp before being shipped to Texas.  None of these cuts were a surprise, with only DiNardo and McBeth having any shot at all of making the team out of Arizona.  With the bullpen looking relatively healthy,their chances went down to zero.

• Though this isn't strictly about the A's, the prospect of Larry Ellison buying the Warriors is pretty exciting.  I'm an admittedly fair weather Warriors fan.  I watched all of their 2007 playoff games, and probably 1 game since then.  I am aware that people have been pretty unhappy with current owner Chris Cohan, and their complaints seem pretty legitimate; someone has to be blame for the consistently sub-par teams the Warriors put together.  This story about Ellison also got me dreaming about his buying the A's.  Not that I've really had a problem with Lew Wolff, but it's fun to imagine what a super-rich, super-competitive, eccentric guy would do as an owner.