Signings

11/13/02 The Oakland Athletics acquired right-handed pitcher Roy Smith from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for cash considerations.

Smith, 26, spent the entire minor league season at the Indians Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, where he posted a 5-4 record with a 3.84 ERA in a team high 36 appearances, including three starts. The 6-6, 235-pound right-hander struck out 65 batters in 70.1 innings of work and limited hitters to a .246 (65-for-264) batting average with just two home runs. Smith posted a 5.35 ERA (21 er in 35.1 ip) through the Bisons first 21 games but then made six straight appearances from June 25 to July 16 without allowing an earned run in 10.1 innings. He made three starts for Buffalo over the last six weeks of the minor league season, going 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA (5 er in 12.1 ip) in those outings, including a win in his last Buffalo game on August 30 against Rochester (5.0 ip, 0 h, 0 r, 2 bb, 2 so).


Smith was recalled to Cleveland on September 2 and made his season debut on September 5 in Chicago, allowing one hit in one inning of work against the White Sox. He made a spot start in the Tribe?s last game of the regular season against Kansas City on September 29 and allowed two runs in 3.1 innings of work in a 7-3 Cleveland victory.


The Indians signed Smith after a tryout in January of 2000 after spending two seasons in the independent Northern League with St. Paul. He began his professional career in the Seattle system after being selected in the 13th round of the 1994 draft out of Dixie Hollins High School in Florida. Used primarily as a starter in the Seattle chain, he made 27 starts in both the 1995 and 96 seasons at Single-A Wisconsin, where he posted a combined record of 13-27. He was released by Seattle at the end of spring training in 1998 and then latched on in the Northern League, where he spent the next two seasons before being signed by the Indians.


He split the 2000 season between Double-A Akron and Single-A Kinston, where he led all of Cleveland s minor leaguers in ERA with a 2.34 mark. He also recorded eight saves between the two stops. He spent most of the 2001 season at Triple-A Buffalo and made nine appearances in Cleveland, including his major league debut on May 26 vs. the New York Yankees.

Smith's delivery is not submarine, it's more Eck-like. A less than ¾-side-arm approach.


11/13/02The Oakland Athletics will open spring training on February 15th, when pitchers and catchers report to the club's spring training complex in Phoenix, Ariz. The first workout for pitchers and catchers is scheduled for February 16th. The remainder of the squad is scheduled to report on February 19 with the first full squad workout slated for February 20th.

A's sign eight players to minor league contracts

The Oakland Athletics announced today the club has signed eight players to minor league contracts including right-handed pitchers Heath Bost and David Hooten; outfielders Mike Edwards, Chris Prieto and Brian Sellier; infielder Graham Koonce; and catchers Adam Melhuse and Mike Rose.

Melhuse is the only player of the eight signees with major league experience, having appeared in 64 career games with Los Angeles (2000) and Colorado (2000-01). He signed with the Chicago Cubs as a six-year free agent last off-season and appeared in 72 games and batted .292 at Triple-A Iowa before being released on July 17, 2002. He signed with Colorado the next day and finished the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he batted .348 with six home runs in 34 games. A native of Stockton, Calif., Melhuse attended Santa Clara University for one year and was named the West Coast Conference's Freshman of the Year in 1991. He then transferred to UCLA where he was an All-Pacific 10 selection as a junior.


Koonce, Sellier and Bost all played in Oakland's minor league system last year. Koonce led the Texas League in home runs (24), RBI (96) and on-base percentage (.440) and finished third in runs scored (86) and fourth in slugging (.487). Sellier batted .300 with five home runs and 58 RBI in 116 games at Single-A Modesto last season. Bost made 52 relief appearances for Triple-A Sacramento last season, posting a 1-5 record to go along with a 3.35 ERA.

If the A's were to bring up a 1st baseman, it might be Koonce. But, Adam Morrisey is hitting so well in the Arizona Fall League he might be in the mix, as well.


11/18/02The Oakland Athletics announced today the club has signed four more players to minor league contracts including right-handed pitcher Jose Silva, catcher Mitch Meluskey, first baseman David McCarty and outfielder Billy McMillon.

A sixth round selection of Toronto in the 1991 Free Agent Draft, the 28-year old Silva has appeared in 154 major league games with Toronto, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and has posted a 25-28 career record to go along with a 5.41 ERA. He made 12 appearances with Cincinnati last season and posted a 1-0 record to go along with a 4.24 ERA (11er in 23.1ip) and was 1-2 with a 2.27 ERA in 20 games at Triple A-Louisville. Silva posted career highs in appearances (51), starts (19), innings (136.0), wins (11) and losses (9) to go along with a 5.56 ERA with Pittsburgh in 2000.


The 29-year old Meluskey was limited to just eight games with Detroit last season due to lower back pain and missed the entire 2001 season with right shoulder instability. However, he hit .300 with 14 home runs, 69 RBI and posted a .401 on-base percentage with Houston in 2000 and finished fifth in National League Rookie of the Year balloting after ranking among NL rookie leaders in home runs (3rd), RBI (2nd), hits (6th; 101), runs scored (6th; 47), total bases (6th; 164), doubles (5th; 21), walks (4th; 55) and extra base hits (5th; 35). He also batted .374 with runners in scoring position and .625 with the bases loaded, the third best marks in the National League in both categories. Melusky was acquired by Detroit along with Roger Cedeno and Chris Holt in exchange for Brad Ausmus, Doug Brocail and Nelson Cruz on December 11, 2000.


McCarty, a 1991 graduate of Stanford University, batted .094 (3-for-32) with one double, one home run and two RBI in 13 games with Kansas City last season and was designated for assignment on May 13 before being granted his unconditional release on May 15. The 32-year old then signed a minor league contract with Tampa Bay on May 21 and played 12 games for the Devil Rays, hitting .176 (6-for-34) with one home and two RBI. McCarty, who was the third overall pick by Minnesota in the 1991 June Free Agent Draft, has a career .236 average with 31 home runs and 148 RBI with five major league teams-Minnesota, San Francisco, Seattle, Kansas City and Tampa Bay. He was also a non-roster invitee in Oakland's 2000 major league spring training camp.


McMillon, 31, signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees at the end of 2002 spring training after being released by the Florida Marlins as a non-roster invitee. He spent the entire season at Triple A-Columbus, where he led the Clippers in hitting (.301), hits (131), walks (59), on-base percentage (.388) and tied for the team lead in runs scored (72). He was the Clippers lone representative at the Triple-A All-Star Game in Oklahoma City. McMillon played 20 games with Oakland in 2001 after being claimed on waivers from Detroit and batted .293 with 10 RBI.

This is Dave McCarty's second go-around with the A's, as is McMillon's. Both proud Scottish lads they be. Well, maybe not McMillon. Mitch Meluskey becomes the new "Crash" and a solid back-up catcher if the injury bug is out of his system. Jose Silva is fodder for the ranks. If he can keep the ERA around 5.00 he'll be in Midland. If he can keep it below 4.50 he'll be in Sacramento. If he can keep it below 3.00 he'll be in Oakland until (if) Jim Mecir gets back.