PREMATURE FACT

The injury to Mark Ellis is more devastating than originally thought. Prior to the Ellis/Crosby collision there was a nice story regarding Marcos Scutaro possibly making the 25-man roster while Frank Menechino rested easily on the DL and Esteban German was displaying his ability to play all of the non-1st base positions on the infield for a rise in stock and later trade. Mike Rouse was also making his name and presence felt.

Another not so nice story was the crunch of Graham Koonce and Jason Grabowski (we assumed incorrectly that both Koonce and Grabowski were out of options when only Grabowski was due to his call up during his time with the Texas Rangers). Not to mention the nightmare of losing Chad Harville or Justin Duchscherer when the A's break camp. Both pitchers are out of options and it is not likely either pitcher would not be swept up in a matter of moments after hitting the waiver wire.

From a surplus store stand point, packaging players that most likely would not be with the organization to fill in a hole created by a catastrophic injury seems like a serendipitous revelation. What's that thing where everything intersects?

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Unfortunately, Justin Duchscherer looks like a player most MLB teams would like to make an offer for. But, how was it for most of the spring all of the talk was about the middle infield reserves and how well they were coming along, then, SLAM a trade needs to be made? No, Esteban German is doing his best Esteban German impression and imploding the moment the A's mention they are counting on him. There is no truth to the rumor that German has been consistently been missing the team bus and apologizing for his passport paperwork being insufficient.

Yes, that is a joke referring to 2002 when the A's had penciled in German to take over the staring job in Oakland with a good spring Training and German was stuck in the Dominican Republic. He was one of the few players did not gain a few birthdays, but did have problems with his paperwork in an all too common post 9/11 snafu. He's a shortstop, not a terrorist.

Of course, the A's went with Randy Velarde on Opening Night and he promptly had his hand broken. Mark Ellis took over at second after a few weeks of Frank Menechino struggles and maintained the everyday job after Ray Durham was acquired.

The questions;

• Do the A's really need to make a trade at this point?
• Can't the A's go with Marcos Scutaro even with the drop in defensive range?
• Is Frank Menechino's injury actually an injury, or is it something else?
• Are players on the DL required to be tested for steroids or other performance enhancing drugs?
• Can the A's afford to give up a pitcher with a bright future for the cost of an over-priced infielder's one season rent?
• Will the A's go after corner outfielder Jayson Werth (a younger Jason Grabowski - yes Werth was a catcher, too) who the Dodgers acquired from the Blue Jays yesterday?

Billy Beane is recovering from knee surgery (just a scope - routine out patient procedure)and joked yesterday while being iced down in the training room:

"I sold a player (Jason Grabowski) to Paul thirty minutes later. Paul's taking advantage of me under anesthesia. I said, 'Yeah, sure, go ahead. Take Mulder too. Sure.' Paul caught me as soon as I got out of the operating room. Opportunist!"

Maybe that's how Billy Beane has taken advantage of White Sox GM Kenny Williams so often - he has contacts with William's dentist. Every time William's goes under the gas the dentist holds a cell phone up to William's ear with Beane on the other end.

Justin Duchscherer was moved up to pitch yesterday against the Brewers. The Brewers have two possible infielders the A's would be interested in - Junior Spivey (please, no) and Keith Ginter (eh, what about Scutaro/Rouse?).
Note: Any deals involving Junior Spivey recently have been debunked.
Hell, maybe Beane packages a deal for Mike Edwards (who we really like - but he's an organizational soldier, nicknamed the "replacing part"), Esteban German and Chad Harville for Richie Weeks or J.J. Hardy. Hopefully being able to keep the Brewers' eye off Duchscherer and Koonce.

The missing piece here is Adam Morrissey. He should have been ready by now. He's not coming around. He was projecting to be another Mark Bellhorn. Now, he projects as Mark Bellhorn if Dusty Baker is his manager.