ATTACK WHEN THEY ARE SLACKING OFF, MAKE YOUR MOVE WHEN A GAP OPENS UP.

- The Art of War -

There is a lot to discuss:

• Phoneix won the AFL Championship over the weekend.
  
• Oakland finalized its 40 Man Roster, sort of
  
• More awards for A's Minor League System UPDATED
  
• Winter League Updates UPDATED
  
• Trade Rumors UPDATED
  
• Article & interview update

In the Championship game, Omar Quintanilla went 3 for 3 with a double and a triple a run scored and a walk. John Baker struck out as a pinch hitter and Jeremy Brown hit a sacrifice fly as a pinch hitter to drive in a run. Jason had one plate appearance and walked.

On the pitching side, Steve Obenchain started the game, went two innings, giving up a run on a solo homerun. Obenchain walked one, struck out one and two hits. Huston Street faced seven batters over the final two innings allowing just one hit and struck out two. Street created a riot at the mound after getting the last out of the game. The NBA is investigating and David Stern has said that Street is suspended indefinitely.

"This has probably been the most fun baseball total experience as I have had in my life. I've never been around a group of guys that jelled like we did. I'll cherish these six weeks forever."Huston Street, on his Arizona Fall League experience

In an interview I recently completed with Will Carroll in Chicago, I came to the same conclusion that most of the AFL has: Huston Street will be on the A's 25 Man Roster on Opening Day.

As far as the stats for the league:

BATTERS	G	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
JOHN BAKER	18	44	.318	.404	.477	.881	6	14	21	5	1	0	6
JEREMY BROWN	14	34	.353	.477	.647	1.124	6	12	22	4	0	2	12
JASON PERRY	21	70	.229	.316	.471	.787	12	16	33	2	0	5	15
OMAR QUINTANILLA	25	91	.374	.404	.527	.931	13	34	48	8	3	0	18

Jeremy Brown was a Taxi Squad catcher, used only on Wednesdays and weekends. Sort of a preliminary/emergency catcher. Odd that the AFL would have a policy/practice in place to save catchers, but not the big leagues.

Brown made the most of his opportunities. But, you should not get all giddy that the Badger is ready for the big leagues. He isn't. He knows that. He needs at least a half season in AAA to adjust and then maybe a post trading deadline call-up in 2005. If all goes well. If not, Brown should be on track for 2006. When Kurt Suzuki and Landon Powell are ready.

PITCHERS	W-L	SV	ERA	G	AB	TBF	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Steve Obenchain	2 - 1	0	3.71	7	104	115	26.2	29	11	11	9	18
Huston Street	1 - 0	7	0.98	13	61	65	18.1	11	2	2	2	19

Street gave up a homerun last week, and it very well could have been the end of the world. It turns out, it was not. But it was close.

On Friday the A's added Jeremy Brown, John Baker the Homerun Maker, Chris Mabeus and Jason Perry to the 40 Man Roster. The A's have 37 players on their 40 Man Roster, leaving several players vulnerable heading toward the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter GM Meetings, but also allowing Oakland a chance to score players in the draft as well.

The Rule 5 Draft is rather complicated for no good reason, as are all rules governing acquisitions in baseball. Teams with fewer than 40 players on their 40 Man Rosters can participate in the Rule 5 Draft. Players are eligible for the draft if they are not on their team's 40 Man Roster and have been in baseball for four years or more if they were signed at age 18, or three years if signed after age 18.

Wow, there must be a lot of activity then.

Hold on there Chico.

If a team selects a player during the draft that player must spend the entire year on the team's 25 Man Roster. Remember Mike Neu? He was nabbed by the A's in the Rule 5 Draft before the 2003 season. He spent the entire 2003 season with the A's in mop-up work. Ken Macha rarely used him in critical situations and as a result, the A's manager handcuffed himself down the stretch. Hmm, hey, isn't there an A's blog that is usually all over Ken Macha for his use of the bullpen?

Anyway.

After 2003 the A's sent Neu to Florida for a player to be named later (Bill Murphy, who was traded to Paul DePodesta's Dodgers in the Brad Penny deal and then flipped to Arizona for Steve Finley) and cash for Mark Redman. The A's non-tendered Redman...and then paid too much for him. But, you can see the possibility of taken a cheap ride on a borderline/fringe player and flipping that player in a future trade.

On the other side, a player selected in a Rule 5 Draft must stay on that team's 25 Man Roster for the entire season. There have been phantom illnesses and injuries that sometimes help that process along. Pitcher A is acquired in the Rule 5 Draft and then is placed on the 25 Man Roster. After a few Spring games, the pitcher is shut down for the rest of the season with soreness, tightness, etc. and then sent to the instructional league.

It only costs $50,000 for a team to compensate a team for selecting a player during the Rule 5 Draft. Once drafted, a player can be offered back to the original team for half of the $50,000 ($25,000) cost to acquire. Chris Mabeus was selected last year by Texas from the A's. The A's got Mabeus back and they are protecting him this year by placing him on the 40 man roster.

See how this works?

Yah, more complicated than it needs to be.

There are also Rule 5 drafts at the AAA and AA levels. Usually these are not considered hotbeds of talent, but a cheap way to fill out minor league rosters. The price tag is $12,000 at the AAA level and only $4,000 at the AA level.

The A's minor league system keeps racking up hardware like wholesale buyers at ACE when a new Wal-Mart opens nearby.

Huh.

They get a lot of awards.

This time it's the front office and the outfield that are represented. Modesto A's OF'er (last time you read that) Brain Stavisky was named to the Topps/Minor League Baseball Class A All-Star team. Stavisky also appeared at 1B for 34 games...but you get the point.

BRIAN STAVISKY

BATTERS	G	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
Brian Stavisky	130	513	.343.	.413	.550	.963	108	176	282	39	5	19	83
	SH	SF	HP	BB	IB	SO	SB	CS	DP
	2	5	11	54	3	89	6	4	7

The A's are always capable of filling in a 1B/DH spot. If Stavisky was placed there because of his inadequacies in the outfield, there could be a logjam at 1B in the near future. Hopefully, that was not the case. Who cares, though? The sonuvabitch can hit.

DOWN MEXICO WAY

South of the border, there's some interesting stories piling up. It has been confirmed that J.J. Davis has been removed from the Pittsburgh Pirates 40 man roster, and he's a lock to be picked up in the Rule 5 Draft. While he may not be a player the A's like (he strikes out way too much and doesn't walk a lot) he can put up numbers. Davis would not be a good match at the major league level, but he could be of use for the A's in the minor leagues. How they would go about doing that, I don't know.

Dan Johnson and Matt Watson both got off to slow starts in the Mexican League. Johnson seemed to get warmed up at the same time as Watson. Then, nothing. Both are back in the States for unknown reasons. Both are no longer on Hermosillo's roster. It's not uncommon for players to not finish their winter league season early either to injury, illness or plain old homesickness. The whole point is to get some extra AB's or work on a few issues against live competition. But, you have to wonder if there is more going on. Hopefully it is not injury related.

OF ORANGES AND MAYOS

BATTERS	G	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
Dan Johnson	23	79	.241	.362	.519	.881	16	19	41	4	0	6	22
	SH	SF	HP	BB	IB	SO	SB	CS	DP
	0	0	0	15	1	13	1	0	2
BATTERS	G	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
Matt Watson	27	101	.208	.331	.356	.687	10	21	36	3	0	4	15
	SH	SF	HP	BB	IB	SO	SB	CS	DP
	0	1	3	16	0	16	2	1	1
BATTERS	G	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI
J.J. Davis	21	81	.259	.340	.654	.994	14	21	53	3	1	9	16
	SH	SF	HP	BB	IB	SO	SB	CS	DP
	0	2	0	11	1	21	2	0	5

SEDART

Oy.

Ken Rosenthal is at is, again. Stirring up trade talk as if he has nothing better to do or write about.

In his latest clap-trap, Rosenthal suggests that the Oakland A's are going after Jason Kendall.

Ugh.

The following is directly lifted from Yahoo!'s sports content, but is probably available form the Sporting News website as well -

"In addition to exploring trades for one of their top three starting pitchers, the A's are also involved in two- and three-team discussions regarding Pirates C Jason Kendall, who is guaranteed $34 million over the next three seasons. A straight trade between the A's and Pirates likely would involve the Pirates receiving LHPs Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes, who are owed $16.15 million combined over the next two seasons. Kendall also could land with the Dodgers--straight up or via the A's--with the Pirates possibly seeking Dodgers CF Milton Bradley. The expected loss of free-agent CF Steve Finley makes a trade of Bradley unlikely. . . ."- Ken Rosenthal, Sporting News Inside Dish special to Yahoo!

Rosenthal suggets the A's are talking to two or three teams besides the Pirates, which just goes to show how concrete this rumor actually is. Billy Beane has not had good luck in the past with Pittsburgh. He tried to get Brian Giles several times and there were (more) rumors about Eric Byrnes going to the Pirates the last two seasons.

What Rosenthal fails to stress in the article, so that 95% of his readers understand, is that the A's are also dumping Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes and their cumbersome salaries in the process. It's a salary dump. Not necessarily going after Kendall. With Paul DePodesta's Dodgers signing Mike Rose, it's more likely that L.A. could be "seeking" Kendall, and Billy Beane just stuck his nose in a trade...as he usually does.

Rose is being told he is competing for a big league job in Los Angeles. Aren't all players told that they are competing for a spot on the 25 Man Roster when they sign in the off-season? Don't they all get the sunshine blown up their rears in November and December and come April, it starts to pour?

Kendall doesn't seem suited for the A's, not necessarliy the American League (I don't buy into the 'different league' theories), just not Oakland.

JASON "HOW DOES MY HAIR LOOK" KENDALL

Year	Team	Age	Avg	OBP	SLG	OPS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO
1996	Pitt	22	.300	.372	.401	.773	130	414	54	124	23	5	3	42	35	30
1997	Pitt	23	.294	.392	.434	.825	144	486	71	143	36	4	8	49	49	53
1998	Pitt	24	.327	.411	.473	.884	149	535	95	175	36	3	12	75	51	51
1999	Pitt	25	.332	.428	.511	.939	78	280	61	93	20	3	8	41	38	32
2000	Pitt	26	.320	.412	.470	.882	152	579	112	185	33	6	14	58	79	79
2001	Pitt	27	.266	.335	.358	.693	157	606	84	161	22	2	10	53	44	48
2002	Pitt	28	.283	.35	.356	.706	145	545	59	154	25	3	3	44	49	29
2003	Pitt	29	.325	.399	.416	.815	150	587	84	191	29	3	6	58	49	40
2004	Pitt	30	.329	.399	.390	.789	147	574	86	183	32	0	3	51	60	41
	Career		.306	.387	.418	.805	1252	4606	706	1409	256	29	67	471	454	403

He does have a high on-base percentage (OBP), but his OPS (On-base Plus Slugging) was below .800 for 2004 and below his career mark. He did improve on his plate discipline by seeing 4.21 pitches per plate appearance (more than Scott Hatteberg's 4.00 PPA). But, he also tries to steal bases and is horrible at it. He hits for a high average which accounts for his high OBP. He has little power, only 67 homeruns in 4600+ at-bats. He has caught more than 6,000 innings in the last five seasons after suffering a terrible ankle injury in 1999. The Pirates tried to incorportae Kendall into the outfield to save him in 2000. That didn't work so well. He doesn't exactly have a reputation for being a good catcher as far as a game caller, but then again, he's been catching Pittsburgh's pitchers. He is due to make $9.5 million in 2005, $10.5 million in 2006 and $12.5 million in 2007. Too much money, too few walks, too much money, too expensive, too much injury history and then there's the cost.

Kendall just seems more of a Chicago, New York or even a Houston gamble. Not even Los Angeles or San Diego at this point. Beane would have to do a lot of magic to come out ahead in a deal that involves Kendall. Besides. Didn't Beane just shoot down similar rumors about Jorge Posada? Wasn't the dollar amount almost the same?

Thought so.

The A's don't/can't/won't resign Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder or Barry Zito if they take on an additional $16 million for Kendall even while dismissing Redman and Rhodes.

In other A's catching news, Damian Miller is supposedly close to signing with the Milwaukee Brewers. Godspeed fair squatter, godspeed.

Remember last year, when the A's traded Brett Price and a player to be named for Michael Barret only to trade him to the Chicago Cubs for Damian Miller and $800,000?

Player	Salary	G	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	CERA
Barrett	$1.55 Mil	134	456	.287	.337	.489	.826	55	131	32	6	16	65	33	64	3.88
Miller	$3.00 Mil	110	397	.272	.339	.403	.742	39	108	25	0	9	58	39	87	4.24

BRETT PRICE (LHP)

PITCHER	W-L	SV	ERA	G	GS	GF	IP	SO	BB	AB	TBF	H	R	ER	HR
Brett Price	6-4	0	3.53	23	19	3	99.1	100	53	353	421	88	47	39	5