The A's went ahead and tendered contracts to their great 8 remaining arbitration cases.

• Chad Bradford agreed to a one-year deal at $1.4 Million
  
  
• Mark Ellis agreed to a one-year deal at $400,000*
  
  
• Tim Harikkala agreed to a one-year deal; $350,000 if he is in the Major Leagues, $100,000 if he is in the Minor Leagues
  
  
• Erubiel Durazo was offered a contract
  
  
• Eric Byrnes was offered a contract
  
  
• Bobby Kielty was offered a contract
  
  
• Octavio Dotel was offered a contract
  
  
• Newly acquired Juan Cruz was offered a contract

Those who were offered a contract and have not signed are eligible for salary arbitration. Had the A's not offered these player contracts by today, the players would have become free agents. It's basically referred to as non-tendering a player. Several players were non-tendered including:

• Wade Miller from Houston
  
  
• Dustan Mohr from the Giants
  
  
• Eric Munson from the Tigers
  
  
• David Eckstein from the Angels
  

The A's won't go after any of the players non-tendered until closer to Spring Training. By then, their market value will have bottomed out. And, the A's could sign a few here and there for minor league deals rather than major league deals.

One trade of note; Aaron Taylor was traded by the Mariners to Colorado for Sean Green. So much for the long ballyhooed prospect. The Space Needle is going Mile Hile.

Back to the A's.

The A's still might trade on of their great 8. Rumors have persisted about Byrnes and Cruz and if the A's are able to lock in Erubiel Durazo - why keep $2.5 Million of Scott Hatteberg when $400,000 Dan Johnson is ready? Billy Beane has suggested that the A's are done with the off-season moves, but that only goes so far.

To make it plain, Barry Zito will not be dealt. Any trade offer involving Zito would have to include half of a Major League team and the cash to pay for them. Zito, even before the trades of Hudson and Mulder, represented to only Oakland Athletic with any National cache. Even non-baseball fans in Topeka know who Barry Zito is. It's the Zito and Chavez Show, kids. Get used to it.



* Mark Ellis would get $25,000 for 250 plate appearances, and bonuses for every 50 additional plate appearances up to 600.