2006 A's Spring Training Thread

[Providence A's]

An article about Danny Putnam who spent most of the year at Class A Stockton and will begin this year at AA Midland.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...PG41HL5EA1.DTL

Putnam, who is 2-for-4 with a triple this spring, hit .307 in his first full pro season at Class-A Stockton last year, and he hit 15 homers and 37 doubles along with driving in those 100 runs.

The only downer that season came in July, when Putnam swallowed a grape and it got stuck. While swallowing harder to try to dislodge it, Putnam tore his esophagus. That was followed by convulsions and spasms that were so strong he couldn't breathe, and two doses of morphine didn't help with the pain. He missed a week's worth of games, and he couldn't eat solid food for 10 days.

"It was scary,'' he said. "The most pain I've ever had.''

After Stockton's season was done, he went to Double-A Midland in the postseason and went 11-for-35 with a homer and five RBIs in nine games to help the Rock Hounds win the Texas League title.

He's slated to open the season there, which pleases Midland manager Von Hayes.

"I like what I saw,'' Hayes said. "He came in with 100 RBIs, and you expect a little bit of a letdown at the next level, but Danny didn't miss a beat. He came out swinging the bat and he helped us win the championship. He was very composed, very impressive. He's got a lot of heart and a very bright future.''

The article also mentioned that he was the only A's minor leaguer to drive in 100 or more last year.

[Providence A's]

A's beat the Brewers yesterday 7 - 3.

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

Kotsay homered, Payton had 3 hits, and Duke made his 1st appearance of the spring.

[Providence A's]

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

Talks about Harden making his 1st start tomorrow and Macha holding a meeting about "fundamentals."

[Providence A's]

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

Payton homers, but the A's lost to the Royals today 9 - 4. Ron Flores gave up 5 runs in the 7th and never got out of the inning. Harden pitched 3 innings giving up a solo homer.

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

A's spanked the Angels today 16 - 4. Dan Johnson homered. Witasick pitched a scoreless inning with 2 k's.

The A's are now 3 - 7...(4 - 7 if you count the game against South Africa).

[Providence A's]

interesting article about the A's attracting big media attention this year.:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_3588247

PHOENIX — The Oakland A's as national media darlings?

Often in the shadow of San Francisco and Barry Bonds in their own market, and usually ignored nationally, the underdog A's won't be such underdogs this year.

While the A's wrapped up their second win this spring, 7-3 over Milwaukee, shortstop Bobby Crosby, starter Rich Harden and closer Huston Street were subjects of a photo shoot for ESPN the Magazine that could end up on the cover.

"I think that's sweet, it's an honor to get the team some recognition," Crosby said. "We've been good for so many years. We were good last year. We'll be even better this year. It's time we get some recognition."

Street came back to camp after his workout with Team USA to participate in the photo shoot. He held a flaming baseball.

"They had me up in the stands with some fans, which was cool," Street said. "They had one with all three of us with duct tape on our mouths. It was cool. I always enjoy that stuff."

Harden was jealous that he got only smoke in his photo. Crosby had the option of swinging a bat on fire, but didn't want to waste one of his bats.

Crosby's been a popular subject whenever a national writer comes to the A's camp, and ESPN's Harold Reynolds selected Crosby as his MVP selection.

"Hey, it's a compliment," Crosby said. "It's better than them saying I suck."

Any concerns about having a target on their backs?

"Not one bit," Crosby said. "I like it when teams think, 'Hey, the A's are coming to town, we better step up.' That's better than, 'Hey, we've got an easy two out of three here.' People know we are good, and we know we are good."

Wow, Crosby MVP? I think he'll surprise a lot of people this year and the A's have thought all the long that he'll be better than Tejada (a major factor in letting Miggy leave).

[Providence A's]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...PGRGHLSTJ1.DTL

Phoenix -- He's won five Gold Gloves, and Eric Chavez is not at all worried about his defense.

The A's third baseman respectfully contested the thought posed by manager Ken Macha the previous day that Chavez needs more time in the field to get game-ready for the season. Chavez has made three errors, but extra action is not something he believes he needs.

"I want to make 10 errors (this spring) and I want all of them to be throwing errors," he said, smiling. "I want to get them all out of my system.

"How many times do we have to go through this? I know by April 1, I'll be ready to go. (Poor spring performance) just doesn't matter."

I agree that ST doesn't really mean much, but I don't see how a little extra work would hurt. It also mentioned that Crosby's shoulder doesn't hurt anymore.

[Providence A's]

A nice article about Shane Komine (A's pitching prospected drafted in 2001 and pitched for Midland last year).

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/...s/14064913.htm

Komine (pronounced ko-MEE-nay), a right-hander who relies on a 92-94 mph fastball and an array of breaking stuff, entered camp as the A's third-rated pitching prospect by Baseball America. And if it seems his star fell out of the sky, it's only because he spent a year on the sidelines recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

"I didn't think my career was over, but I knew it was going to be a long process," Komine said. "You hear about guys who come back throwing better than ever, and you hear about guys who don't make it. So it was unsettling."

Komine had made steady progress from the low minors to Double-A Midland after being drafted out of Nebraska in the ninth round of the 2001 draft. But he said the soreness in his elbow that plagued him throughout his advancement became too much, and he finally had surgery in July 2004. During his rehab, he said former major-league reliever Mike Fetters noticed that Komine's elbow slot was too low in his delivery, and Komine made an adjustment to keep it higher.

"I could tell the difference right away," he said. "There's not nearly the strain on it that there used to be."

That fact seems to have been reflected in the results. Komine returned from the disabled list last July 30 and, after two starts with Single-A Stockton, he went 2-1 with a 3.16 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 31-1/3 innings for Midland. He then cemented his stature in the organization by posting a 1.14 ERA and striking out 18 in 23ª innings during the Arizona Fall League.

"As far as upper-level pitching prospects, he's a guy who's on the cusp of being ready for the big leagues," assistant general manager David Forst said. "He's got the ability to throw it by guys and to go to the (AFL) and do what he did in what is a hitters-dominated league showed that he's got the weapons."

It's good to see that he's recovered well from the surgery he had in 2004.

[Providence A's]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/...s/14064916.htm

PHOENIX - He's not asking for much.

A starting job? Hardly. Adam Melhuse seems to recognize the absurdity of such a request. The man in front of him will earn $11 million this season, and not even the New York Yankees are in the business of sitting such a money-maker on the bench.

A trade? Not necessarily. Melhuse acknowledges the A's have been good to him, and that until he came aboard, he was essentially a minor-league journeyman. Since then, he has gradually changed the label.

What he is now is a competent major-league backup. When he plays.

Which brings us back to his small request.

"I just hope that the situation is not a repeat of last season," he said. "I've been told it will be different. It couldn't be any worse. Last year was the bottom of the bottom for me."

To find the reason for Melhuse's discontent, look no further than the first sentence of his bio in the A's media guide. Melhuse "was on the A's roster for the entire season but appeared in just 39 games as he was the A's number two catcher behind Jason Kendall."

Pretty much says it all.

He's been professional through it all and I hope he plays a little more this year. He's done well for us when he has played. He should play more if Kendall hits like he did last year.

[Providence A's]

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

Kielty re-injured his left oblique muscle.

[Providence A's]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2364232

Sellout A's crowd misses Bonds because of rainout

Did they poll every fan that came to see if Bonds was the reason they were there? I highly doubt it...just more ESPN garbage

[love_that_reefer]

Oh please, maybe not ALL of them were there to see Bonds but Bonds is one of the best draws in the sport, despite what you think about him. People love to hate him and he puts the asses in the seats. When your team is playing the Giants and Bonds comes up, you fear the worst is going to happen and its one of the most exciting walsk you have ever seen.

[Providence A's]

The A's and Giants always sell out regardless of whether or not Bonds plays. ESPN was the only one who put that slant on the rain out. ESPN is obsessed with Bonds.

[love_that_reefer]

They always sell out in ST games? This was an Associated Press article and not ESPN's. People come to see the biggest name in baseball.

[Providence A's]

The A's split today. They lost to the Angels 5 - 4 thanks to 3 unearned runs and they beat the Rockies 9 - 5. Chavez, Baker, Ellis, and Melhuse all homered today.

[Providence A's]

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

A's came back to beat the White Sox today 9 - 8 after AA pitcher Alex Santos gave up 5 runs to make it 8 - 7 White Sox. Charles Thomas had a game winning 2-run single.