2006 A's Spring Training Thread

[Providence A's]

This is the thread for any news and notes related to Spring Training.

[Providence A's]

Spring Training Schedule
http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...e.jsp?c_id=oak

[Providence A's]

A's Spring Training preview
http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

[Providence A's]

News about Zito's future, Kendall's playing time, Harden's health, and other miscellaneous notes.

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

Zito on Saturday insisted that he'd love to stay in Oakland.

"Yeah, of course. ... I'd really like to be able to work something out," he said -- but was evasive when asked if he'd be willing to give the A's a hometown discount.

"Money is not the goal," Zito offered. "It's more about maximizing my potential on the field. If I do that, everything will fall into place. ... It was never about money when I was [playing baseball] as a kid, it wasn't about money in college, and it wasn't about money in the Minors. You can't change that."

Zito, the 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner, did admit that is was "exciting" to see the massive amounts of money thrown at less-accomplished pitchers over the winter, and he refused to speculate on his future with the club.

"It could be anything," he said. "It's just [about] pitching for me at this point. ... All the off-the-field stuff, trades, contracts, whatever -- I'll leave that to my agent [Arn Tellem], and I haven't talked to him in about a month."

A's assistant general manager David Forst said the team speaks with Tellem frequently, but there haven't been any talks regarding a possible extension for Zito.

Manager Ken Macha has said he plans to rest veteran catcher Jason Kendall more frequently this year, but Kendall, who set an Oakland record with a career-high 146 starts in 2005, said Saturday that he's prepared as always to play every day.

Macha said righty Rich Harden, who underwent offseason surgery on his left shoulder, will be limited during fielding drills for the time being, and he likely will not pitch in any early Cactus League games.

"We'll probably use simulated games to get his pitch count up," Macha explained. "His arm strength is good, but we don't want him extending that shoulder trying to get a comebacker or anything like that. ... Simulated games are a more controlled environment."

[A'sDiehard]

We NEED a healthy Harden.

[Providence A's]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/13909695.htm

This article has pretty much the same news about Zito's future and Harden's health as the one that appeared on the A's site.

[Providence A's]

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

Bradley reported to ST 4 days early.

[Providence A's]

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

An article about Zito saying and doing all the right things...

"I understand why people think that way, but anyone who knows anything about me knows that money is not what drives me," Zito says. "My drive has always been toward being the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, and that will be my drive right up to the day I hang up my spikes."

In the final five months of the 2002 season, just his second full year in the big leagues, Zito essentially reached his lofty goal, going 22-3 with a 2.39 ERA in his last 29 starts. He was rewarded with the American League Cy Young Award, making him, at 24, the youngest Cy Young winner since 1986.

Looking back, Zito stops short of saying it might have been too much, too soon. But he suggests that the Cy Young created somewhat unrealistic expectations of him.

"It's jarring to get to that level that early; it's almost like it's a curse," he says. "When you do that in your second year, people want you to do it year after year after year, so you always feel like you have to get back there. But getting to that level that young, it's so rare. And it's rare because it usually takes a few years to really figure out what pitching in the big leagues is all about.

"I had this great success right out of the chute, and yeah, it was unreal. But even I knew that I had a lot to learn."

Well, with the new ownership and Zito saying money doesn't motivate him, I don't see why they can't come to some sort of agreement where Zito gets paid, but less than if there were to be a bidding war on the open market...like a home town discount, but slightly better than that just not $15 million per year or something. And don't say "yeah right, he won't get that much" because Beane makes an excellent point:

"Let's see ... he's left-handed, he's never missed a start, he's 27-years-old, and he's won a Cy Young," Beane says. "Now look at the money that some guys who aren't any of those things have gotten lately."

[A'sDiehard]

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

Bradley reported to ST 4 days early.

He's not talking to the media this spring? As I've said, I love the guy as a player but man I hope he doesn't cause any problems. Then again, Bonds has already started his annual circus so maybe it's a good thing that Milton is keeping to himself.

[Providence A's]

Now Payton is saying all the right things...

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

"All I said was that I want to play every day, and that's no crime," Payton said. "Do I want to be traded? Not at all. Our team has a chance to do a lot of great things, and I know I'm gonna play."

Payton last year admitted to trying to force a trade out of Boston by getting into an argument with manager Terry Francona. He has no such plans for this season.

"It's a different situation here," Payton said. "In Boston I was the fourth outfielder in every sense of the word. It didn't matter if I hit .700 there; I wasn't going to play much. I didn't even have a chance to compete. Here, I see myself as one of four starting outfielders who's going to play a lot, and the way [manager Ken] Macha likes to go with the hot hand, as long as I produce when I get the chance, I'm going to get at-bats."

Let's hope so...we've got a strong team and if we traded him and someone got hurt, then that would suck.

Also:

The ribs and ankle are 100 percent, he said Wednesday, but he can't say the same about his right shoulder. It tightened up on him a couple of months ago when he started throwing for the first time in the off-season, and he's been getting therapy on it ever since.

"I don't know if it was from lifting [weights] or what, but it just didn't feel right," he said. "So I kind of shut it down for a while just to be safe."

Athletic trainer Larry Davis said Crosby likely has rotator cuff tendinitis.

The trainer also said it looks like Crosby overdid lifting weights this off-season...Crosby said he gained some weight because he always loses weight as the season goes on...let's hope this doesn't become a major problem

[Providence A's]

Roster not set? Macha would like another lefty in the pen.

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

"A lot of things can happen during Spring Training," Macha said. "Guys get hurt; other teams might express an interest in trading for one of your guys. So it doesn't do you much good this early to say, 'This is our team.'

"We'll see how everything plays out between now and when we get ready go back to Oakland. ... We'll just have to see what our needs are at that particular time."

Ron Flores and John Rheinecker are the top lefty bullpen candidates. Flores was up with the A's three times last season, and Rheinecker went 4-0 with a 1.77 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A Sacramento before he tore a tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand and missed the rest of the season.

There was a similar article in the Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...PG10HCB9P1.DTL

[DirtyKash]

Rich Harden: Bullpen Session Goes Well
RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com
Thursday, February 23, 2006

Update: Harden (shoulder) was praised for his performance in Wednesday's bullpen session, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Recommendation: "Effortless, velocity the same," said Jason Kendall, who caught Harden. "I would never have known he'd had the surgery." Harden's quickly putting to rest any fears that surgery on his left shoulder will limit his effectiveness early in 2006.

...

[Providence A's]

yes, it's his non-throwing shoulder. That caused the issue last year with his lat muscles. He doesn't have any arm problems with his throwing arm so I'm not that concerned.

[Providence A's]

and here's a story about his rehab:

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

"I felt really good," he said. "I felt strong. [The shoulder] is not even in my head at this point."

Catcher Adam Melhuse was behind the plate for Harden's session of batting practice, and he said that Harden looked as good as new.

"Same as he always throws -- hard and nasty," Melhuse said.

According to Harden, who spent two stints on the disabled list last season, the weakness in his pre-surgery left shoulder led to subtle mechanical adjustments that might have contributed to his 2005 injuries (strained oblique, strained right lat). Unable last season to pull his lead (left) shoulder and arm through aggressively when opening up to deliver a pitch, Harden explained that it "put more stress on my trunk muscles and my [right] arm and shoulder."

Pitching coach Curt Young liked what he saw from Harden on Monday, but he admitted that it didn't look much different mechanically than what he saw from Harden last year.

"I think he feels it more than we can see it," Young said. "I don't see anything dramatic, and that's fine with me. If he can throw the ball exactly the way he did last year and stay healthy, we'll be fine."

I'm not that concerned and am glad to see the A's take it slow with him (and others coming back from injuries). Who cares about spring training? The idea is to be ready for the regular season and to get to the playoffs.

[Providence A's]

Harden update (among other stuff):

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

Harden's schedule: Macha said that right-hander Rich Harden, who was on the disabled list twice last season, will throw a bullpen session on Thursday instead of a simulated game, and will start on Monday against the Cubs.

Good news I think.