After releasing the 2008 top prospects lists for 28 of the 30 teams throughout the winter, Baseball America finally got around to the A’s and released the team’s top 10 list for ‘08. It looks like this:

1. Carlos Gonzalez, OF
2. Gio Gonzalez, LHP
3. Brett Anderson, LHP
4. Fautino de la Santos, RHP
5. Daric Barton, 1B
6. Trevor Cahill, RHP
7. James Simmons, RHP
8. Henry Rodriguez, RHP
9. Aaron Cunningham, OF
10. Chris Carter, 1B

My thoughts:

1. First, the obvious - six of the ten players listed were not in the A’s organization before the Haren trade.

2. Only two guys (Barton and Cahill) are repeats from last year’s list.

3. Other lists, like those at Minor League Ball and Baseball Prospectus, differ on how the top 5 rank, but it is some combination of the same guys.

4. If Daric Barton is the fifth best prospect in the organization, we should have a very good starting rotation in 2011. (I am, of course, ignoring TNSTAAPP.)

Chris Kline also conducted a chat regarding the A’s top 10 list, and here are some highlights:

1. He says the A’s system now ranks in the top 10 in baseball, after being one of the worst pre-trades. I figured that, but it’s nice to see it confirmed.

2. He thinks Gio is the safer bet if one Gonzalez is going to pan out.

3. Former first rounder Cliff Pennington still exists and Kline thinks he can still get it together.

Pitchers and catchers in just two weeks, people. I’m looking forward to seeing how these guys do.

It’s sure been a quiet couple weeks on the A’s front, but they rumbled back to life this weekend, as the A’s held their annual Fan Fest at the Coliseum.

I went to Fan Fest once, in 2001. It was a packed house that year as the team was coming off its first division championship since ‘92, and there was a lot of excitement. I remember not being able to move around much because there were so many people. Sounds like this year’s crowd way slimmed down from years past - just 12,000 people showed up. I know why there were fewer people, but I actually think that would’ve been pretty cool, because you can get around more and see and do more things. It’s kind of like how I always liked sitting in the upper deck on the first base side at the Coliseum, all alone in my little section - that’s just how I roll.

Anyway, OaklandAthletics.com has been extra nice to non-resident fans like me this year, posting videos of the complete Q&A sessions on the website. I watched a few of them over the weekend, and they were quite enjoyable. Everyone loves Travis Buck. I heart Ray Fosse. Bobby Crosby is still the shortstop. And Dan Johnson is such a goofy, likeable guy, that I feel kind of bad that I hope he gets traded before the start of the season.

The Billy Beane Q&A session was pretty interesting. A lot of the questions to Billy were expected, and Billy almost seemed to get kind of snippy with some of the fans. I understood he wanted to defend his moves, but I know I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the other end of his “Is that what you want?” questions. I do hope that a lot of people came out of that understanding why things were done they way they were done though.

And in other news, pitchers and catchers are just 16 days away!  I’d be surprised if there’s any more A’s news before then. I just hope Shannon Stewart and/or Mike Piazza signs somewhere so we can get a compensation pick or two.

This is the fifteenth in a 20-part series chronicling my 20 years as an A’s fan, year by year. If you missed my previous entries and want to read more, check out the Nostalgia section.

After a disappointing end to 2001, 2002 didn’t exactly begin with a lot of hope. Sure, we still had the Big Three, but this was the offseason Jason Giambi bolted for the Yankees. I think we all remember how we felt when we first saw our frat house leader all cleaned up and Yankee-fied. It was nauseating.

Jason Isringhausen and Johnny Damon departed as well, leaving holes in the bullpen and outfield. Billy plugged those holes with some players that we, at the time, didn’t know what to expect from: Billy Koch and David Justice. We also brought in the combo of Carlos Pena and Scott Hatteberg to try and fill Giambi’s shoes.

And it wasn’t a good start to 2002 either. Pena started off good the first week and then took a nose dive. The team was 20-25 and nine games out of first place on May 22 when Beane decided to trade Jeremy Giambi to the Phillies and demote Carlos Pena and someone else (relying on memory - Jeff Tam?) to the minors. It was a much-needed wake-up call to the underachieving team.

Then came the trading deadline, and the A’s were very active. There was the three-way deal with the Yankees and Tigers that brought Ted Lilly to the A’s and sent Jeremy Bonderman and Carlos Pena to the Tigers. I’ve talked about that before. And we also picked up Ray Durham to bring some more spark to second base and DH.

Winning records in June and July surged the A’s back over the .500 mark, but on August 13, they were still 4.5 games out of first place. Coming off a one-run loss to the Blue Jays the night before, the A’s needed a little late-season magic. They needed a winning streak - and boy, did they get one.

When Barry Zito beat Chris Carpenter on August 13, it felt like just another A’s win. And I didn’t realize the magic that was beginning when I went to the game the next day, and watched the A’s take the series from the Blue Jays with a 4-2 win.

Then the A’s steamrolled through the White Sox and the Indians, and we had ourselves a real winning streak. I remember watching the game against Detroit on TV on August 25, and the A’s had a 10-game winning streak, trying for 11. I was really pissed when the Tigers went up 7-2 in the fourth inning, and I remember my dad saying something like, “It’s OK, we still took two out of three.” And I yelled, “But the streak is on the line!!!!” Little did I know I was referring to something known as The Streak - something that would have much greater significance in the coming days.

The A’s won that game, with John Mabry getting the big pinch-hit double in the eighth inning. They went on to win a few more after that, including a couple of thrillers won by Miguel Tejada walkoff hits. And then there was, of course, the 12-11 victory over the Royals that ended on a Hatteberg pinch-hit, walkoff homer for the big #20.

It couldn’t last forever, as the A’s then went to Minnesota and lost while going for win #21. The damage to the AL West had been done, however, as they went into that Minnesota game up by two and never relinquished the lead again, finishing one game better than they had the previous year and taking the division by four games.

And, for one in the playoffs, the A’s were actually the favorites! This time, they’d be facing the Twins, and with Art Howe going with a three man rotation (gee, I wonder which three?), the A’s looked to finish the Twinkies off in four at the most.

I decided to purchase a ticket to a playoff game that year, and I went with Game 5, hoping I wouldn’t need it. Game 5, if neccessary, was to fall on my 25th birthday, and I wanted to be there for the big celebration if there was to be one.

The A’s lost Game 1, but after they won Games 2 and 3, I figured it was in the bag. Surely, I would not be going to a game on my birthday. But the Twins clobbered them in Game 4, sealing my fate. I was going to Game 5 on my birthday, and Mark Mulder was going on three days rest.

I won’t rehash the game because I’ve rehashed it before. I’ll also lead you here to read about the touching A’s moment I shared with a fan post-loss. I bought myself a T-shirt that says “There is an A in StreAk” to cheer myself up a bit, but it was still three in a row and a disappointing end to a heck of a year.

Coming next Friday, February 1 - 2003: It’ s a good thing things come in threes and not fours… or do they?

This is the fourteenth in a 20-part series chronicling my 20 years as an A’s fan, year by year. If you missed my previous entries, you can click on the Nostalgia section and read about 188 through 2000. 

After getting my first taste of the current crop of A’s being the playoffs, I was in it to win it in 2001. Billy Beane was too, as he pulled off the first true “F*&#ing A trade” that I remember - acquiring Johnny Damon (and side note Mark Ellis) in a three-way trade with the Royals and Devils Rays.

I remember emailing my brother about it and being really excited. Here we were, fresh of our first playoff appearance in eight years, and we’re trading for a premium leadoff hitter to set the table for our big guns. Sure, it cost us Ben Grieve, but he had really fallen out of favor in the previous year, despite being seen as the savior of the A’s offense just a few years before.

So we knew the A’s would be good. One thing we didn’t count on, however, was how insanely good the Mariners would be. Ichiro arrived stateside and ignited the team to a 116-46 record. The A’s managed to keep up,  however, and improved on their previous season by 11 games, going 106-60 to easily win the Wild Card.

Billy’s second big trade of the year definitely helped, as he acquired Jermaine Dye from the same Kansas City Royals that sent Damon to the A’s six months earlier.

2001 was the first year in which the A’s went up 2-0 in the division series heading home. Oh surely, they would be able to win it. What crazy mind-blowing, series-turning play could possibly turn the series around in Game 3?

We all remember too well that pitcher’s duel between Barry Zito and Mike Mussina, in which Jeremy Giambi failed to slide and Derek Jeter came out of freaking nowhere with a flip to the catcher. And that catcher, Jorge Posada, accounted for the only run of the game, a solo shot off Zito. I didn’t even have to look that up on Baseball Reference; it’s painfully etched into my brain.

And then in Game 4, Dye broke his leg. I think at that point, we all knew what was going to happen. At least the Arizona Diamondbacks got the last laugh against the Yankees that year.

This team went from very good in 2000 to very,very good in 2001, and despite a second straight playoff disappointment - and the inevitable offseason loss of Jason Giambi - I had high hopes for 2002.

Coming next Friday, January 25 - 2002: 20 in a row in a August - why not October?  

If you want to watch the A’s “home” opener, you’ll have to get up bright and early.

This article is, of course, geared towards the Red Sox only, saying that the game between the A’s and the Red Sox on March 25 in Japan will begin at 6:07 Eastern time. Luckily, A’s fans are smart enough to do the math for ourselves, and figure that A’s fans in the Bay Area will need to be up at 3:07 a.m. for first pitch.

I luck out a little here, as I live in the Central time zone, so I’m looking at 5:07 a.m. for first pitch. That’s only an hour earlier than I normally get up, so it shouldn’t hamper my day too much.

It may be super early, but I know I’ll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the first game of the season.

The A’s signed Kirk Saarloos to a minor league deal yesterday. I thought the trade of him to the Reds a year ago was a little funny at the time, and even funnier when he posted a 7.17 ERA in Cincy.

So now the A’s have Kirk and Lenny. What are they going to do with them?

Here’s how the starting rotation looks now, if no one else is traded (*cough*Blanton) or no one else is hurt (*cough*Harden):

1. Blanton/Harden
2. Blanton/Harden
3. Gaudin
4. Duchscherer

Then the fifth spot gets a little crowded. As far as I can tell, it could be any of these guys:

Dana Eveland
Dallas Braden
Kirk Saarloos
Lenny DiNardo
Dan Meyer

It should be an interesting battle in spring training. My guess is Eveland goes into Phoenix with the edge.

The fact that Saarloos is the only one of those guys not on the 40-man probably makes it likely he is in AAA as injury insurance.

A month from today, A’s pitchers and catchers will be working out at Papago Park in Phoenix. I can’t believe it! We’re so close to being back to some daily baseball. And American Idol starts tonight. W00t!

Let’s get to a few items of note:

1. The Kotsay trade was finalized yesterday, as hoped and expected. It turns out the A’s got another pitcher along with Joey Devine, an A-Ball pitcher named Jamie Richmond. Richmond is 21 and was listed as the #8 prospect in the Braves’ organization last year by John Sickels of Minor League Ball (looks like he hasn’t rated the Braves yet this year). He projects as a middle reliever or even fifth starter.

Wow - just wow! I thought Billy made an amazing deal by getting Devine. But an additional arm? Wow! How does he do it?

2. I didn’t mention it yet, probably because the Kotsay trade seemed to be more exciting news around the same time and I’m not sure how much of an impact this will be in ‘08, but the A’s did sign outfielder Emil Brown to a one-year deal last week. Brown is a former A’s farmhand who got plucked away from Oakland in the 1996 Rule 5 draft by the Pirates. His ‘05 and ‘06 campaigns were his best, though he regressed a bit last year. However he looks to be somewhat of a poor man’s Shannon Stewart. (Funny I said that - wasn’t Shannon Stewart a poor man’s somebody last year? That’s where these A’s are at, folks.)

It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, but if the idea is to keep Carlos Gonzalez (CarGo) or Ryan Sweeney in AAA for some much-needed development, it’s probably an OK move.

3. Word is now that the A’s may decided to keep Joe Blanton. Sounds like Billy isn’t getting the kind of offers he wants, so he may hold him until mid-season or even next offseason. Might as well - he’ll go up to $2M or $3M in arbitration, but he’s certainly affordable and not a guy you need to trade just to trade.

Of course, anything can happen as we saw with Swisher. But for now, it looks like we have Blanton and Harden as our top starters, likely to face the Red Sox in the Japan games.

4. Congratulations to SFGate.com user bakunin - you get the Athletics for Life “Getting It” Award for the day. From the comments section on the Kotsay Trade Finalized article:

I hate seeing fair weather fans grousing. Get behind your team or find another team to follow. I’ve been with the A’s through 4 World Series championships and through some horrifically painful 100+ loss seasons. Either way, Go Swingin’ A’s!

Enjoy the rest of your day, A’s fans. Now I need to figure out who to replace Mark Kotsay with on my A’s calendar.

From MLBTradeRumors.com, in the comments section of the Kotsay to Atlanta post:

5:18 p.m.:

You ain’t gettin’ Devine, A’s fans. Keep dreaming.

9:13 p.m.

What drugs was Wren taking when he made this deal? Beane just $#%!ed us up. I think he’s still pissed about the Hudson trade.

Well, it looks like Billy has done it again.

Last summer, I was surprised he was able to trade Jason Kendall for actual baseball players. This time, he’s done it with Mark Kotsay.

The A’s and Braves have reached a preliminary deal to send Kotsay to the Braves for 24-year-old reliever Joey Devine. Kotasy will have a physical Monday, which will likely finalize the deal.

First, who we lost: I’ll always have fond memories of Mark Kotsay and his stellar center field play. Vastly underrated and vastly talented, it was a pleasure to watch him play center for the A’s every day when healthy. He had a decent year or two at the plate as well, but back problems got the best of him and he didn’t play much - or well - at all last year.

I will always have one big memory of Mark Kostay, and that’s him chugging around t he bases in Game 2 of the 2006 ALDS after Torii Hunter’s ill-advised dive. If Marco Scutaro’s Game 3 double was the final nail in the coffin, Kotsay’s inside-the-parker in Game 2 was a few nails before that. I’ll never forget him, with his shirt untucked, jumping and pumping his fist as he was called safe. What a great Mark Kostay and Oakland A’s moment.

And now, who we got: Joey Devine was a first round draft pick of the Braves in 2005, but was probably rushed to the majors and has the dubious distinction of being the first player to give up grand slams in his first two major league appearances.

Despite the yuckiness of that, this is a very nice acquisition for the A’s. He’s put up great minor league number and will be groomed for a setup man or even closer job. Precursor to a trade of Huston Street? I wouldn’t be surprised.

The beauty of this deal is Devine could bust and it still won’t be a bad trade for the A’s. Kotsay wasn’t going to be of any use to the A’s in 2008, and instead of playing his $8M, they only have to pay $5M and get a reliever with upside in the process.

Nicely done, Mr. Beane!

This is the thirteeth in a 20-part series chronicling my 20 years as an A’s fan. Want to read my previous entries? Here are the links: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999.

New Millenium (at least that’s what some people were calling it), New A’s. The Sucky Years were officially over as we welcomed the year 2000.

We had a 20-game winner in youngster Tim Hudson, in his first full season in the majors. We had the AL MVP, Jason Giambi, with his .333 average and 43 home runs. Giambi got some offensive support from our young left side of the infield, Miguel Tejada and Erica Chavez. Rookie Terrence Long was promising, and Olmedo Saenz was an awesome pinch hitter/part time DH.

You can see how excited I was that the A’s were finally good again. (See picture at left - though that was this game, and the A’s lost.)

The 2000 season to me, however, is all about one game. The AL West came down to the final game of the season. If I recall correctly, the scenario was this: The Mariners and Indians were tied for the Wild Card. The A’s had a 1 1/2-game lead on the Mariners. If the A’s won their game, they won the division. If the the A’s lost and the M’s won, the A’s would have to go to Tampa to play a hurricained-out game from earlier in the year. If they lost that, they’d have a tie for the AL West lead.

I didn’t look this up; I’m going on pure memory here. But all that’s important is that the A’s needed to win the final game against the Rangers to clinch the AL West.

I vividly remember watching the game with my dad. Tim Hudson was on the hill, going for win #20, and he was dealing. But the A’s didn’t put anything on the board for the first six innings either, and it was a nail-biter.

Ramon Hernandez finally broke through with an RBI single in the 7th. Then Randy Velarde homered in the 8th, and I remember looking at my dad and pumping my fist - we knew the A’s were going to win at that point. I remember Olmedo Saenz smiling and pointing at teammates as he rounded the bases after his 8th-inning solo shot, because he knew too.

I remember watching the celebration, and my dad tearing up as we watched Ron Washinton, doused in champagne, saying, “This is for the kids! This is for the kids!” It was one of the happiest days in my A’s fan life.

Of course, the playoffs were a different story. It might have been different had Tim Hudson been able to pitch twice. But they were the Yankees, and we were just the little A’s. I didn’t really think the A’s were going to win the series at any point, especially once Terrence Long lost the ball in the sun in Game 5. So it wasn’t really a huge disappointment. Little did I know what lied ahead in the coming years…

Coming next Friday, January 18 - 2001: Some big trades, a crazy Mariners team, and a flip from shortstop to catcher…