When the A’s offered Marco Scutaro more money and more years than Boston did this winter, it was apparent that the team isn’t entirely sold on Cliff Pennington as the everyday shortstop.

Scutaro chose the Red Sox, so Pennington remains the frontrunner for Oakland’s shortstop job. But don’t count out Adam Rosales.

Rosales was obtained from Cincinnati in the deal that sent Aaron Miles to the Reds and brought outfielder Willy Taveras and his $4 million salary to Oakland; the A’s dumped Taveras and will pay all or nearly all of his salary this year. So they’ve made an investment in Rosales, 26.

Rosales was considered a possibility as the team’s utility player, but with Eric Chavez showing that he is, so far, healthy as he comes back from two back surgeries and three…

The Diamondbacks acquired Adam LaRoche for his consistent bat and stellar defense. Arizona manager A.J. Hinch also likes the first baseman's leadership. Little seems to faze the soft-spoken LaRoche, traded from Pittsburgh to Boston to Atlanta during the season last year. He had a career-high 154 hits and made only two errors.

With all his injuries over the past few years, Oakland right-hander Justin Duchscherer wasn't about to let a line drive off his left thumb keep him off the mound. Duchscherer threw 30 pitches in a simulated game Friday, his first outing against hitters this spring training. Max Stassi's line drive caught Duchscherer on his left thumb, which then ricocheted off his right shoulder.

The Oakland A’s would like nothing more than to see Eric Chavez make a miraculous recovery from yet another season-ending surgery. 

However, like Chavez, the A’s are being 100 percent realistic about the Gold Glover’s chances at making a significant return in 2010.

Chavez, who is in the last year of that six-year, $66 million contract he signed in 2004, is at least making some strides towards a healthy return. 

Currently in three starts for the A’s, Chavez is hitting .500 (4-8) with two homers. He hit his two homers in his last start against the White Sox. He is also currently making progress in his transition from third-base to first-base. 

Despite some footwork problems, Chavez is looking very solid so far at first. He should have no problem making the transition, considering he’s a six-time Gold Glove winner.

His productive start should be good news for the A’s and their fans.

Another player attempting a comeback is A’s SP, Ben Sheets. Sheets who signed a one-year, $10 million contract, hasn’t looked exceptionally well in his two starts this spring. 

In his last start, Sheets allowed five earned runs, which raised his spring ERA to 12.46. 

Despite the discouraging numbers, Sheets says that he feels good. The fact that his arm is feeling good after two spring starts should be good enough for A’s fans. I myself, feel that Sheets will be ready come Opening Day. 

If both players can return to the field in 2010, the A’s chances at capturing a division crown becomes much better. 

**Also, I apologize for my absence—I’ve been currently working on my FanSided Blog, Swinginas.com …Also, if you have the time please feel free to check out my A’s interview with Hotstove.com

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Dallas Braden has found a whole new role to play for the Oakland Athletics' young pitching staff. He's become a second set of eyes to many of the younger hurlers. Braden, at age 26, is older than all but Ben Sheets and Justin Duchscherer among possible A's starters. But after an offseason in which he helped the University of Pacific pitchers, he's discovered a taste for instruction.

Bleacherreport.com tasked me with ranking the top 10 pitchers in Athletics history. Considering the Athletics’ considerable history, it was quite daunting. Who are my top 10? What order do I rank them? There’s the obvious inclusions of Hall-of Famers Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley. Everyone else had success with the A’s more recently or required research.
You’re not a diehard fan unless you know ALL of your team’s history. As an A’s fan, you must culture yourself if you’ve never heard of Eddie Plank.
I’m sure my list will set off a floodgate of debate, so let’s get started.

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Coco Crisp leaned over to pick up his bat from the on-deck circle and felt a "prickle" in his left hamstring. He still took his third at-bat Tuesday, and his leg told him two more times he wasn't right: in the batter's box and running to first on a single. The new Oakland Athletics center fielder said Wednesday he has a strain in the hamstring and it isn't clear how long he…

Rick Ankiel homered and drove in four runs as the Kansas City Royals rallied from a five-run deficit to defeat an Oakland Athletics split-squad 11-10 Tuesday. The Royals trailed 5-0 after two innings and 8-3 going into the sixth when Ankiel hit a three-run homer. Ankiel also singled home David DeJesus in the fourth.

Rich Harden breezed through the first two innings but never finished the third in his second outing with the Texas Rangers on Tuesday. Harden gave up four runs on two hits in 2 2-3 innings. He struck out four, walked three and threw a wild pitch in the Rangers' 8-8 tie with an Oakland Athletics split squad.

I also contemplated the kids game “Red Rover, Red Rover, send the A’s offense on over!” The last few years I’d say the offense has bounced harmlessly off of the locked-together arms of the opposing side.

Spring training is the time where hope springs eternal. There’s always, “We got a new hitting coach!”, or “We added some big bats!”, or “Eric Chavez will finally be healthy this year!”.  I’ve been amongst the group of A’s fans that have been saying each year, “Well, the offense couldn’t be worse than last year!”. Ever since 2006, A’s fans have consistently been disappointed. The discussions I’ve heard seem more centered on who they think will hit the DL first.

To combat the injury after injury the A’s have endured this past offseason, Billy Beane has gone out and gotten the A’s depth, depth, and more depth. Will that help the A’s or will they break their DL use record all over again? …Ummm here’s hoping for health?

Whatever it is, the A’s need to do something for their anemic offense. Because having Ben Sheets on the mound won’t mean a thing if they can’t give him more than two runs to work with.

Last season, after all hope was lost…again…the A’s got rid of all their big name players (Holliday, Giambi, Cabrera) and just let the kids show what they could do. The A’s front office found out that those kids could play! In 2009, the A’s were 37-49 before the All-Star break and 38-38 after, a number that could’ve been more impressive if not for the season ending 7 game losing streak.

Aside from letting Rajai Davis run rampant on the bases, the A’s bats improved significantly. Those showing better numbers in the second half included Ryan Sweeney, Rajai Davis, Daric Barton, Mark Ellis, and Jack Cust. Here’s hoping they can keep up that hot streak when the 2010 season starts.

Who knows the state of the A’s 2010 bench, but that’s what spring training is for. A healthy Eric Chavez would be a boon for the bench, but where does that leave Jake Fox? We all know he’s out of options so he has to make the team or get traded. I dare say it’s critical for him to make the team. The A’s need to jump start their offense early, and Fox and catcher Kurt Suzuki are among the very few who performed better in the first half.

The acquisition of Kevin Kouzmanoff was so critical. Not only does it stabilize the hot corner and give the A’s offense that they’ve lacked there since the days of a healthy Chavez, it takes pressure off Chavez and just lets him focus on what the A’s really need from him: offense.

I’ll be at the Oakland Coliseum this year hoping and cheering them on chanting “O-ffense! O-ffense! O-ffense!”

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