Athletics camp report
PHOENIX -- Five things to know about the Oakland Athletics:
1. The days of Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder are long gone, but Rich Harden has the potential to dominate, and Danny Haren is vastly underrated. And one advantage the current staff has is that Oakland's defense is better than it has ever been. Third baseman Eric Chavez won his sixth consecutive Gold Glove in 2006, joining Brooks Robinson and Buddy Bell as the only AL third basemen with six or more. Mark Ellis compiled the best fielding percentage (.997) by a second baseman in major league history.
2. Biggest question by far for 2007: Who's going to step up and help replace Frank Thomas' 39 homers and 114 RBI? "I think health will pick it up," Chavez says. "If Bobby Crosby is healthy, if I'm healthy, I think that will pick up the numbers. Mike Piazza's been sharp. If Milton (Bradley) is healthy, he'll hit 25 home runs. Crosby, the same. Swish (Nick Swisher), he'll hit 30. We have four or five guys who potentially could all do it. I like our lineup. Shannon (Stewart) and Jason (Kendall) will get on base. If we're playing well, we'll score a lot of runs. And we've got (center fielder Mark) Kotsay coming back in two months."
3. Kotsay's back surgery and the failure of anybody from a large pool of fifth-starter candidates to step up have been the only two disappointing aspects of Oakland's camp. "That's fair to say," first-year manager Bob Geren says. Geren said coming into camp that the fifth spot was Joe Kennedy's "to lose" and that has been about it. He hasn't lost it, but he hasn't necessarily won it with his spotty spring performances -- but nobody else has stepped up and grabbed it, either (that list includes Brad Halsey, Jason Windsor and Shane Komine).
4. It appears to have been a very happy spring for the Athletics as they got to know Geren -- and he them. The mood in Oakland's clubhouse is noticeably upbeat, and the A's have gone out of their way to praise Geren. "He's been awesome," Kendall says. "Bob's been very good. He's a guy that expects you to go play the game and play it the right way. He's there for the players, and we're going to be there for him."
5. A solid start sure would make things easier on Oakland, but you know how that goes. Every year, the A's saunter out of the starting gate like the famed tortoise to everybody else's hares. This has been a team that specializes in closing fast: During the eight seasons from 1999 through 2006, the A's have compiled the best post-All-Star break record in baseball, a combined 376-217 (.634). Second is the New York Yankees (365-234), third is Atlanta (345-239), fourth is Houston (345-246) and fifth is St. Louis (342-250).
