Ramirez still on team's radar

--DH Manny Ramirez is a potential target for the A's, owner Lew Wolff and assistant general manager David Forst confirmed at the end of January. Ramirez, a free agent who has hit 555 career homers, would have to sit out the first 50 games for violating baseball's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. He left the Rays early last season and retired after failing a drug test.

--OF Josh Reddick has begun swinging a bat after offseason surgery to repair cartilage and remove a cyst from his left wrist. Reddick said that he will be completely ready to start spring training.

--LHP Dallas Braden threw off the mound for the first time since his left shoulder surgery last May. Braden threw 26 pitches on Jan. 30, all fastballs, and he reported that all went well in a Twitter post later in the day.

--RHP Brandon McCarthy is likely to be the Opening Day starter on March 28 in Tokyo. Manager Bob Melvin said that McCarthy and RHP Bartolo Colon would start the two games against Seattle and he hinted that McCarthy, the A's lone returning healthy starter from 2011, would go in the opener.

--LHP Brett Anderson is looking at an August return to the rotation, according to manager Bob Melvin. Melvin said that the A's want to make sure that Anderson is not pushed too hard in his return from July 14 Tommy John surgery, but Anderson has been ahead of schedule at every point in his recovery.

BY THE NUMBERS
170 -- Minor league homers for Chris Carter, whose chance at being Oakland's full-time designated hitter would be diminished if the club signs free agent Manny Ramirez.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"He's just a pure hitter, and he knows what he's doing. If something like that does happen, we can only benefit." -- LHP Dallas Braden, in the San Francisco Chronicle, on the possibility of the A's signing free agent Manny Ramirez.

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