The A's wish list includes a hard-throwing reliever, a right-handed pinch-hitter and a leadoff man to let Eric Byrnes hit in a run-producing spot. GM Billy Beane, who acquired Ted Lilly, Ray Durham and Ricardo Rincon last July, said he's still in the process of learning who might be available. As of now, he said it's the "usual suspects" being shopped and none of them are particularly appealing. "It sounds crazy when your club's seven games out of first and in second place, but I'm still not exactly sure what we need to get," Beane said. "If we hit on all cylinders with the players we have here now, I feel good about this club."

--One of the A's promising young prospects is recovering from a spinal cord injury that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Javier Herrera, an 18-year-old center fielder, collided with a wall during a rookie-level game in the Arizona League on Tuesday and had to be air-lifted to a hospital in Mesa, Ariz. A's assistant to the general manager David Forst said Herrera was released from the hospital Thursday and has gradually gotten the feeling back in his lower half. "I don't think any one's thinking about him playing at this point," Forst said. "We're just glad he's feeling better. Playing is probably secondary for a while."

--Noting that Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella stood by his bet and dyed his hair blond after his team won three in a row, manager Ken Macha of the A's made a pledge. "Maybe I'll get a buzz cut if we win five in a row," Macha said. "We can auction my silver hair off."

--The A's overhauled the way they take batting practice. They'll now split their time roughly evenly between taking hacks against coaches on the field and working on their technique in the cage with A's hitting coach Dave Hudgens. Before, they would spend 25 minutes hitting on the field and filter back to the cage whenever they felt they needed it. Now, it's 12 minutes on the field and 10 in the cage every day. It's something Hudgens has wanted to install since he took over from Thad Bosley early in June. "I want them talking about their own swings and each others' swings," Hudgens said. "I want feedback. The whole goal is whatever's right for them."

--Hitting coach Dave Hudgens has been working with OF Eric Byrnes regularly on trying to keep from jumping at pitches. When he does that, he tends to lose his grasp of balls and strikes. Byrnes was in his only slump of the year so far -- 1-for-20 -- going into Sunday. "We looked at some tape," Hudgens said. "He's been getting down his front foot down too late and jumping at some balls." Macha said he's toying with giving Byrnes a day off to work on the changes. "He might need a day to get his swing straightened out," Macha said.

--Two players who could help the A's may arrive in the next few weeks and GM Billy Beane won't even need to swing a trade to land them. Beane said the club's top pitching prospect, RHP Rich Harden, could join the A's rotation in the not-too-distant future and pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz might arrive even sooner. "To say his arrival is imminent is inaccurate," Beane said of Harden. "He's got to fit in somewhere and Aaron (Harang) has pitched better his last couple starts. But we certainly wouldn't hesitate to use Richie if we needed him." Saenz, meanwhile, has looked good in rookie games in Arizona. Once he can play nine innings at third base, he'll head to Class AAA Sacramento and he could join the A's before the All-Star Game. "He is close," Beane said.

--All the brass from the front office, including Beane, lined the batting cage to watch two of the team's top picks, Brian Snyder (first round, Stetson) and Andre Ethier (second, Arizona State) take batting practice Tuesday. Snyder falls into the A's pattern of drafting players whose appearance makes other teams pass. He's a stout third baseman with limited power, but a good batting eye. Teams first started noticing Snyder last summer in the Cape Cod wooden bat league. "I really opened some people's eyes," Snyder said. "I'm not your prototypical third baseman. I'm barely over six feet and I don't hit 40 home runs."

--It's been over a month since LHP Micah Bowie went on the DL and he's only now beginning to make progress in his recovery. Bowie hopes to be able to throw off a mound by this weekend and said when his elbow first became inflamed, he was concerned about missing the entire season. "Personally, as swollen and painful as it was at first, I'm very glad to be where I'm at right now," Bowie said. He hopes to return shortly after the All-Star break and he said he no longer fears the injury will cost him this season. "When it blew up, it blew up. It's not something that's going to linger," Bowie said.

BY THE NUMBERS
6 -- Number of RBI for Erubiel Durazo in his last 30 games. He drove in 38 runs in his first 52 games.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We've got a whole half left." -- INF Frank Menechino, on the A's quest to catch the Seattle Mariners.

Copyright (C) 2003 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.

Oakland Athletics Message Board
BigPappaJon8 Reputation:95 Level:Superstar Since:Mar 15, 2007	November 13, 2009 5:05 pm Score: 275 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: As former and current top 10 Prospects Heres a nice read on the A's fromer and current top ten prospects since 06 and how they have turned out so far. Brett Anderson : #1 in pre-season 2009 rankings; #5 in pre-season 2008 ranking ...(more) Reply to this thread
Banned Poster Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Nov 14, 2006	November 23, 2009 6:48 pm Score: 197 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Desme Wins AFL MVP Award http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/me dia/video.jsp?content_id=7137733 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Grant Desme, the Oakland outfield prospect who led the Arizona Fall League with 11 homers, has been chosen as the recipient of the league's Joe Black Most Valuable Player Award. ...(more) Reply to this thread
BasebalJunkE Reputation:97 Level:Superstar Since:Jun 7, 2007	November 23, 2009 1:50 pm Score: 164 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Will Jack Cust be a Met Next Year?? Mets Considering Jack Cust? By Tim Dierkes [November 23 at 11:30am CST] We have considered A's DH/outfielder Jack Cust a ...(more) Reply to this thread (1 reply)
BigPappaJon8 Reputation:95 Level:Superstar Since:Mar 15, 2007	November 22, 2009 10:14 pm Score: 190 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: A's Add 4 to 40 man roster looks like the A's have decided who there going to protect and 3 of the 4 were not a suprise but Souza is a bit of one. On Friday, the Oakland A's added four players to their 40-man roster. Chris Carter , Fautino De Los San ...(more) Reply to this thread (2 replies)
Banned Poster Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Nov 14, 2006	November 6, 2009 4:58 pm Score: 213 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Barton's Window of Opportunity is 2010 by David Golebiewski - October 22, 2009<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN -->   In December of 2004, the Oakland Athletics broke up “The Big Three.” The venerated trio of Mark Mulder , ...(more) Reply to this thread (1 reply)
Iowa Hawkeyes Reputation:94 Level:All-Star Since:Apr 4, 2009	November 28, 2009 10:34 pm Score: 89 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Trading Challenge and new website http://sportsmemorabiliagt.webs.com /apps/forums/topics/show/1665393-go cubs-gm-challenge The Athletics are still left It should get up and going soon and should be very fun on this site. ...(more) Reply to this thread (1 reply)
BigPappaJon8 Reputation:95 Level:Superstar Since:Mar 15, 2007	November 22, 2009 10:11 pm Score: 167 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: A's sign Dallas McPherson to Minor Leage deal Looks like the A's could have gotten a good grab this week. Dallas McPherson is a former top prospect who has a ton of raw power and good skill set but is a bit of a free swinger and of coarse injury prone, witch seems to fit right in with our team lately. I wouldnt be suprised to see him compete for the 3B spot this year and cou ...(more) Reply to this thread (2 replies)
BigPappaJon8 Reputation:95 Level:Superstar Since:Mar 15, 2007	November 10, 2009 2:30 pm Score: 226 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Bailey vs Andrus for the ROY award I personally dont understand why Andrus is even in the converstation. He was not impressive from the plate at all. he hit 265 with 40 RBIs. Why is he getting ROY vots at all. Bailey was as dominate a Releiver as there was in baseball period not just among rookies. Heres the article about it. AKLAND -- Less than a month after his whirlwind of a first season in the big leag ...(more) Reply to this thread (1 reply)
megbydawg Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Mar 16, 2007	November 16, 2009 4:04 pm Score: 84 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Congrats ROY Andrew Bailey! "Obviously it'd be awesome to win it..." Well Andrew, let the awesomeness begin! Congratulations! We'll talk about how this might give our boys one of those "good" problems come spring at a later date, but today is yours! Go ...(more) Reply to this thread (2 replies)
BigPappaJon8 Reputation:95 Level:Superstar Since:Mar 15, 2007	November 10, 2009 2:16 pm Score: 238 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Who will be protected for the Rule 5 Draft A look at who the A's will probably want to protect this year and a few that they may or may not. The Rule 5 Draft Rules Any player not on a team’s 40-man roster who signed his first professional contract in 2006 or earlier who was at least 19 years old at the time he signed and any player who signed his first professional contract in 2005 or earlie ...(more) Reply to this thread (1 reply)
Banned Poster Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Nov 14, 2006	November 6, 2009 4:52 pm Score: 203 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Crosby Accepts Fate, Ready to Move On OAKLAND -- Now that baseball's postseason is over, it's time to fire up the Hot Stove. Eligible players are free to file for free agency the day after the World Series ends, so Hideki Matsui's heroics to help the Yankees close out the ...(more) Reply to this thread (3 replies)
Banned Poster Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Nov 14, 2006	November 6, 2009 5:29 pm Score: 171 Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Bill James: Wallace Should Be Solid Regular Bill James thinks Brett Wallace should be a solid major-leaguer next year. In his 2010 handbook , the baseball guru sees the rookie third baseman getting 504 at-bats with 17 home runs and an OPS of .757. Melissa Lockard ...(more) Reply to this thread (4 replies)
Banned Poster Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Nov 14, 2006	October 24, 2009 1:37 am Score: 91 You Gotta Be Kidding Me!!! 7 home runs in 9 Games Desme is on fire. After going 3-4 tonight with a home run, his average is back up to .436. On a side note, Oakland pitchers got rocked today. 4 Oakland pitchers gave up 13 earned runs in only 6.1 innings. Ouch. Reply to this thread (4 replies)
Banned Poster Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Nov 14, 2006	October 16, 2009 5:23 am Score: 183 Carter to Play Some OF for Algodoneros de Guasave Top prospect Chris Carter is going to experiment playing some outfield this fall for Algodoneros de Guasave of the Mexican Winter League at the request of the Athletics. The A's have a logjam at the first position with Daric Barton, ...(more) Reply to this thread
Banned Poster Reputation:99 Level:Superstar Since:Nov 14, 2006	October 20, 2009 3:43 am Score: 163 A's Outright Gonzalez, Giese, Munson, and Cameron ...(more) Reply to this thread (1 reply)
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