Didn't see a thread on this, new news right? Interesting strategy here, understandable with Franklin-G already manning the CF position and Ackley's experience at 2nd. Little to no harm done by simply starting him there...

Mariners first-round draft pick Dustin Ackley will begin working out at second base in a move that could become permanent if all goes well.

The decision was announced Friday by Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik in a conference call with writers who cover the team. Zduriencik termed the move "an experiment" for now and says it's always been his philosophy to work minor-leaguers out at multiple positions to give the club flexibility going forward.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2010320833_mari21.html

A's GM Billy Beane made an interesting comment the other day.

We're going to look at young players to fill spots, first and foremost," Beane said. "If those players we'd like to acquire aren't obtainable, we'll consider bringing in guys who can hold the positions down.

Link.

So the A's aren't interested in chasing down free agents but they are going to be talking to teams about making trades. I don't care how you feel about Oakland's current crop of young pitching (maybe you think they're the greatest thing since Hudson/Mulder/Zito... maybe you think all but Anderson are way over-rated) at the very least the responsible thing to do if you were the GM of a major league baseball team would be to kick the tires a bit and see what the sticker price is for Johnson.

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Here's a general thread for discussing any insights that you can gather by watching the AFL Championship, currently airing on the MLB Network and I think mlb.com. Strasburg was scratched, but there are some interesting prospects playing. The lineups are the following:

Phoenix Desert Dogs:

Angle CF
Espinosa SS
Brown, C RF
Marrero 1B
Desme LF
Bell 3B
Ashley C
Weeks 2B
O'Malley DH
Talbot P

Peoria Javelinas:

Ackley LF
Danks, Jor CF
Mitchell, R 1B
Morel 3B
Lambo DH
Wells, C RF
Lucroy C
Retherford 2B
Iorg SS
Varvaro P

With David Price's clear cut win this past round with 37% of the vote, as #2 on lat year's community prospect list he finally joins last year's #1 Matt Wieters.  Given Price's total and that the rest of the guys remaining on the list were tightly bunced between 8% and 14% it might be said that Price represents the last player in a tier. Anyway, here is where we are so far:

1. Matt Wieters, C Baltimore

2. Tommy Hanson, P Atlanta

3. Andrew McCutchen, of Pittsburgh

4. Brett Anderson P Oakland

5 Gordon Beckham, 3b CHW

6. Rick Porcello, P Detroit.

7.Elvis Andrus, SS Texas

8. Colby Rasmus, of St. Louis

9. David Price, P Tampa Bay

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With the offseason boring full speed ahead, I'm just curious if anyone had thoughts on what their respective teams did today in regards to guys to protect.  Any surprises?  Any disappointments?  Any big time targets out there?

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Basic premise of this exercise is that you are the GM of the Oakland A's. You are trying to build a successful 2010 club while keeping a bright future in Oakland (or wherever the A's may end up). Obviously there are holes in the Oakland lineup that could be filled for 2010. Not among the least of these is SS (although some like Cliff Pennington there).

If you had a trade offer on the table to receive Reid Brignac while sending Sean Doolittle and Josh Donaldson, would you do the trade?

Let's look at the pieces:

Reid Brignac: He has the ability to fill in at both SS and 3B--two positions that will likely need to be filled at least to start the season. If Pennington continues to produce at SS, he can play at 3B until Brett Wallace is ready. If Brignac performs well in addition to both Wallace and Pennington--well then you have some trade chips. If one of these fails, you end up having insurance

Sean Doolittle: Doolittle came out hitting like gangbusters in the 2008 season--jumping onto the prospect radar as quickly as the ball was jumping off of his bat in Stockton. However, this was Stockton--in the California League--that of the small parks and large HR numbers. As he was promoted to Midland, his numbers dipped and he slumped. In Sacramento in 2009, he started off fairly well for his small amount of pro experience, but his season ended only a month later with a torn patelar ligament. Moving forward, with a quick rebound, he could find himself with a spot in the Oakland lineup in RF or 1B by May or June. However, with Carter an option at 1B and COF as well as Desme, Cunningham and Brown ready anywhere from the start of 2009 to July 2010. Combined with Barton and Wallace as options at 1B, Doolittle could be seen as superfluous.

Josh Donaldson: What can't he do? He has played 3B, C and 1B in the minors so far and there is talk of moving him to 2B. In the Texas League as a 23-year old, Donaldson smacked 37 doubles, just 4 behind uber-prospect Chris Carter's league leading 41. He also posted a season OBP of .379, good for 8th in the league. Although he may not hit a boatload of HRs (only 9 in 455 ABs), he certainly isn't lost at the plate. Scouting reports also say that he has the tools to remain an ump cuddle buddy , the only question is whether or not there is a place for him in Oakland with Kurt Suzuki cheap and performing well there now. With so many 1B prospects (as already established), Wallace in front of him at 3B and Weeks/Cardenas at 2B, there may not be a place for Donaldson in Oakland either.

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So I don't know if you guys have heard about him, but supposedly this Stephen Strasburg person is a good player of baseball.  I don't know much but he might be one of the outer people who stand in the grass?  No.  No he's a thrower.  He does the throwing.  Not just any throwing but the throwing that other people have to hit, you know the one I'm talking about?  Yeah that one, but whats pretty cool about him is his throwing is pretty hard.  And he's like accurate or whatever which I guess is good.  But yeah like I hear that when he throws most people try swinging and miss.  Or like they don't try swinging and then for whatever reason they are supposed to sit down after a few pitches with their other teammates.  Which I think is unfair.  Like sometimes when people don't swing at a bunch of the throws they get to go to first base and then other times they have to sit down.  And it looks like the dude in the black shirt behind him tells him which one to do, which is weird cause he's not even playing in the game, right?  But anyway I think these guys in black really like Strasburg, because for him they make all of the other guys sit down.  I guess Strasburg's dad must own a black t-shirt and facemask company.  Or maybe they don't like him, and that's why he has to stand in the middle on that patch of dirt, to keep him away from all of the other baseballers.  Could be that.  Anyway I just figured this being a group of enthusiasts of the game of baseball you may want to know about this thrower person because I don't think anybody else has ever talked about him before.  So yeah.

 

Five-Star Prospects
1. Carlos Santana, C
Four-Star Prospects
2. Lonnie Chisenhall, SS
3. Alex White, RHP
4. Jason Knapp, RHP
5. Nick Hagadone, LHP
Three-Star Prospects
6. Hector Rondon, RHP
7. Lou Marson, C
8. Jason Kipnis, OF/2B
9. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
10. Michael Brantley, OF
11. Zach Putnam, RHP

Four More:
12. Jess Todd, RHP: Todd is a short, squat reliever acquired from the Cardinals, and one who reached the big leagues in short order, but his ceiling is probably as a seventh-, maybe eighth-inning set-up man.
13. Nick Weglarz, OF: Two years of non-performance have dropped him significantly, as a ton of walks can only get you so far. As a first baseman or left fielder, Weglarz needs to show more.
14. T.J. House, LHP: He was an over-slot lefty from 2008 who showed solid stuff in his full-season debut; he’s a good breakout candidate.
15. Jason Donald, SS: He's always been a bit overrated, and profiles best as a nice utility type.

...

The Sleeper: While his full-season debut was cut short by injury, 20-year-old Dominican outfielder Aber Abreu remains a bit raw, but his raw power ranks with nearly anyone in the system.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9784

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2010/269173.html

TOP TEN PROSPECTS

1. Jason Castro, c

2. Jiovanni Mier, ss

3. Jordan Lyles, rhp

4. Sammy Gervacio, rhp

5. Chia-Jen Lo, rhp

6. Ross Seaton, rhp

7. Tanner Bushue, rhp

8. Jay Austin, of

9. Jon Gaston, of

10. T.J. Steele, of

BEST TOOLS

Best Hitter for Average Jason Castro

Best Power Hitter Jon Gaston

Best Strike-Zone Discipline J.B. Shuck

Fastest Baserunner Jay Austin

Best Athlete Jay Austin

Best Fastball Arcenio Leon

Best Curveball Ashton Mowdy

Best Slider Sammy Gervacio

Best Changeup Jordan Lyles

Best Control Fernando Abad

Best Defensive Catcher Jason Castro

Best Defensive Infielder Jiovanni Mier

Best Infield Arm Jiovanni Mier

Best Defensive Outfielder T.J. Steele

Best Outfield Arm Yordanny Ramirez

Stephen Strasburg is hurt while shagging fly balls.

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