Furcal visited A's officials at the Oakland Coliseum, toured communities where he might live and had a two-hour lunch with A's general manager Billy Beane.

The A's have yet to make Furcal a formal offer, sources say, but the two sides expect to speak again Wednesday and possibly discuss financial terms.

Also from Rosenthal, is this little tidbit:

Beane might not stop with Holliday and Furcal. The A's have requested and received the medical records of Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson, who underwent season-ending wrist surgery last June.

The teams have yet to discuss a trade, and Johnson, 30, might not be ready for Opening Day. But the A's long have coveted his on-base skills, and could pursue him as an alternative to Daric Barton at first base.

My only problem, is the wrist is supposedly what started Barton's downturn from last year.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8850756/Sources:-Furcal-meets-with-A's-officials-in-Oakland

The Royals gave up a  promising bullpen arm for the enigmatic, for some reason always wanted, Coco Crisp.  The Royals sent Ramon Ramirez to the Red Sox.

The Kansas City Royals picked up the leadoff hitter they had been seeking on Wednesday, acquiring center fielder Coco Crisp from the Boston Red Sox for reliever Ramon Ramirez.

The Royals got Ramirez in a trade with Colorado before last season, so impressed with his stuff that they projected him to be their closer.

With a fastball that reaches the mid-90s, Ramirez is a power pitcher who seems suited for the late innings. He was one of the primary setup men for closer Joakim Soria and flourished in that spot, going 3-2 with a 2.64 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3712531

According to Susan Slusser, the A's have released Mike Sweeney.  This must mean they needed the 40 man spot for someone.  I wonder if Jeff Baisley will be making his major league debut in Detroit.

Mike Sweeney came to Oakland last spring to be a right-handed DH and possibly a key part of the A's puzzle. But bad knees did him in and the A's puzzle never came together. Now Sweeney is being released.

A's assistant general manager David Forst confirmed the transaction to The Chronicle's Susan Slusser today.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=21

Some have recently commented, that AN has been a little weird lately.  Well let's see if we are more or less weird than the rest of the world.  Let's see what the weirdest piece we can come up with today.  The weirdness of the world will bring out the best and brightest of AN, and bring the fun back, that we have been missing.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - An elderly woman misunderstood instructions while checking in at Sweden's main airport and was whisked down a baggage shoot after she placed herself instead of her luggage on the belt, media reported Wednesday

Mid Life Crisis?

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Police in Wisconsin say a woman celebrated her birthday by helping her teenage son rob two gas stations. Officers in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield say the 37-year-old woman acted as the getaway driver while her 17-year-old son robbed the stations at gunpoint.

And from the Baseball world, the weird in the sense, that only Scott Boras could do this.

The Pirates' deal with first-round draft pick Pedro Alvarez appeared to be in jeopardy today, with the Pirates issuing a statement saying that Alvarez's agent, Scott Boras, has said Alvarez will not sign the contract agreed to on Aug. 15.

Of course we can put other links, and A's related links, but they are quite boring right now.

I was just going to post the Chavy news, but since we don't have a DLD, HERE YA GO.

OAKLAND — The A's announced today that six-time Gold Glove-winning third baseman Eric Chavez will undergo season-ending surgery on his right shoulder next week. Chavez had been placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 2 with right shoulder inflammation. His shoulder did not respond to light rehab workouts.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_10094600

The NY Giants have agreed to trade Jeremy Shockey to the Saints for a 2nd and 5th rounder.

Sean Payton's persistence finally won out. The New Orleans Saints acquired Jeremy Shockey for a second- and a fifth-round draft pick in 2009, a source confirmed Monday. The Saints had been trying since February to acquire the disgruntled New York Giants tight end. First, they offered a second-round pick. Before the draft, they increased the offer to a second- and a fifth-round draft choice, but the Giants felt he was too valuable to lose until a few days before the start of their training camp.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3498795

While all the bay area media is wondering what Beane is doing, and why would fans remain interested in the A's team, there is one man in the Bay Area media who gets it.  Although Marty Lurie, does the show preceeding the A's pregame show, I am not sure if he is actually a paid Athletic employee.  If he is, then he is towing the company line, but either way, he has the most level headed opinion, in his article in the Oakland Tribune, today.

The front office has a plan. An entirely new team is being crafted in Oakland. The plan is an all-out youth movement. There is little reason to believe more seasoned players will be sought until the young players establish exactly who they are. Why trade for a center fielder if Gonzalez will be a star middle outfielder in three years? Why bring in a new catcher if Kurt Suzuki will make the grade in the next two years. Why trade for more starting pitching if Eveland, Smith and Gallagher will be the new big three?

When will this new team achieve the consistency necessary to become a winning ballclub?

Good question.

If and when this core group becomes legitimate major leaguers, the A's must be ready to add the veteran players to lead the way. These young players will take the fans on a roller coaster ride each day until they gain the necessary experience it takes to be a winning team.

Get ready! Oakland's all-out youth movement brings great hope for the future, but it will also bring many sleepless nights for all those who follow the fortunes of this club, unless some impact veteran players are brought in simultaneously to ease the transition to a roster dominated by first- and second-year players.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_9935191

Anderson and Cahill make the US Olympic team

addition to LaPorta, Strasburg, Rasmus, and Stevens, the Olympic Team also features five other USA Baseball alumni: Oakland Athletics left-handed pitcher Brett Anderson (Midland, Tex.; 2005 18U, 2004 16U), Baltimore Orioles right-handed pitcher Jake Arietta (Farmington, Mo.; 2006 National), Florida Marlins outfielder John Gall (Stanford, Calif.; 1998-99 National), Texas Rangers catcher Taylor Teagarden (Dallas, Tex.; 2004 National), and Colorado Rockies right-handed pitcher Casey Weathers (Elk Grove, Calif.; 2006 National).

LaPorta, Anderson, Arietta, Teagarden and Weathers were also members of the 2008 XM Future Stars USA Team during Major League Baseball's All-Star weekend. The game, which saw the U.S. fall to the World Team 3-0, acted as an Olympic Trials event for Johnson and his staff. Trevor Cahill (Oceanside, Calif.), Jason Donald (Fresno, Calif.), Dexter Fowler (Atlanta, Ga.) and Clayton Richard (Lafayette, Ind.) were also members of the Futures Team who are on the Olympic roster.

 

http://web.usabaseball.com/teams/index.jsp?team=940

Jemile Weeks is close to signing, and Inoa has made more than Duke.

Weeks likely to sign today: The A's are close to coming to terms with their top pick (12th overall) in the June draft, University of Miami second baseman Jemile Weeks, and they could announce that he has signed as soon as today, according to several sources.

Weeks, who is the younger brother of Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks, will get a signing bonus in the $2 million range.

Duchscherer, 30, has been playing professional baseball since he was 18 and he has not had a contract of more than one year. He noted that 16-year-old Dominican right-hander Michael Inoa, who got a $4.25 million bonus from Oakland last week, "has already made more than I have in my whole career. I'm not complaining, obviously, but the security (of a multiyear deal) would be nice."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/08/SPCA11L39C.DTL