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Oakland Athletics Spring Training 2006 Report

The Oakland Athletics have not been the darlings of player development for some time. This Spring there are a number of promising pitchers and a couple of position players that may give fans in Oak Town reasons to take BART to the ballpark.

Arms

John Rheinecker shined in Sactown last season with a 1.77 ERA in the AAA on 45.2 innings of work, allowing 9 earned runs and racking 24 strikeouts. Ron Florez went 5-3 in 52 games and 60 innings pitched with a 2.39 ERA for the Sacramento RiverCats. That number dropped to a lean mean 1.04 with the A's in 8.1 innings spread out over about 11 games.

Our favorite this Spring? Matt Roney is a great hurler, even if he's bounced around an organization or two. He had a 1.25 in Erie on 21 innings and 23 strikes, a frigid 0.95 ERA in Toledo with a another 28.1 innings of work with 27 strikes, and 4-1 record with 3.03 ERA on 32.2 innings and 32 strikes. You gotta like it.

Basepath

When they get there, the cupboard will largely be bare. Mike Rouse looked like the best of the bunch. When he starts putting up big league numbers, we'll get excited.

Deep Grass

Matt Watson always looks good in the AAA. He batted .315 with 17 home runs and 12 stolen bases. Last year he turned in a disappointing .188 and looked very shut down on his cup of coffee with Oakland. Whatever head trip happened on the way down US5 to Oakland, we sure hope he gets past it . When he's on his game, he's a go-to player that can contribute. We are hoping to see his comfort level improve this Spring with the big league players.

Watson has to follow Satchel Paige's advice: "Don't look back. Someone may be following you." Javier Hererra out of Venezuela may be legitimate competition for an outfield position if he can get his strike count under the century mark.