Oakland left-hander Greg Smith is looking sharp after his first two big league starts, earning the win Monday against the White Sox. Smith, acquired by the A’s in the Dan Haren trade, also pitched 6 good innings against the Blue Jays last Wednesday, giving up 2 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) in a no-decision. Buster Olney likes his pickoff move too, which he used to catch Jermaine Dye in the 7th inning. Even in shallower fantasy leagues, owners would be wise to take a flier on Smith.

• Despite an impressive Cactus League performance, the A’s Carlos Gonzalez was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento when Oakland’s 25-man roster was set on Sunday. Oakland GM Billy Beane expects Gonzalez’s time in the minors to be short, and says that he just needs to get some at-bats and play every day. This seems reasonable, considering that he has only 42 career at-bats in Triple-A. This appears to have been the A’s thinking all along this spring with Gonzalez.
• Rookie Daric Barton missed the game on Saturday, citing hand soreness. This is the same injury he was bothered by earlier this spring, so fantasy owners might want to be wary. He expects to play in the A’s home opener on Tuesday.

• Carlos Gonzalez, acquired by Oakland in the Dan Haren trade, has been out for a week with a strained hamstring and did not accompany the A’s to Japan for their season-opening series against the Red Sox. However, Manager Bob Geren says that he will play Gonzalez at center field when they play the Giants in the preseason Bay Bridge Series starting this Friday. Geren will then decide if he will include the 21-year-old on the 25-man roster, which must be finalized by April 1st. Gonzalez hit .360 this spring, to go with a tremendous arm and defensive skills. If he makes the roster, fantasy owners should look to pick him up, especially in deep leagues.
• Geren also noted that Dana Eveland, also acquired in the Haren trade, would be the A’s 5th starter. Eveland has looked fantastic this spring, putting up a 1.20 ERA in 15 IP.

• Daric Barton hit his third home run of the Spring, all three coming after missing games with an injured hand.
• Fautino De Los Santos, the featured player acquired in the Nick Swisher trade, hit 97 mph on the radar gun, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Manager Bob Geren likes what he sees in the 22-year-old, but maintains that he still has a lot of development to do.
• A’s rotation note: Slusser has Justin Duchscherer tagged as Oakland’s No. 3 starter, thus, given the reassignment of Greg Smith and Gio Gonzalez, it would appear that Dana Eveland and Chad Gaudin would fill the last two rotation slots (at least to start the season).

Oakland A’s rookie Dana Eveland will go with the team to Japan for their series against the Red Sox, and is scheduled to start in an exhibition game on Saturday against the Yomiuri Giants. Eveland, acquired in the Dan Haren trade from Arizona, finished his impressive performance this spring by giving up 3 hits and no runs in 5 innings. That brings his Cactus League ERA to 1.20 in 4 starts and 15 total innings; not too bad for the 24-year-old. Eveland hasn’t officially been named the 5th starter for the A’s, although Greg Smith and Gio Gonzalez being reassigned to Triple-A Sacramento would indicate that it is at least a strong possibility. Smith and Gonzalez have not had bad springs; to the contrary, they might not be spending that much time in the minors. They may be called up to fill a starter slot depending on the performance/availability of Justin Duchscherer and Chad Gaudin, who is likely to start the season on the DL.

• After hitting two long balls yesterday, Cameron Maybin came through with another home run today.  Looks like the youngster is making a push for that CF job.  Maybin had come into the game as a pinch runner earlier in the game.
• Kosuke Fukudome wowed fans with his defense today, making a spinning acrobatic catch to save an extra base hit.  Piniella also batted Fukudome in the 5 hole today, wanting to put a solid bat behind Aramis Ramirez.
• As we reported a few days ago, David Price has been cut from the big league squad.  It was announced today that Price will be starting the season at Class A.  This is pretty standard for first year players, but Price proved this spring that he isn’t a standard prospect.  It had been speculated that Price might start a little higher than Single-A ball.  Regardless of where he starts, Price should end up at the big show in no time.
• Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com released his list of the top five farm systems.  Mayo had the Rays at #1 (no surprise there), the A’s at #2 (okay, that’s surprising), the Rangers at #3, the Reds at #4, and the Red Sox rounding it up at #5.
• The Giants are trying speedster Eugenio Velez at 3B.  Two weeks into March and the Giants still don’t really have a leading candidate for the 3B spot, so Velez definitely has a shot.  The Giants have been reported to be surveying the trade market for a third basemen, but if Velez wins this job, look out.  With a little bit of playing time Velez is definitely a fantasy sleeper to watch for his SB totals.
• Twins RHP Nick Blackburn finally gave up a run.  The youngster hadn’t given up a run this spring, until surrendering 3 ER in 3 IP today.

Oakland lefty Dana Eveland threw 5 shutout innings on Wednesday in the A’s 2 - 1 win over the Diamondbacks, giving up four hits, striking out 7 and walking none.  This no doubt helps his chances to secure the open 5th slot in the Oakland rotation, but is by no means a sure thing.  Greg Smith is also pitching very well this Spring, and represents Eveland’s main competition for the 5th slot.

• Andy LaRoche had surgery on his right thumb and is expected to be out for 8 to 10 weeks. The third baseman injured the thumb when a pickoff throw ricocheted of a runner and hit him in the hand. Not great news for a Dodgers infield that is already down a starter (Jeff Kent, although his injury is considered minor) and struggling to find healthy replacements.

• Clayton Kershaw got a few pointers from legendary lefty Sandy Koufax.

• Nate Schierholtz hit a two-out, two-run homer in the 7th to pull the Giants ahead of the A’s on Friday. Although Schierholtz has made excellent progress in San Francisco organization, Rick Eymer of MLB.com writes that the 24-year-old might find himself the low man on the outfield totem pole. Barring a trade of some kind that frees up a spot, the Giants are likely to use Schierholtz last minor league option and have him start the year at Triple-A Fresno.

• In other Giants news, four players were sent down to Minor League camp: Clay Timpner (who hit .301 at Triple-A Fresno last season), outfielder John Bowker, and pitchers Osiris Matos and Kevin Pichardo.

• The competition is heating up for the fifth spot in the Oakland A’s rotation. Greg Smith, acquired from the Diamondbacks in the Dan Haren trade, has had a great spring, including Tuesday’s four inning outing: 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and no earned runs. Also in the running are Dana Eveland (also acquired in the Haren deal), Lenny DiNardo, Gio Gonzalez (acquired from the White Sox in the Nick Swisher trade), and Kirk Sarloos. Further complicating the starting pitching situation for the A’s is the injured Chad Gaudin, who is likely start the season on the DL. Thus, there would be two vacancies in the rotation, at least for a while.

A’s pitching prospect Henry Rodriguez won’t be in the majors this year, but when he finally gets there he will be a dominant force.  According to Joe Stiglich of Inside Bay Area, Manager Bob Geren is understandably impressed with Rodriguez’s velocity:

“Well, he hit 100 mph on the gun the other day, and I think I’ve only seen that once in my life,” said Geren, whose career in professional baseball began in 1979. “He has a pretty special arm. I can’t think of too many guys in baseball that throw that hard.”

Rodriguez recorded 192 strikeouts in 165 innings pitched as a professional, but has a tendency to walk batters.  The A’s are hoping he improves in that respect sooner than later.  Fantasy managers will have to wait a while as Rodriguez will tentatively start the season at high Single-A Stockton.

As usual, some great prospect tidbits out of a few blog entries by ESPN’s Keith Law (Link to first entry; Link to second entry). Law is in Arizona with his family, and these are a few notable comments he had about a few prospects he watched play. Gives you a more scout-like perspective of how these guys are playing.

• Law saw Angels’ top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart pitch four innings against the A’s. His two best pitches, a late-action two-seamer fastball and a deep breaking curveball, both looked very good and were well used by Adenhart. His third pitch, a changeup, wasn’t performing quite as well. Adenhart will need to develop his ability to use this pitch if he’s to realize the lofty projections anointed him.
• We’ve mentioned the huge three-run bomb that A’s prospect Daric Barton hit in his first game back after injuring his wrist. Well, Law cautions that we shouldn’t get too excited about this HR as it was hit off of non-prospect Matt Wilhite, whose arm-slot is uber conducive to a swing like Barton’s.
• Bad news on one of our top rookie breakout candidates, Rockies’ SP Franklin Morales. We were excited by the news that Cook and Hirsch had both been temporarily shelved, seemingly opening a door in the rotation for Morales. Law noticed, however, that Morales’ velocity was way down at a point in the spring where most pitchers are getting up to their normal speeds. Law spoke with a scout who had noticed the same thing in his previous start as well. Let’s be clear, it was Morales mid to high 90’s velocity coupled with his devastating slider that made him look so good last year. If he doesn’t have that stuff back come season start, Morales could be in a world of hurt.
• We’ve also noted that Rockies prospect Jayson Nix appears to be the front runner for the starting 2B job. Law thinks it will be a short-lived tenure for Nix, though. He notes that Nix’s swing is too long, and he struggles to connect with any decent fastball or breaking ball.
• Law also watched Giants flamethrower Erik Threets in one inning of work. Law wasn’t too enamored with Threets, who surprised him with a solid inning of work. Threets is throwing in the mid to high 90’s, but doesn’t have a second pitch to back it up.