COVERITLIVE.COM

11:29

Happy Friday everyone from overcast San Francisco! Thanks for joining us for the chat today. Feel free to bring along any questions about the A's off-season plans, minor league prospects, the hot stove or baseball in general. We'll chat until about 1pm Pacific time.

11:32

There have already been a surprising number of moves since the end of the World Series. I like that JJ Hardy trade for Minnesota, but I'm surprised that the White Sox are going to move Gordon Beckham to second to accomodate Mark Teahen rather than moving Beckham back to short and Alexi Ramirez either to second or center.

11:34

[Comment From fmbowler]
In looking at the A's top prospects, Carter (1B, OF), Wallace (3B, 1B), Cardenas (2B, 3B, SS), Donaldson (C, 3B), and the list goes on, there seems to be flexibility/uncertainty as where these guys will end up playing if and when they make it to Oakland. Has there been some sort of organizational emphasis of wanting prospects to have positional flexibility? Or is just a coincidence that most of the prospects coming up currently are 'tweeners of one sort or another?

11:36

The organization has always had a strong emphasis on having their minor leaguers play as many positions as possible because it is always difficult to know where your holes are going to be when the players are promoted to the big leagues. So that isn't anything new, although I think the A's are getting more real positional flexibility from their players than they used to, possibly because they aren't being rushed as quickly through the system as, say, someone like Daric Barton or Bobby Crosby was.

11:36

[Comment From adam]
Who in your opinion were the best surprises and who were the biggest dissapointments in the 2009 minor leagues for the As

11:38

I think the biggest surprise has to be Grant Desme, just because there was really no way to know what to expect from him after those two injuries last season. Mickey Storey coming out of nowhere was another big, pleasant surprise.

I think the biggest disappointments come with the injuries. Fautino not really getting back on the mound for an extended period, Ynoa not throwing in the Arizona Rookie League, Doolittle missing much of the year. Those were disappointing because of the development time lost.

11:39

For me personally, seeing the end of Javier Herrera's run with the A's was disappointing. The luster had come off of his prospect status a few years ago, but it was still such a shame to see him not ever be able to stay healthy enough to show what he could do. He is the best athlete I've seen in the A's system since I've been covering it.

11:39

[Comment From As Fan in Atherton]
Do you think Chris Carter will make the major league roster out of spring training?

11:42

Right now, I'd say no, but I would have given the same answer about Brett Anderson or Trevor Cahill last year at this time. I do think that there are still things for Chris to work on before he hits the big leagues. His recognition of breaking pitches is the main one for me. I'd also like to see him get a little more time in the field at a high level like Triple-A. The game moves a lot faster in Triple-A than it does at Double-A or Single-A, so it is a good test defensively for players to be out there and playing at that speed before they get to the big leagues, especially infielders. Barton really benefited from his time in Sac. defensively.

But I think Chris is very close to big league ready and I expect he'll spend a lot of time in the big leagues next season.

11:43

[Comment From adam]
Do you know if Dusty Coleman is going to be ready for 2010

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