The Oakland A’s have re-signed starting 2B Mark Ellis to a 2-year, $11 million dollar contract with a club option for the 2011 season. The 31-year old righty swinging Ellis played in 117 games for the A’s in 2008 and he was 103 for 442 (.233 avg, .694 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 12 homers, 41 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Ellis has now played in six seasons with the A’s covering 765 games in which he is 742 for 2,798 (.265 avg, .744 OPS) with 415 runs scored, 70 homers, 308 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. This was a good move by the penny pinching A’s as Ellis is a solid veteran player and role model for younger players.

The Oakland A’s have outrighted infielder Donnie Murphy and righty reliever/starter Kirk Saarloos to AAA making them both free agents. 25-year old righty swinging utility infielder Donnie Murphy had a rough time in 2008 for the A’s. He played in 46 games for the A’s in 2008 and he was 19 for 103 (.184 avg, .575 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 3 homers and 13 RBIs. Murphy played in parts of two seasons with the A’s in which he was 45 for 221 (.204 avg) with 31 runs scored, 9 homers and 34 RBIs. Murphy did supply some power off of the bench for the A’s in his time in Oakland but he also whiffed a stunning 73 times! The A’s have a few infielders they like better than Murphy so they won’t miss him. 29-year old righty swingman Kirk Saarloos pitched in 8 games (1 start) for the A’s in 2008 and he was 1-0 with a 5.47 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Saarloos has pitched in parts of 4 seasons for the A’s covering 78 games (49 starts) in which he was 20-17 with 2 saves, a 4.50 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. The A’s won’t miss Saarloos either as they have a lot of up and coming pitchers that they like better than him.