The Oakland A’s will be without righty starting pitcher Justin Duchscherer for a while as he is scheduled to undergo right elbow surgery next week. He started 22 games for the A’s last season in which he was 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Duchscherer has now pitched in 219 games (27 starts) in his major league career in which he is 31-24 with 14 saves, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. This is a big blow to the A’s who were depending on Duchscherer to be the leader of the starting rotation in 2009.

The Oakland A’s have signed 31-year old lefty swinging catcher Eric Munson to a minor league deal. He hasn’t played in the majors since 2007 with the Astros. Munson has played in 360 games in his major league career and he is 226 for 1,055 (.214 avg, .683 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 49 homers, 147 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Munson will start the season in AAA and serve as a insurance policy for the A’s in 2009.

The A’s have acquired 25-year old righty swinging catcher Curtis Thigpen from the Blue Jays for either a player to be named later or cash considerations. Thigpen played in 10 games for the Blue Jays last season in which he was 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .616 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. He has now played in 57 games in his major league career and he is 27 for 118 (.229 avg, .586 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Thigpen will give the A’s a nice insurance policy in case rookie Landon Powell isn’t ready to handle the backup job for them in 2009.

25-year old lefty swinging Travis Buck will be the likely starting RF for the A’s in 2009. He played in 38 games for the A’s in 2008 and he was 35 for 155 (.226 avg, .723 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 7 homers and 25 RBIs. Buck is a good defensive RF making 0 errors in 34 games there while showing good range. If he can just stay healthy the A’s should be o.k. in right field in 2009.

28-year old righty swinging Chris Denorfia will likely back up Buck in 2009. He played in 29 games for the A’s last season in which he was 18 for 62 (.290 avg, .749 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

Jack Cust could also get some time in RF but the team would be smart to keep him at DH. He played in 5 games in RF and didn’t make any errors but his range was about the size of a phone booth.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C-

24-year old lefty swinging Ryan Sweeney and 28-year old righty swinging Rajai Davis could be working in a platoon in 2009 unless Sweeney wins the job outright. Sweeney played in 115 games for the A’s last season and he was 110 for 384 (.286 avg, .733 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 5 homers, 45 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Sweeney didn’t make any errors in 51 games in CF last season while showing poor range. Davis is the much better defender of this pair. He played in 88 games in CF for the Giants & A’s last season making only 1 error while showing good range. He played in 113 games for the Giants & A’s last season in which he was 52 for 214 (.243 avg, .618 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 3 homers, 19 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.

The long shot in CF is Rule 5 Draft Pick Ben Copeland. Copeland played in 125 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 127 for 458 (.277 avg, .763 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 5 homers, 46 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if the A’s keep him on the roster all season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: D+

It will be interesting to see how well 29-year old righty swinging outfielder Matt Holliday handles going from one of the best hitting parks to one of the worst. He played in 139 games for the Rockies last season and he was 173 for 539 (.321 avg, .947 OPS) with 107 runs scored, 25 homers, 88 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. Holliday has a surprisingly strong arm for the LF as he had 9 assists last season. He only made 3 errors in 139 games in LF last season but he showed below average range. Look for Holliday’s numbers suffer all around in 2009 but that doesn’t mean he can’t hit .300 with 90 RBIs in 2009.

22-year old righty swinging Aaron Cunningham is likely the LF of the future for the A’s. He played in 22 games for the A’s in which he was 20 for 80 (.250 avg, .710 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. But, Cunningham was a animal in the minors in 2008. He played in 107 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 139 for 423 (.329 avg, .932 OPS) with 86 runs scored, 17 homers, 66 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He showed outstanding range in 18 games in LF for the A’s last season but he did make 3 errors.

GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B+

The A’s could use a lot of players at DH but the smart money is on Jack Cust getting the most time there. The 30-year old lefty swinging Cust played in 148 games for the A’s last season and he was 111 for 481 (.231 avg, .851 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 33 homers and 77 RBIs. He is a patient hitter as he walked 111 times which fits the A’s style but he also whiffed a stunning 197 times last season. He is a butcher in the outfield so the A’s would be smart to DH him in 2009.

Jason Giambi, Eric Chavez and Nomar Garciaparra will all likely log some at bats at DH in 2009. The thought of playing both Giambi and Cust in the field at the same time has to scare the bejesus out of manager Bob Geren.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C

31-year old lefty swinging 3B Eric Chavez has been hurt the last couple of years and the A’s missed his bat and defense. He played in 23 games for the A’s last season and he was 22 for 89 (.247 avg, .688 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers and 14 RBIs. Chavez played 15 games at 3B for the A’s last season and he only made 1 error while showing outstanding range. The A’s really need Chavez to stay healthy to improve the defense and the hope is that he hits for his career norms of a .269 batting average with a .830 OPS.

The A’s signed 35-year old righty swinging Nomar Garciaparra as insurance against Chavez’ health. He played in 55 games for the Dodgers last season in which he was 43 for 163 (.264 avg, .792 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 8 homers and 28 RBIs. Garciaparra played in 11 games at 3B last season for the Dodgers and he made 2 errors while showing good range. Garciaparra also is a brittle player but the A’s didn’t want to rely on Jack Hannahan again if Chavez wasn’t ready to go in 2009.

29-year old lefty swinging Jack Hannahan played a lot of 3B for the A’s last season and that’s the reason they signed Garciaparra. Hannahan played in 143 games for the A’s last season and he was 95 for 436 (.218 avg, .647 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 9 homers and 47 RBIs. He was o.k. in the field as he made 9 errors in 126 games while showing average range. He will need to play better than last year to continue his major league career.

26-year old righty swinging Jeff Baisley is #4 in line at 3B for the A’s. He played in 14 games for the A’s last season in which he was 11 for 43 (.256 avg, .598 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. Baisley also played in 87 games in Rookie + AAA ball last year in which he was 95 for 321 (.296 avg) with 49 runs scored, 10 homers and 49 RBIs. He didn’t make any errors in 10 games at 3B for the A’s while showing poor range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C-

The A’s have released catcher Rob Bowen. Bowen played in 6 games for the A’s this spring and he was 2 for 10 (.200 avg, .673 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. This decision opens the door for rookie Landon Powell to back up Kurt Suzuki in 2009. Powell has played in 10 games this spring in which he is 5 for 20 (.250 avg, .798 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. Powell played in 88 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 69 for 300 (.230 avg, .777 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 15 homers and 53 RBIs. It will be interesting to see if this works out for the A’s or not but they shouldn’t really miss Bowen too much in 2009 if at all.

The Oakland A’s signed 34-year old righty swinging Orlando Cabrera to a 1-year, $4 million dollar contract to start at shortstop in 2009. Cabrera played in 161 games for the White Sox last season and he was 186 for 661 (.281 avg, .705 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 8 homers, 57 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. He should be a huge improvement both with the bat and the glove over Bobby Crosby. Cabrera made 16 errors in 161 games for the White Sox last season while showing really good range in the field.

29-year old righty swinging Bobby Crosby wants to be traded…..but who would want him? He played in 145 games for the A’s last season and he was 132 for 556 (.237 avg, .645 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 7 homers, 61 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Crosby made 17 errors in 145 games at shortstop for the A’s last season while showing below average range. The A’s will be much better with Cabrera instead of the vastly overrated Bobby Crosby.

24-year old switch hitting Cliff Pennington would likely be third in line at shortstop for the A’s in 2009. He played in 36 games for the A’s last season and he was 24 for 99 (.242 avg, .632 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 9 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Pennington had issues on defense last season as he made 4 errors in only 10 games at shortstop for the A’s last season while showing below average range.

Gregorio Petit showed outstanding range in 8 games at shortstop for the A’s last season but he made 2 errors.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B