The A’s have designated 26-year old lefty reliever Jay Marshall for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Justin Duchscherer. Marshall pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. He pitched in 61 games (0 starts) in two years with the A’s and he was 1-4 with a 7.66 ERA and a 1.72 WHIP. Marshall will be no loss for the A’s as he was pitching batting practice for them.

UPDATE: Marshall has been claimed off waivers by the Mets.

UPDATE II: Marshall was returned to the A’s due to his physical condition and they then released him.

The A’s have re-signed 32-year old righty starting pitcher Justin Duchscherer to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal with another possible $3.5 million bucks in incentives. Duchscherer did not pitch last season due to injury and depression. In 2008 with the A’s, Duchscherer pitched in 22 games (all starts) in which he was 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has now pitched in 219 games (27 starts) in his major league career and he is 31-24 with 14 saves, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. This was a good signing for the A’s as Duchscherer will give them a veteran to lead the kiddie corps in the starting rotation if he can just stay healthy.

The A’s have signed 30-year old switch hitting outfielder Coco Crisp to a 1-year deal worth $4.75 million with a club option for the 2011 season worth $5.75 million bucks with a buyout of $500K. Crisp played in 49 games for the Royals last season and he was 41 for 180 (.228 avg, .714 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Crisp has now played in 832 games in his 8 years in the majors and he is 860 for 3,106 (.277 avg, .738 OPS) with 463 runs scored, 59 homers, 327 RBIs and 137 stolen bases. Crisp will take over as the starting CF in 2010 for the A’s and that should really improve the defense. I like this signing for the A’s as Crisp is a solid baseball player when healthy.

The A’s have signed 25-year old righty swinging 1B Matt Whitney to a minor league deal. Whitney played in 107 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 75 for 280 (.268 avg, .796 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 8 homers and 37 RBIs. He has now played in 640 games in his 7 years in the minors and he is 592 for 2,265 (.261 avg, .776 OPS) with 331 runs scored, 81 homers and 338 RBIs. Whitney will likely start the year in AAA for the A’s in 2010.

The A’s have signed 25-year old righty reliever Fernando Hernandez, 31-year old lefty reliever Cedrick Bowers, 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Matt Wright and 29-year old righty reliever Marcus McBeth to minor league deals with invites to spring training. Hernandez pitched in 57 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 3-4 with 20 saves, a 1.68 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He only allowed 45 hits in 69 2/3 innings last season while whiffing 70 batters showing how nasty his stuff really was last year. Hernandez pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 1-0 with a 18.00 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. Cedrick Bowers pitched in 48 games (0 starts) last season in AAA-ball and he was 4-3 with 5 saves, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He only allowed 38 hits while whiffing 67 batters in only 60 2/3 innings last season showing that he had pretty good stuff but he needs to improve his control as he walked 45 batters last year. Bowers pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in 2008 with the Rockies and he was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.40 WHIP. Matt Wright pitched in 16 games (12 starts) in A-ball last season and he was 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He has now pitched in 31 games (27 starts) in his two years in the minors and he is 2-5 with a 3.68 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Wright has 127 hits in 110 career innings in the minors so he has a decent upside. Marcus McBeth pitched in 44 games (1 start) in AAA-ball last season and he was 2-3 with 3 saves, a 2.69 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He only allowed 43 hits in 67 innings last season while whiffing 66 batters. McBeth pitched in 23 games (0 starts) for the Reds in 2007 and he was 3-2 with a 5.95 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. All of these guys will likely start the season in AAA-ball and earn a call to the bigs if the need arises for the A’s.

The A’s have acquired 24-year old righty swinging outfielder Michael Taylor from the Blue Jays for 23-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Brett Wallace. Taylor was the #6 rated prospect in the Phillies’ system coming into last season and he showed why in 2009. Taylor played in 116 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 137 for 428 (.320 avg, .944 OPS) with 74 runs scored, 20 homers, 84 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Taylor has now played in 314 games in his three years in the minors and he is 360 for 1,153 (.312 avg, .898 OPS) with 180 runs scored, 45 homers, 205 RBIs and 44 stolen bases. Taylor will likely push for a starting corner outfield position this spring as he is a elite talent. Brett Wallace played in 138 games in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 156 for 532 (.293 avg, .822 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 20 homers and 63 RBIs. The A’s had a need for a solid corner outfielder and Taylor appears ready to play in the majors now while Wallace might need a little more time on the farm. I really like this trade for the A’s.

The A’s have not tendered a 2010 contract to 30-year old lefty swinging OF/DH Jack Cust making him a free agent. Cust played in 149 games for the A’s last season and he was 123 for 513 (.240 avg, .773 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 25 homers and 70 RBIs. He played three seasons for the A’s appearing in 421 games in which he was 335 for 1,389 (.241 avg, .840 OPS) with 226 runs scored, 84 homers and 229 RBIs. Cust walked 309 times in his games with the A’s but he also whiffed a stunning 546 times as he led the A.L. in whiffs in all three of his years with the team. The A’s will likely miss his power but they will be able to use the money he would have made to help fix up the roster a bit.

The A’s have released 29-year old righty reliever Santiago Casilla. Casilla pitched in 46 games (0 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 1-2 with a 5.96 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He pitched in 152 games (0 starts) in his six years with the Athletics and he was 6-4 with 4 saves, a 5.11 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Despite Casilla having a great arm the A’s gave up on him because he has shown little progress as a pitcher.

The A’s have selected 24-year old righty reliever Bobby Cassevah in the Rule 5 Draft out of the Angels’ system. Cassevah pitched in 57 games in AA-ball last season and he was 3-7 with 4 saves, a 3.68 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He has now pitched in 156 games (14 starts) in his five years in the minors and he is 11-21 with 6 saves, a 4.33 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Cassevah appears to be a very long shot to make the A’s pitching staff this spring.

The A’s will likely go bargain hunting in free agency looking at players like Randy Winn, Rick Ankiel, Garret Anderson and Xavier Nady. But, they will likely be looking to make a lot of trades with the extra young pitching that they have on hand. Trading for Jake Fox will help the team but they need help at DH and either a 1B or 3B for the 2010 season and I seeing them filling those holes in the trade route. The A’s did make a big offer to Marco Scutaro before he signed with Boston so they must not be sold on Cliff Pennington as a starting shortstop, so keep that in mind this week. One player the A’s are likely to move in a trade is Rajai Davis as the team doesn’t value base speed much and he could get them a decent player in return based on how he played last year.