GM Billy Beane thought he was slick in getting rid of Ken Macha proving that he doesn’t know everything. Geren led the A’s to a 75-87 record (46.3%) last season. In his three years with the A’s, Geren is 226-259 (46.6%) which just isn’t cutting it. I don’t think Geren will have much more time unless he starts winning more ballgames. Geren has given a lot of his players the green light on the bases which goes against Beane’s Moneyball approach.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE MANAGER IN 2010: C-

The Oakland Athletics have signed 27-year old righty starter/reliever Chad Gaudin to a 1-year deal. Gaudin pitched in 31 games (25 starts) for the Yankees & Padres last year in which he was 6-10 with a 4.64 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He has now pitched in 216 games (75 starts) in his 7 years in the majors and he is 34-35 with 2 saves, a 4.50 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Gaudin is back with the A’s who he pitched for from 2006-2008. He pitched in 115 games (40 starts) in his time with the A’s and he was 20-18 with 2 saves, a 4.00 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. I like this move for the A’s no matter what role they use Gaudin in.

The Oakland A’s are going to have one of the best bullpens in all of baseball in 2010. It all starts with 25-year old righty closer Andrew Bailey who was the Rookie of the Year in the American League in 2009. He pitched in 68 games (0 starts) for the A’s last year and he was 6-3 with 26 saves, a 1.84 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. He only gave up 49 hits in 83 1/3 innings last season for the A’s while whiffing 91 batters showing how nasty his stuff is. Bailey comes right at hitters with his wicked arsenal daring them to swing at him.

31-year old righty Michael Wuertz had a career year in 2009 for the A’s. Wuertz pitched in 74 games (0 starts) for the Athletics last season and he was 6-1 with 4 saves, a 2.63 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. Wuertz only gave up 52 hits in 78 2/3 innings last season for the A’s while whiffing 102 batters showing just how dominating he was. Look for more of the same out of him in 2010.

30-year old righty sidearmer Brad Ziegler started last season as the closer before turning the job over to Bailey. He pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the Athletics last year and he was 2-4 with 7 saves, a 3.07 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Ziegler has now pitched in 116 games (0 starts) in his two years with the A’s and he is 5-4 with 18 saves, a 2.17 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.

26-year old righty Joey Devine will be back in 2010 after missing the 2009 season due to injury. Devine pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the Athletics in 2008 in which he was 6-1 with 1 save, a 0.59 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP. He only allowed 23 hits in 45 2/3 innings for the A’s in 2008 while whiffing 49 batters showing how nasty he is when healthy.

29-year old Craig Breslow will likely be the A’s top lefty in 2010. Breslow pitched in 60 games (0 starts) for the Athletics last season in which he was 7-5 with a 2.60 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He only gave up 35 hits in 55 1/3 innings for the A’s last season showing that he is more than capable of putting away lefty swingers.

27-year old lefty Brad Kilby will likely be the A’s #2 lefty out of the pen in 2010. Kilby pitched in 11 games (1 start) for the Athletics last season in which he is 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. Kilby only gave up 10 hits in his first 17 major league innings of his career while whiffing 20 showing what kind of stuff he has. Kilby also pitched in 45 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season in which he was 4-2 with 2 saves, a 2.13 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He only gave up 40 hits in 63 1/3 innings in the minors last season while whiffing 77 batters.

26-year old lefty Jerry Blevins will likely be starting the year in AAA. He pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He is clearly behind Breslow and Kilby heading into this season but I would think that Blevins would surface at some point in 2010 for the A’s.

31-year old righty Jason Jennings could win a job as a long reliever for the A’s in 2010. Jennings pitched in 44 games (0 starts) for the Rangers last season in which he was 2-4 with 1 save, a 4.13 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He can handle multiple innings at a time as he was a starter not to long ago in his career.

28-year old righty Edwar Ramirez was just acquired by the Rangers from the A’s. He pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Yankees last season and he was 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP. Ramirez is a better pitcher than he showed last year but he will have a uphill climb trying to make the A’s in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BULLPEN IN 2010: A

The A’s have acquired 27-year old righty reliever Edwar Ramirez from the Rangers for 25-year old righty swinging 2B/SS Gregorio Petit. Ramirez pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Yankees last season in which he was 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP. In his three years in the majors, Ramirez has pitched in 96 games (0 starts) in which he is 6-2 with 2 saves, a 5.22 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The A’s will likely use Ramirez early in games if he makes the A’s pitching staff. Petit played in 11 games for the A’s last season in which he was 7 of 31 (.226 avg, .484 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. He played in 25 games in his career with the A’s and he is 15 of 54 (.278 avg, .637 OPS) with 6 runs scored and 1 RBI. Losing Petit won’t hurt the A’s while Ramirez might turn into a asset down the road so I like this trade for them.

The A’s will be without 25-year old righty reliever John Meloan in 2010 as he will undergo season ending surgery on his right elbow this week. Meloan pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP. He also pitched in 44 games (2 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. The A’s won’t miss him too much in 2010 as their bullpen is loaded.

The A’s have two veterans in Ben Sheets and Justin Duchscherer who missed all of last season due to injury. They also had a bunch of promising young pitchers on the rise. The A’s are paying 31-year old righty Ben Sheets like an ace despite the fact that he missed all of last year due to injury. That is pretty risky business. Sheets started 31 games for the Brewers in 2008 in which he was 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Sheets has won 10-13 games in 7 of his 8 years in the majors so he has been kind of dependable, when healthy.

22-year old lefty Brett Anderson really had a solid rookie year and he was outstanding in the second half. Anderson started 30 games for the A’s last season and he was 11-11 with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. He whiffed 150 batters in 175 1.3 innings last season and he only walked 45 batters showing pinpoint control. Anderson has a impressive arsenal of pitches and I see him improving in his second year in the majors.

26-year old lefty Dallas Braden really pitched well last year for the A’s. He started 22 games for the A’s last season in which he was 8-9 with a 3.89 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The big question with Braden is can he be that successful over an entire season? The A’s will probably give him a chance to prove that he was for real in 2010.

22-year old righty Trevor Cahill had a solid rookie year for the A’s in 2009. He started 32 games last season in which he was 10-13 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Cahill only whiffed 90 batters in 178 2/3 innings last season as he was depending on the defense to help him out. He also walked 72 batters last season which is way too many. If Cahill can tighten up his control a bit he could turn into a top of the line starter for the A’s in the near future.

32-year old righty Justin Duchscherer missed all of last season due to injury. In 2008 he started 22 games for the A’s in which he was 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He only gave up 107 hits last season in 141 2/3 innings in 2008 as he was missing a lot of bats. In his six years with the A’s, Duchscherer has pitched in 214 games (25 starts) in which he is 30-23 with 14 saves, a 2.82 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. The A’s expect a lot out of Duchscherer if he is healthy again in 2010.

24-year old lefty Gio Gonzalez showed glimpses of outstanding potential last season. He pitched in 20 games (17 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 6-7 with a 5.75 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. Gonzalez whiffed 109 batters in only 98 2/3 innings for the A’s last season showing what kind of stuff he has. But, he also walked 56 batters and allowed 113 hits as it always seemed like their were a lot of baserunners when he was pitching. If he can tighten up his control a bit he could turn into a solid starting pitcher as early as 2010 for the A’s.

23-year old righty Vin Mazzaro had a rough first taste of the majors in 2009. Mazzaro started 17 games for the A’s last season and he was 4-9 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. He gave up 120 hits in only 91 1/3 innings last season whiffing only 59 batters. That means that Mazzaro needs to start missing more bats if he wants to win a job in the A’s rotation any time soon.

36-year old righty Brett Tomko was solid for the A’s at the end of last season before getting injured. He started 6 games for the A’s last season and he was 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. Tomko pitched in 21 games (6 starts) overall for the Yankees & A’s last season in which he was 5-3 with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.

24-year old righty Clayton Mortensen is the A’s #15 rated prospect heading into the 2010 season according to Baseball America. Mortensen pitched in 7 games (6 starts) for the Cardinals & A’s last year and he was 2-4 with a 7.63 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. He also started 23 games in AAA-ball last night in which he was 9-8 with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. It’s doubtful that Mortensen will wind up getting a lot of starts for the A’s in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE ROTATION IN 2010: C

The A’s have returned 24-year old righty reliever Bobby Cassevah back to the Angels. Cassevah was a Rule 5 Draft Pick over the winter but the A’s didn’t want to carry him this season as their bullpen is full of really good pitchers. I’m sure the A’s won’t lose any sleep over returning Cassevah to the Angels.

25-year old lefty swinging Ryan Sweeney is penciled in as the starting RF heading into spring training. Sweeney played in 134 games for the A’s last season in which he was 142 of 484 (.293 avg, .755 OPS) with 68 runs scored, 6 homers, 53 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Sweeney made 2 errors in 85 games in RF last season while showing outstanding range. He also had 5 assists showing a very strong throwing arm for the A’s in RF. Sweeney doesn’t have the power of a regular right fielder in the majors but he is a good defender who will hit for a nice average.

31-year old lefty swinging Gabe Gross was signed over the winter and he will get in on the action in RF in 2010. Gross played in 115 games for the Rays last season and he was 64 of 282 (.227 avg, .681 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 6 homers, 36 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Gross made 3 errors in 100 games in RF last season while showing above average range. He also has a decent throwing arm as he had 6 assists while in RF last season. What you see is what you get with Gross.

26-year old lefty swinging Travis Buck will have a uphill battle winning playing time in RF for the A’s in 2010. Buck played in 28 error-free games in RF last season for the A’s while showing outstanding range. But, he has a pop gun arm as he didn’t have any assists in RF in 2009.

31-year old lefty swinging Jack Cust is the A’s starting DH and that is where they should leave him. He played in 51 games for the A’s last season in which he made 2 errors while showing awful range. He did have 1 assist in RF so his arm is just a tad stronger than Buck’s.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2010: C-

30-year old switch hitting Coco Crisp will take over as the starting CF for the A’s in 2010. He played in 49 games for the Royals last season in which he was 41 of 180 (.228 avg, .714 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Crisp missed most of last year due to a shoulder injury so the A’s expect him to hit more to his career norms of .277 with a .738 OPS (in 832 games). Crisp made 3 errors in 49 games in CF last season while showing slightly below average range. Crisp is a better defender than he showed last season and his health will be the key to his 2010 season.

29-year old righty swinging Rajai Davis will likely get some P.T. in CF in 2010. He played in 113 games for the A’s in CF last season making 4 errors while showing good range. Davis also showed a gun from CF as he had 8 assists there last season for the A’s.

25-year old lefty swinging Ryan Sweeney will also likely get some action in CF in 2010. Sweeney played in 57 games in CF last season making 1 error while showing outstanding range. Sweeney also showed a good arm in CF as he had 4 assists there in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CF IN 2010: B-

Going into spring training it appears as if 29-year old righty swinging Rajai Davis will be the starting LF at the start of the 2010 season for the A’s. Davis played in 125 games for the A’s last season in which he was 119 of 390 (.305 avg, .784 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 3 homers, 48 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. Davis got most of his playing time in CF last season so he should have no problem handling LF for the A’s in 2010.

26-year old lefty swinging Travis Buck is currently in the Dog House for the A’s but he still has a lot of talent. Buck played in 36 games for the A’s last season and he was 23 of 105 (.219 avg, .620 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. Buck has a career batting average of .257 with a .771 OPS in 156 games in the majors so expect him to hit better than he did in 2010 if he plays for the A’s at some point in 2010. Buck played in 5 error-free games in LF last season for the A’s.

24-year old righty swinging Michael Taylor is the LF of the future for the A’s and that could come at some point in the 2010 season. Taylor played in 116 games in AA+AAA ball last season in which he was 137 of 428 (.320 avg, .944 OPS) with 74 runs scored, 20 homers, 84 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. I really think that Taylor will be up with the A’s after the All-Star Break in 2010 and he will do well.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE LF IN 2010: B-