The A’s have placed 28-year old righty starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 20th due to right shoulder soreness. McCarthy has pitched in 12 games (all starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 6-3 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. McCarthy has now pitched in 37 games (all starts) in his first 2 years with the A’s and he is 15-12 with a 3.08 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. This is a bad break for McCarthy and the A’s. He has pitched well for them in his first two years with the team, but he just can’t seem to stay healthy.

The A’s have designated 25-year old righty reliever Danny Farquhar for assignment. He pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the A’s and he was 1-2 with a 10.12 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. Farquhar has now pitched in 25 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Blue Jays and A’s in which he is 1-3 with 1 save, a 4.46 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if Farquhar clears waivers.

UPDATE: (6/26/2012) - The New York Yankees have claimed Danny Farquhar off waivers.

The A’s have placed 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Collin Cowgill on the 15-day disabled list due to a sprained left ankle. Cowgill has played in 32 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 26 for 96 (.271 avg, .655 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The A’s have called up 26-year old righty swinging Brandon Hicks to replace Cowgill on the active roster. Hicks has played in 65 games in AAA-ball earlier this year for the A’s and he was 65 of 239 (.272 avg, .922 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 13 homers, 48 RBIs and 5 stolen base. He has played in 33 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 1 for 26 (.038 avg, .146 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 0 homers and 1 RBI.

The A’s have placed 39-year old righty starting pitcher Bartolo Colon on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 18th due to a strained right oblique. Colon has pitched in 15 games (all starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 6-7 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. 25-year old righty Tyson Ross has been called up to replace Colon in the starting rotation. Ross has pitched in 10 games (all starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 2-6 with a 6.11 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. The A’s hope that Ross steps up this time.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Jarrod Parker is really looking solid for the Angels so far this year. He has pitched in 11 games (all starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 3-3 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Parker has been especially sharp so far in June. He has started 4 games for the A’s so far in June in which he is 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has only given up 16 hits in his first 26 innings pitched while whiffing 20 batters, which is pretty darn impressive. Parker was the key to the Trevor Cahill deal (which is looking good for the A’s), so they need him to keep up the good work.

The A’s have called up 23-year old rookie righty swinging catcher Derek Norris. Norris was the Nationals’ #9 prospect coming into this season and he was part of the return the A’s got for Gio Gonzalez. Norris has played in 55 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 57 for 209 (.273 avg, .804 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 8 homers, 36 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 486 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 410 for 1,628 (.252 avg, .855 OPS) with 315 runs scored, 77 homers, 268 RBIs and 43 stolen bases. Norris is likely to play a lot for the A’s and that is bad news for 28-year old righty swinging catcher Kurt Suzuki. Suzuki has played in 60 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 45 for 209 (.215 avg, .524 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 0 homers, 16 RBIs and 1 stolen base. This could lead to a trade of Suzuki in the near future.

30-year old lefty reliever Erick Threets is off to a good start in AAA-ball for the A’s this year. He has pitched in 26 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 3-2 with 2 saves, a 2.38 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Threets has pitched in 21 games (0 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 0-1 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. Threets could get another shot at the show later this year with the A’s if the keeps pitching well.

The A’s have released 40-year old righty swinging DH/OF Manny Ramirez at his request. Ramirez played in 17 games in AAA-ball for the A’s and he was 19 for 63 (.302 avg, .697 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 0 homers and 14 RBIs. He must have found out that hitting without cheating (steroids) gets hard when you get older. This likely ends Ramirez’ would have been Hall of Fame career (if he had not been busted for steroids twice). Ramirez played in 2,303 games in his 19 years in the majors and he was 2,574 of 8,244 (.312 avg, .996 OPS) with 1,544 runs scored, 555 homers, 1,831 RBIs and 38 stolen bases.

28-year old lefty swinging outfielder Brandon Moss has come up from the minors swinging for the A’s. He has played in 7 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 5 for 21 (.238 avg, 1.114 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 homers and 6 RBIs. Moss earned his promotion to Oakland by playing in 51 games in AAA-ball in which he was 56 for 196 (.286 avg, .952 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 15 homers, 33 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 1B belongs to Brandon Moss if he keeps ripping the ball like he is right now.

35-year old righty swinging 3B Brandon Inge has come off the D.L. swinging! He has played in 12 games so far in June and he is 14 for 43 (.326 avg, .966 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 12 RBIs. He has now played in 25 games this year for the A’s and he is 25 for 94 (.266 avg, .873 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 6 homers and 29 RBIs. Inge has been on quite a run for the A’s, as GM Billy Beane still can find nuggets in players no one else wants.