When the Oakland Athletics take the field in Arizona in April, they’ll be bringing the usual band of major leaguers and AAAA invitees snagged off the free agent wire, but every season they also invite a handful of their minor league prospects to camp. This usually indicates that the invitee is considered a bona fide prospect – either with a major league debut likely in their immediate future, or at the very least, sometime in the next few seasons.

Some of these guys are nigh ready, some are coming off injury-plagued seasons and need a little pre-season tune-up, some will get there eventually, maybe, but are coming to spring training now so they can experience life among the big kids for a while, in the hope that some of that MLB talent will rub off on them.

In short, if you’re a minor leaguer, getting invited to the big club’s spring training camp is a majorly big deal.

So who made this year’s selection?

In alphabetical order (with year played in Vancouver in brackets):

John Baker – C (2002, pictured left) – This Moneyballer has been in AAA so long, and just missed promotion so many times, that it almost seems like tradition to keep him down. A 4th rounder from the 2002 draft, he hit for a fairly weak .235 in Vancouver in his debut season, but has kicked on nicely since, moving up a level every year until he hit AAA ball, and having a breakout season in AA Midland where he hit 15 dingers and knocked around for a .280 average. He’s only 25, and he was taken off waivers by Florida before the A’s brought him back, but he’ll struggle to secure a place in the big team ahead of Jeremy Brown, Adam Melhuse, and even AA prospect Kurt Suzuki. His attitude doesn’t help.

Daric Barton – DH/1B – There’s barely any point in even talking about whether this kid will make it – he just plain will. A pure hitter with questionable power and no defensive skill whatsoever, he’s about a half season of decent AAA ball away from a major league spot.

‘Diamond’ Dallas Braden – SP (2002) – The king of the screwball had some injury problems last year when his arm went tired towards season’s end, which could see him finally turned into a reliever (where he’d likely be more effective anyway in the MLB). Braden came out of nowhere, drafted in the 24th round in 2004, unleashed his trick pitch (which he hadn’t used for a few seasons of school), and blew through lineups like they were made of brown paper. He’s essentially been stalled since he hit AA ball, but if he’s made a full recovery and can hit the ground running, he could move up quickly, a la Jason Windsor.

Travis ‘Wonder’ Buck – RF (2005) – Another case of ‘not it, but when’, WonderBuck is just a straight up polished college superstar in the Huston Street mold. The A’s have taken him slowly through the system, but he’s ready for The Show and will get his chance, if all goes well, sometime this season.

Kevin Mellilo – 2B (2004) – I maintain that Mellilo’s breakout season in 2005 (where he hit homeruns off everyone, at every level) has put him a lot higher up the prospect ladder than he really should be. Granted, in ‘05 he was filthy, but in ‘06 he was very much looking like a Kiger or Scutaro, rather than an A-Rod. Mellilo has reportedly been working on his defense, but his sudden drop-off in offense could see him dangled as tradebait if he has a burst of success in the spring.

Mike ‘M&M’ Mitchell – RP (2005) – First drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 14th round in 2002, Billy Beane managed one of his famous bargain deals when he picked Mitchell up in the 35th round of the ‘03 draft after the kid had told the Injuns to beat it. When he showed up in Vancouver in the beginning of the ‘05 short season after a year working in Arizona, it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t going to be making long term plans in the city, being as he didn’t concede an earned run in 7 appearances for the C’s. He was a solid, polished, strong starting pitcher who clearly outmatched hitters at that level, and he did well in Kane County subsequently, then well in Stockton, and then Sacramento. Why is he such a prospect all of a sudden? Because he’s leaped TWO levels of minor league ball in each of his last two seasons, and he kicked much ass in the Fall League. One to watch.

Connor Robertson – RP (2004) – Robertson’s worst ERA at any level of pro ball was the 3.60 he racked up in 3 outings for Vancouver in 2004. Since then (and before then) he has never once finished a season with a team with an ERA higher than 2.93. His 7-2, 2.80 season in Midland last season was typical of his career to date, and quite frankly, he’s shown no problem adapting to any promotion so far, so who’s to say he couldn’t light up spring training and get himself a spot in the Oakland bullpen by season’s end?

Kurt Suzuki – C (2004) – It was only recently that Landon Powell was considered the A’s best catching prospect, but Zook has, as he has at every level of ball, played above expectation, worked double hard, given 150% in every outing, and earned the right to take this spot ahead of the 2004 1st rounder. Wears his heart on his sleeve, wants to win like nobody’s business, and makes up for what he lacks in raw talent with focused, hard training and a desire to learn. He won’t play for the A’s in 2007, but look out in 2008 – he’s destined.

Kaz Tadano – RP – Continues to be more famous for the controversial gay porno that saw him chased out of Japanese baseball, and continues to demonstrate that he just doesn’t have it to pitch at the major league level. Short of winning five games in the pre-season, Tadano isn’t going to be around at the end of 2007.

Note: Some pictures provided by Scout.com