KEOUGH FINDING FORM IN INSTRUCTS:
Oakland A’s Instructionals are underway, which means the best of the class of 2007 (and beyond) are in a field in Arizona being told to shift their feet and raise their elbows.

Scout.com has an interview with Oakland Farm Director Keith Lieppman, in which he says Shane Keough is showing some strong improvement in his first few days of camp.

Keith Lieppman: It’s hard to pinpoint
someone specifically because they don’t keep a whole lot of stats. We
keep some records of it, but nothing to specific. In terms of some
individual performances, Shane Keough
is having a pretty good Instructional League. He is starting to make
better contact and looks to be using his speed tool a little bit better
in terms of stealing bases. He is kind of getting some of the rough
edges off.

OC: With Keough, do you think his struggles this season were a result of coming back from his back injury last season?

KP: No, I think with him it was just that he hadn’t played very
much baseball in high school. He’s just somebody who hasn’t had that
much experience out there on the field. I think it is just a matter of
getting the repetitions and being out there. The talent is there. I
just think he’s just a little bit behind because he got a little bit of
an opportunity at the JC level, but prior to that, he hadn’t played
much.

Lieppman went on to name early 2007 C’s first baseman Sean Doolittle as someone who is mashing, and will likely move through the system fast, while 2006-7 C’s outfielder Matt Sulentic is also having a good time of things and will likely not only get back to Kane County next year, but will "definitely" stay in the outfield.

HEAVY HITTERS HURT:
Uptown Corey Brown’s injury has stopped him from getting to Instructionals, and now Amblin’ Danny Hamblin, the other half of Vancouver’s 2007 power duo, has had to pull out after injuring a groin. Also ailing is Josh Horton; The Hornet having injured his hand to the point where he can’t wear a glove, although he’s still able to swing a bat and is doing just that.

Meanwhile, Craig Italiano, who was drilled in the head with a line drive this season, seems like he’s fit and ready for action, having pitched a couple of simulated outings. You always wonder, when a kid takes a shot like that, whether he’ll be gun shy in future, so it’s good to hear about his progress.

In other injury-related news, 2004 NWL MVP and Vancouver Canadians center fielder, Javier Herrera, has been cleared to play Venezuelan Winter Ball with Caracas after two seasons riddled with injury (and suspension).

More suspicious people than I might look at Herrera’s steroid suspension two years back, and his subsequent inability to stay healthy since, and think the two might be related…

Lieppman also makes note that chronically injured 2004 C’s catcher (and 1st round draftee) Landon Powell is likely to have further troubles with his knees in the future, saying, "the chance of recurrence is probably great", and, even more interestingly, that the likelihood of a move to another position is not strong. "His catching skills make him what he is," says Lieppman, adding, "He’s a
switch-hitter with power and the whole thing, but with his great
receiving skills and his throwing, there are really no other places for
him right now."

So you’ve got a guy with bad knees, who will have more knee problems, but isn’t worth shifting to another spot, so they’re going to keep him in the one place that is hardest on a guy’s knees and just see if he can luck it out? Wow - I’m not sure I’d want to be buying Landon Powell futures right now.

That said, Powell can mash. I know nobody likes to spend too much time on a DH-only guy in the minors (a la Jack Cust), since that’s the spot you’d normally put your washed up veterans, but surely it would make more sense to have Powell lose some weight and then actively push him towards first base - or even (I can’t believe I’m saying this) - third? He certainly has the throwing arm for it, and though he’d be a defensive liability, he’d be a defensive liability who could poke 30 dingers for you, from either side of the plate.

Hit the link below for more news. 

CANADIANS PRESS OFFICE REMAINS BUSY:
Just spotted the latest battlefront in Rob Fai’s Vancouver media war plan, and it’s yet another victory. Fresh off getting strong TV, radio and print coverage for the C’s Thanksgiving Turkey donation, Fai has put together a Vancouver Canadians newsletter, and it makes for great reading.

The biggest scoop, in my opinion, is that Corey Brown will NOT undergo surgery to fix the ligaments in his hand. Oakland have decided that surgery will just mean a longer time out of the game, and that he can get by with rest and recuperation.

“The A’s said that it would probably take longer to heal if I had the surgery, so now I just keep it wrapped up pretty much 24/7 and will start working out again in late October” said Brown from his former university (Oklahoma State) where he is training this off-season.

Isn’t this the kind of thing that Oakland did with Eric Chavez’s shoulder? Come on, A’s, fix your damn players and quit gambling when it comes to health. A torn ligament is a torn ligament - just because a player can play on with an iffy pinkie finger doesn’t mean they should, and Brown’s pinkie was already hurting from previous injuries.

Meanwhile, Rob Fai’s success with the Canadians has seen him tapped by TEAM1040 radio to be the voice of their weekend sports update. I asked Rob via email if that meant he was doing TEAM1040 ‘as well as’ the C’s or ‘instead of’, and quite frankly, I can’t get a straight answer.

"I’m an employee of the Vancouver Canadians," was the one line reply.

"Yes," I followed up, "but are you a permanent employee? That is, are you an employee of the Vancouver Canadians next season?"

"I’m an employee of the Vancouver Canadians," he repeated.

Now, I know if Rob had a multi-year contract under his wing (or even a one-year contract), he’d have no trouble saying so, and celebrating the fact loudly. Which means to me that, in all likelihood, Rob is either on the way out (like 85% of the C’s front office before him), or simply doesn’t know what the team has planned for his position in the long term.

That’s backed up by the fact that, when I try to discuss our coverage at NFTN for season 2008, he tells me he’d much rather we make plans closer to the season, "as things can change and I don’t want to put things in play until we have a few more things nailed down on this end."

Hmm. The plot, she’s thickening.

For the record, if the C’s don’t move Heaven and Earth to secure Fai’s future with the team, they’re nuts. He handled two very demanding full-time jobs with the team last season (broadcasting and running the press office), and achieved an unprecedented level of competence in both. The results were clear - press coverage like the team hasn’t had in decades, great marketing strategies, and cooperation with guys like me that allowed Jeremy and myself to do our jobs way better than usual.

For the record, before the season I said the C’s were nuts if they thought anyone could handle those two jobs to even a moderate level of success. Fai proved me wrong.

So pony up already, Canadians.

Oh, and maybe sign a GM. I know fill-in consultant Andy Dunn was in town last week, but utilizing a guy who has to fly up from Florida whenever the team needs a little oversight, as talented and experienced as the guy might be, is a situation that can’t be allowed to stand for much longer.

Aileen McManamon was let go in the first week of season 2007. Surely that’s enough time to find a replacement?

FALL BALLERS HAVE THEIR ORDERS:
The second part of the Scout.com/Kieth Lieppman interview mentioned above outlines some interesting info about what Oakland minor leaguers will be doing at Fall Ball this season:

There are some priority players [in the AFL], so [Cliff] Pennington will get to
play a number of positions. He is going to get to play some third and
some short and second, so that will diversify him a little bit.
[2005 Vancouver Canadians 3B Jeff] Baisley’s participation is about his health. Just coming off of that
knee injury, we are just trying to make sure that he can play every
day. He might possibly play some first base, just to give him a break
from playing third every day, as well. So there will be a little bit of
expanding of their skills [in AFL].

[2005 Vancouver closer Brad] Kilby (seen right), we are just trying to get him some situational work against
left-handers coming out of the bullpen. Same with [Rule V Draftee Jay] Marshall, to give him
an opportunity to get some situational work in and try to get him a
change-up to use against right-handers. With [2005 Canadians pitcher Jeff] Gray, we are going to have
him work on his breaking ball to use against lefties. [2007 1st rounder James] Simmons is going
to work on getting a better slider.

Former Fall Ball nominee Anthony Recker, who recently picked up an injury, will be replaced by Raul Padron. 

In other off-season news, the A’s are trying to find Winter League teams for 2004 C’s Danny Putnam and Richie Robnett, along with 2002 OF Brian Stavisky, while ‘02 and ‘03 C’s pitchers Ben Fritz and Brad Knox will be pitching in Venezuela.

ORIGINAL VANCOUVER CANADIANS: TRIPLE-A TEAM OF THE YEAR
After winning the Bricktown Showdown against the International League championship-winning Richmond Braves, the Sacramento Rivercats (who were once the Vancouver Canadians) have been named the MiLB.com AAA team of the year.

That’s a nice honour. So who won the overall Team of the Year title?

Ugh: The NWL champion Salem-Kaizer Volcanoes.

Still, it’s hard to argue, even if they (as always) benefited by not losing any players to promotion: 

The club, which won its division by 19 1/2 games, led the league in
batting (.289) by 17 points and in ERA (3.40) by more than half a run.
The Volcanoes also led the league in runs, hits, homers and fewest
strikeouts and most shutouts recorded.

They were so dominant that no other entry in the eight-team league
finished above .500. Of the other seven, four would have finished at
.500 or better if you took away their games against Salem-Keizer. That
includes Boise, which, though tied for the next-best record in the
league, was 0-10 against the Volcanoes.

Do yourself a favour and avoid the link. Unless you want to read paragraph after paragraph of Volcanoes folk trying to convince the world they were underdogs engaged in a rags to riches Cinderella story.

Please. If the Volcanoes had to endure what the C’s did, with their best players lost, one after another, to Kane County, they would have only won the division by, like, 12 games…

Sigh.

POTENTIAL RULE V LOSSES MAKE A DEEP LIST:
The players eligible for Rule V draft selection in the Oakland system find themselves in an interesting dilemma. While nobody wants their Oakland career interrupted by being yanked out of the system, any unprotected player who is drafted by another team has to spend the following season on a Major League roster, or be offered back to the original club.

So, really, any player on the following list would LOVE to be stolen from the A’s:

Luke Appert, Nick Blasi, Jeremy Brown, Eddie Cornejo, Bobby Cramer, Tommy ‘Super Mario’ Everidge (seen right), Ben Fritz, Jeff Gray, Brad Knox, Myron Leslie, Mike Mitchell, Trent Peterson, Gregorio Petit, Landon Powell, Richie Robnett, Steve Sharpe, Brian Snyder, Vasili Spanos, Brian Stavisky, Brad Ziegler.

Meanwhile, Danny Putnam, Kurt Suzuki, Dallas Braden, Kevin Melillo and Connor Robertson are protected by virtue of their being on the 40-man roster.

So who is likely to get picked up? That’s always a crap shoot, but if I were working for the Yankees, I’d look hard at Nick Blasi and/or Gregorio Petit.

Blasi had a monster season in AAA, turning what was supposed to be a three-day fill-in from High-A into a playoff AAA MVP season. He might not be Major League ready, but he’s darn close, and his speed would make him a decent pinch-running option.

Petit’s season wasn’t as great as Blasi’s, but it was darn solid, and if you had to keep him on a Major League roster for a year, you could do far worse (and not much better) then Gregorio as a defensive infield option.

Keep an eye on Richie Robnett also. His power and speed are unquestionable, but his K-rate and injuries have kept him out of the limelight. If someone took a flyer on him, he could quite literally explode in the Majors. 

2007 DRAFT CLASS REPORT CARD:
Scout.com’s Oakland Clubhouse has an indepth piece up grading this year’s Oakland draftees, with the bulk of those mentioned being ‘07 C’s players. Interesting notes cribbed from the piece:

* Sean Doolittle likely to start in High-A ball next season, despite struggles at Kane County.
* Josh Horton may find himself switching to second base next season, which makes sense from an organizational standpoint, as the A’s are a little slim at the 4-spot in the lowers.
* Michael ‘Runway’ Richard could soon find himself playing center field, due in large part to his speed and high error rate while with Vancouver.
* Matt Smith is likely to go back to Kane County next season, which means chances are high that one (or more) of the 2007 C’s catching trio of Dante Love, Dusty Napoleon and Julio Rivera will be held back in 2008. My money’s on Love (seen left), as Rivera has power (on the rare occasions he connects) and Napoleon showed enough in limited at bats to show he has the raw potential.
* Brent Lysander will likely move out of the bullpen and start games next season.
* Fabian Gomez will likely find himself in a lefty situational role going forward, after killing left-handers (.217 BAA), but getting eaten alive by righties. That said, in order to get to a level where they even use lefty situational pitchers, he’ll need to pitch well against all comers over the next season or two, which means lowering that 8.44 ERA - significantly.

SHORT HOPS:
* The Oakland A’s extended the Player Development Contract with the C’s for an extra two years, taking it through to 2010 - the longest agreement Major League Baseball will allow. According to the C’s, it was Oakland that came to them requesting the extension.

* MLB has finally approved the new ownership group (that took control of the C’s a year ago, albeit not on paper). This means Fred Hermann has a few million bucks more to plan out his retirement.

* The Bud Kerr Vancouver Baseball Fall of Fame will go ahead, and will go ahead this year, according to team ownership. A temporary facility will likey be built in the short term, with something more permanent planned for a few years down the road, when the Olympic construction is over. Early word I’ve been hearing says the C’s want to build a full-on restaurant where the BBQ section is now, but that’ll take some preparation work… and Parks Board massaging.

* Bud Kerr has preliminary agreement with local council to have plaques installed all over town at the locations of former professional ballparks. Council has to do an engineering report to decide where the plaques can go, and it will be up to Bud and the Friends of Nat Bailey Stadium to figure out how to pay for them. The FoNBS meets on October 23rd to discuss that, and other issues.

* Bud tells me that on a recent visit to the ballpark, he noticed the grounds crew is still hard at work. I don’t recall that happening before… ever. Could the team actually be investing in the quality of the playing surface? Wow.

* Lastly, putting the story straight, Jim Bennie, who is a local baseball nut (represent!), dropped us a comment to clarify the name of Vancouver’s early baseball teams.

According to Jim, he saw a newspaper from early century that referred to the 1905 Vancouver pro team as The Horse Doctors, duly told the folks in the press box one day, and one of those was hence contacted by the authour of a book on minor league baseball nicknames, who reprinted the name, which was then picked up by the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball.

But Jim says that was never actually the team’s name after all. They were, he says upon further research, actually called the Vancouver Veterans, due to the presence of several experienced ballplayers on the roster when the team began. One local newspaper shortened that to Vets, and a third took some liberty with the name and mockingly turned it into The Horse Doctors.

Jim also says the team was never called the Vancouver Champions, as some have claimed, though a local paper did refer to them in that way for the year after they won the league, thereby confusing historians since. Rather, the team was known as the Beavers all the way from commencement through to 1922.

Thanks for the update, Jim - even Bud Kerr was convinced the team was the Horse Doctors way back when, so you’ve scooped the scooper.

Jim’s Vancouver baseball website can be found at http://www3.telus.net/jgbennie, and I recommend a look, if only for the amazing reprint of an early newspaper report on the team’s third season in 1907 (which, incidentally, makes it 102 years of professional baseball in Vancouver this past year - not 100, as has been celebrated all season). The style of writing is just the slightest bit… shall we say, dated?

Mayor’s Arm is Kinky.
The day was a gala one for baseball and all that was lacking to fill the cup of cheer to the brim was a victory. His Worship Mayor Bethune held the place of honor in the big parade and following were a long row of carriages occupied by directors of the club and prominent citizens. The Aberdeen and Vancouver players, all neatly attired, brought up the rear of the procession and the sight as a whole was a jolly one… Mahon, of Aberdeen, took his plate at the plate; His Worship was handed a brand new ball and after tugging three or four times at his trousers, in imitation of a professional, he sent a spit ball which went six feet shy of reaching the plate.

He should have had a wheelchair catapult.