The Oakland A’s set their minor league rosters today for all teams from low-A to AAA, and there are few surprises.

Triple-A: Sacramento Rivercats of the Pacific Coast League
Pitchers
Blevins, Jerry
Braden, Dallas
Cate, Troy
Devine, Joey
Gonzalez, Gio
Gray, Jeff
Kilby, Brad
Knox, Brad
Saarloos, Kirk
Smith, Greg
Wing, Ryan
Ziegler, Brad

Catchers
Knoedler, Justin
Powell, Landon
Ortiz, Gabriel

Infielders
Baisley, Jeff
Bankston, Wes
Conrad, Brooks
Cornejo, Eddie
Petit, Gregorio
Rogowski, Casey

Outfielders
Fiorentino, Jeff
Gonzalez, Carlos
Linden, Todd
Robnett, Richie

Surprises: None. Robnett finally gets his AAA promotion, Baisley has impressed during the spring, so his Rivercats spot was assured, and the team couldn’t be more impatient to get Landon Powell into the major league side as Suzuki’s backup. Brad Kilby has made a quiet rise to the near-top, and will be worth watching, and how about Jeff Gray? From nowhere to the top in just a few seasons - nice work, Dorian.

Double-A: Midland Rockhounds of the Texas League
Pitchers
Bailey, Andrew
Bell, Kristian
Borrell, Danny
Dowdy, Justin
Madsen, Mike
Marshall, Jay
Mazzaro, Vince
Rojas, Jose
Shipman, Andrew
Silva, Jesus
Simmons, James
Tyler, Scott
Webb, Ryan

Catchers
Barrone, Ben
Myers, Casey (player/coach)
Recker, Anthony

Infielders
Everidge, Tom
Guzman, Jesus
Leslie, Myron
Pennington, Cliff
Sellers, Justin
Snyder, Brian

Outfielders
Blasi, Nick
Massaro, Mike
Putnam, Danny
Zeringue, Jon

Surprises: A few. Mike Madsen gets his annual drop down in level, where he’ll likely dominate before getting a permanent boot upstairs (as he has at every level he’s attained thus far), Nick Blasi could count himself unlucky to have not stuck in AAA after his MVP-like season up there in ‘07, Danny Putnam will be sick of the sight of the Texas League, but will likely jump a level if he can stay healthy and get back to raking, and Ben Barrone shows up out of nowhere, after being picked in the 44th round of last year’s draft.

Jay Marshall will have to learn to live with bus rides after his Rule 5 time in the majors last year, and it’s interesting to see Casey Myers has switched to player/coaching - he certainly hadn’t hit well enough in the last few seasons to move up a level, and he’s not young. Andrew Bailey has been the one to watch in camp, according to an interview of the A’s Head of Baseball Operations, Farhan Zaidi, on MVN’s A Minor Consideration a few days back, so he might rocket.

On the ‘move it or lost it’ list comes Myron Leslie and Tommy Everidge, who are both now watching the clock and needing to solidify their spots before the draftees show up.

High-A: Stockton Ports of the California League
Pitchers
Anderson, Brett
Cahill, Trevor
Carignan, Andrew
Currin, Pat
De Los Santos, Fautino
Demel, Sam
Fernandez, Jason
Godfrey, Graham
Gordon, Derrick
Heuser, James
Lansford, Jared
Leon, Arnold
Rodriguez, Henry

Catchers
Morris, Jed
Smith, Matt

Infielders
Affronti, Mike
Carter, Chris
Cobb, Larry
Doolittle, Sean
Horton, Josh
Lawhorn, Darryl
Martinez, Frank

Outfielders
Gilbert, Archie
Mitchell, Jermaine
Sulentic, Matt

Surprises: Not one. Matt Sulentic gets the step up from Low-A that so many have been waiting for, Sean Doolittle has raked in the spring and gets his due promotion, the pitchers are all where they should be. Solid lineup, if low on outfielders - expect a few KC Cougars to make early level advancements to fill those spots.

Low-A: Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League
Pitchers
Banwart, Travis
Deal, Scott
Dewing, Branden
Espinal, Leonardo
Fragoso, Jose
Farley, Chris
Friend, Justin
Hertzler, Brad
Hodsdon, Scott
Italiano, Craig
Mitchinson, Scott
Moore, Scott
Richmond, Jamie
Walters, Nick

Catchers
Johnston, Jonathan
Rosendo, Gustavo
Smith, Jake

Infielders
Correa, Walter
Dowling, Greg
Ray, Matt
Richard, Michael
Vitters, Christian

Outfielders
Brown, Corey
Johnson, Toddric
Keough, Shane
Lissman, Mike

Surprises: A couple. I expected to see Runway Richard up at Stockton this season, but they do admittedly have an infield logjam up there. Greg Dowling will be disappointed not to have Doolittle’s spot in High-A, but he won’t be at this level for long - especially if Doolittle keeps hitting jacks. Christian Vitters is maybe a little below where he’d expect to be, but at least he’ll get half a season of regular starts in Low-A ball before the draftees make things crowded. Expect Rosie Rosendo to not get much starting time, and probably disappear post-draft - about the same time that Corey Brown, Craig Italiano and Todd Johnson get booted upstairs. 

Short-season: Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League… watch this space.