Five players to watch from the Athletics.

Chris Denorfia Injured in 2007 but a relatively hot sleeper in deeper leagues in 2006, he can easily surprise. He will get his first full time job after being cast off from Cincinnati and Baseball HQ projects him to have an 88% CT rate and a 9% walk rate. He is more of a multiple tool guy, not a cheap speedster, who can get a 10/10 season with a decent batting average and perhaps a bit more. He is a nice fifth or fourth OF in deep or AL-only leagues.

Daric Barton Someone at Baseball Prospectus once said “the last guys to succeed as first basemen with the Mark Grace/Wally Joyner skill set were Mark Grace and Wally Joyner.” That says a lot about Barton’s prospects. Despite the hype, he looks like the second coming of Scott Hatteberg, a nice player but not the cog for a championship team at 1B. He would be a good backup in leagues where you need a corner man. He is patient and makes good contact but the power isn’t there. I would look elsewhere unless you can stash him away for next year. Even then he will not be any great shakes as a 1B.

Dana Eveland As you may have guessed there aren’t too many great pickings from the A’s. I like Eveland a bit though and got him in my high stakes league. He is like Bartolo Colon, at least in the waistline, though I hope he pitches like Bartolo did about ten years ago. Ignore the projections for now; in the minors he had nice K rates and has the skills to succeed. Another end gamer with upside.

Santiago Casilla The former Jairo Garcia (whom I auctioned a number of years ago) Casilla has the stuff to be a closer, and Street is no sure thing so he could get a chance. He has the repertoire, and greatly improved his BB rate in 2007, while increasing his K rate to 9.2/9. This is pure speculation if you are the type to punt saves and scrounge during the season.

Dallas Braden I have been touting him all over the place and mentioned him as a sleeper on Sunday’s radio show. He has definite major league skills and will be in the rotation at some point if not to start. He has been injured in the past but he has always had good K/BB ratios and K/9 in the minors, and had a 17-K game in AAA last year.