I have to admit I hadn’t looked at the Oakland A’s list of non roster invitees but judging from their usual front office antics I figured there would be at-least 2-3 veterans looking to hang on that could actually contribute to the club for a full season.
Boy was I wrong. Aside from Lenny DiNardo, Jason Jennings and the Triple-A monster known as Dallas McPherson the roster is highlighted by their minor league system.
The lack of veterans leaves me with a real problem here. This is Oakland and they are cheap it’s quite possible that none of their minor league talent even get called up even in September.
As much as I thought about taking Jason Jennings as the pick I just couldn’t go down that road for a second straight season. Likewise for DiNardo.
Instead I have to say I’m going with Gregorio Petit. Considering the fantasy outlook on the A’s site is less then thrilling for 25-year-old I’m starting to question why I even both with writing these reports.
Rushed to the bigs after a slew of injuries took its toll on an already thin Oakland infield, Petit struggled to a .226 average and a .484 OPS during his brief time with the big club. Designated for assignment by the A’s in early February, the 25-year-old infielder has yet to flash the kind of skills needed to flourish on the fantasy scene, and barring a short stint or two as an injury fill-in at the Major League level, he’ll likely spend his third straight season in Triple-A working on his offensive approach.
In short Petit has spent very small parts of the last two seasons with the A’s and hasn’t hit much. Truth is Petit hasn’t been thought of much by anyone as Baseball America has never listed him among the organizations top prospects and only briefly mentioned him as the top defensive infielder.
Petit can still handle the glove quite well at second base and shortstop which makes him an asset to most teams epically the Oakland A’s who have the combination of injury prone Mark Ellis and Cliff Pennington. An injury to either makes Petit a guy who will amass a few at-bats.
I’ll sum up Petit quickly since I don’t think there’s a huge reader base on this one. Great defender who can’t hit. He’d make Omar Vizquel look like Cal Ripken with the bat.
Petit has shown he can steal a base or two so should he get considerable playing time I suppose he could be an option in AL only or deep fantasy leagues looking for steals. He offers little power and won’t help you if OBP or walks are an asset to have.
Non-Roster Invitees | |||||||
Pitchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
57 Cedrick Bowers | R/L | 6-2 | 220 | 02/10/78 | |||
70 Sam Demel | R/R | 6-0 | 215 | 10/23/85 | |||
52 Lenny DiNardo | L/L | 6-2 | 220 | 09/19/79 | |||
36 Fernando Hernandez | R/R | 5-11 | 210 | 07/31/84 | |||
77 Jason Jennings | L/R | 6-2 | 235 | 07/17/78 | |||
66 Tyson Ross | R/R | 6-6 | 225 | 04/22/87 | |||
59 Matt Wright | R/R | 6-4 | 270 | 03/13/82 | |||
Catchers | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
71 Josh Donaldson | R/R | 6-0 | 215 | 12/08/85 | |||
72 Joel Galarraga | R/R | 5-11 | 185 | 03/20/82 | |||
19 Anthony Recker | R/R | 6-1 | 245 | 08/29/83 | |||
68 Max Stassi | R/R | 5-10 | 190 | 03/15/91 | |||
Infielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
61 Adrian Cardenas | L/R | 6-0 | 205 | 10/10/87 | |||
76 Grant Green | R/R | 6-3 | 180 | 09/27/87 | |||
18 Dallas McPherson | L/R | 6-4 | 225 | 07/23/80 | |||
2 Gregorio Petit | R/R | 5-10 | 195 | 12/10/84 | |||
16 Eric Sogard | L/R | 5-10 | 185 | 05/22/86 | |||
73 Jemile Weeks | S/R | 5-9 | 170 | 01/26/87 | |||
75 Matthew Whitney | R/R | 6-3 | 215 | 02/13/84 | |||
Outfielders | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | |||
74 Corey Brown | L/L | 6-1 | 205 | 11/26/85 | |||
25 Matt Carson | R/R | 6-2 | 200 | 07/01/81 | |||
23 Michael Taylor | R/R | 6-6 | 260 | 12/19/85 | |||
67 Corey Wimberly | S/R | 5-8 | 174 | 10/26/83 |