OAKLAND ATHLETICS
Youth, veterans, Melvin make for intriguing mix

When I signed up to write this year's column I was sure it was going to be full of pithy analysis of Billy Beane's offseason moves aimed at building a contending team for the opening of the new Anywhere but Oakland.com stadium in San Jose in 2015. Wasn't that the clear purpose of trading pitchers Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey for handfuls of allegedly topnotch prospects? Doesn't major-league baseball have to resolve this sometime?

Manager Bob Melvin’s steady hand guided his young team to early-season success. Photo: Michael Zagaris.

When I signed up to write this year's column I was sure it was going to be full of pithy analysis of Billy Beane's offseason moves aimed at building a contending team for the opening of the new Anywhere but Oakland.com stadium in San Jose in 2015. Wasn't that the clear purpose of trading pitchers Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey for handfuls of allegedly topnotch prospects? Doesn't major-league baseball have to resolve this sometime?

It's become increasingly clear that Bud Selig has left the issue of the A's move to territory allegedly controlled by the Giants to negotiations between the teams, with the A's bearing the onus of coming up with a big enough number to make the Gigantes happy. Whether there is such a number, or whether the Giants, emulating Al Capone's plan for Elliot Ness in "The Untouchables," simply want the A's dead, dead, dead, remains to be seen.

As if this weren't complicated enough, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan took time out from rousting Occupiers to commit the city to investigating a proposed "Coliseum City," with new venues for the A's, Raiders and Warriors (yeah, right).

The S.F. Comicle's Matier and Ross added fuel to the fire by breathlessly reporting that there were not one but two groups of One Percenters who are panting to buy the A's and keep them in Oakland.

Meanwhile the new season has commenced, and the A's have assembled a roster that, while unlikely to compete with the big boys of the division, is not devoid of interest and youthful promise (stop me before I gush).

Let's start with the outfield. At one point in the offseason the team depth chart listed (now departed) Ryan Sweeney as the starter at all three positions, the A's having allowed last year's entire outfield to leave via free agency. Since then Beane re-signed Coco Crisp, signed Jonny Gomes, traded for Seth Smith and Josh Reddick, and then concluded the offseason by signing Manny Ramirez and Cuban defector and stud centerfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

In the early season Reddick looked like a genuinely exciting young player and Cespedes showed prodigious power, speed and a cannon arm. The season opened with Crisp unhappily ensconced in left, leaving center for Cespedes, with Reddick in right. Gomes and Smith, a couple of solid if not spectacular bats, platoon at DH, at least until Manny finishes his 50-game suspension for taking a female fertility drug. All in all, this unit has become the most promising and interesting on the team.

The infield, unfortunately, has serious problems at the corners. The good news is that second-year second baseman Jemile Weeks entered the season as the A's best position player, a genuine potential All-Star at the leadoff spot. Shortstop Cliff Pennington looks primed for a season more like 2010, when he was above average on both sides of the ball, than 2011 when he wasn't. The A's suffered a disaster when promising third baseman Scott Sizemore was lost for the season when he ripped up his knee on a routine play in the first hour of spring training. They have settled on Tiger cast-off Brandon Inge, a terrific defensive player who looks well past his prime with the bat. First base is even more inexplicable, since I didn't think lumbering guys who could hit with some pop and catch a ball thrown right at them were so hard to find. Daric Barton followed an excellent 2010 with a lousy 2011, a fall hopefully attributed to a shoulder injury, which eventually required surgery. In the early going he failed to seize the job and is currently sharing it with long-time minor leaguer Kila Ka'aihue.

Meanwhile, good old Kurt Suzuki is back at catcher. The A's will especially lean on his well-regarded skills for pitch calling and handling young pitchers, given this year's youthful pitching corps. The A's let his back-up Landon Powell go this year, a personal blow given my special affection for fat ballplayers.

Fortunately, the A's bought me a new fave, immense and ancient Bartolo Colon, who joined Brandon McCarthy as the only veteran starters in the rotation as the season began. McCarthy was excellent last year, but has never before held together for a full season. Colon may not be likely to last a whole season either, but he was sensational in the early going.

The A's are thought to have a tremendous amount of young pitching talent, and will fill out the rest of the rotation with youth. Lefty Tom Milone and righties Tyson Ross and Graham Godfrey opened the year in the rotation, but highly touted Jarrod Parker soon replaced Godfrey to excellent effect, while Ross is looking vulnerable if he can't get his act together. In addition, the A's hope for the returns of Dallas Braden (shoulder capsule surgery) and Brett Anderson (Tommy John surgery) at some point in the year. Anderson seems the safer bet given the now somewhat routine nature of his surgery, and he is reported to be making excellent progress. As for Dallas, I'm afraid we'll have to wait and see whether ol' 209 ever makes it back. I hereby boldly predict that the A's will have a sensational young rotation, led by Brett Anderson and Jarrod Parker … in 2013 or 14.

The bullpen is looking like it has enough pieces to eventually evolve into a solid unit. Grant Balfour opened the season as the closer in place of the traded Andrew Bailey but is wobbling after a strong start. Veteran lefties Brian Fuentes and Jerry Blevins have been solid. A couple of young power arms, lefty Jordan Norberto and righty Ryan Cook have been revelations in set-up roles. As I write, Cook has yet to give up a run in 11 appearances and looks poised to become the closer if Balfour can't hold the job. Cook came to the A's, along with Parker, in the Trevor Cahill trade and that deal is looking pretty good right now.

The team got a big boost in midseason last year when Beane uncharacteristically fired his pal the doltish Bob Geren and brought in Bob Melvin to manage. The upbeat and knowledgeable Melvin has been a huge improvement and the return of Curt Young as pitching coach (with his history of developing youthful talent) and the hiring of Chili Davis as hitting coach seem promising as well.

In the wake of their offseason trades, the A's have been getting lots of love from the experts for the strength of their farm system, and will have extra draft choices this year due to the free agents who left. So, combined with some of the young talent already on the roster, they may well be building toward a competitive team in a year or three, to play … somewhere. Meanwhile, this year's team won't be as dismal as originally feared, but won't be contending either. I'm thinking 75-80 wins and third place in the division, ahead of the Mariners.

Jonathan Siegel is the founding partner of Siegel, LeWitter and Malkani, an East Bay employment law firm. jsiegel@sl-employmentlaw.com.