Anyway, back to the matter at hand.  One of the biggest topics of this entire offseason was how the A’s were going to fill their hole at shortstop after the trade of Cliff Pennington to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the loss of Stephen Drew as a free agent to the Boston Red Sox.  There were a number of options out there, some intriguing, some downright depressing.  But there was one that caught the eye of many who follow the Athletics closely, and he caught the eye of the Athletics themselves.  Of course I’m referring to the new starting shortstop for the A’s Hiro Nakajima.  Forst hinted that they had kept an eye on him since seeing him play in the World Baseball Classic back in 2009, and that they believed his offensive numbers from Japan would carry over to the United States.  But they were also well aware that baseball adjustments weren’t the only obstacle, “The guys who’ve done well over here are guys who have some leadership over there, who have the personality, who aren’t as affected by the off-the-field things that they gave to adjust to, which are huge.”  The new life that Nakajima will embark on will be different in just about every possible way, so his character will shine through if he is to succeed here.  Forst also mentioned that Nakajima’s defense was not a concern and that accounts from their scouts were positive, “our reports are good – the hands, the arm strength. All the things you look for from a scouting perspective, we feel pretty good about…we do think he can play the position.”

Forst seems to believe that the strength of this June’s amateur draft is in college players as opposed to the high schoolers that littered the 2012 draft.  He also said that there is a bit of a gap in the minor league system.  ”We have pitching here, and then there’s a little bit of a gap after guys like Brad Peacock and Sonny Gray. There’s a gap down to A ball, and having traded A.J. Cole and Blake Treinen kind of opened that gap up a little bit.  Obviously you always need to replenish your pitching every year.”  Methinks the A’s might target college pitchers in the draft this year.

The recent acquisition of John Jaso came up as well, Forst confirmed that the essential piece that made the entire 3 team deal fall into place was A.J. Cole, and that Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo really wanted Cole back and seemed to regret trading him.  Jaso certainly fits the classic Athletics mold for a player with a good ability to get on base and the occasional pop as well.  Forst didn’t go as far as saying he was a “holy grail” type player in Billy Beane’s eyes, but it’s pretty clear he was.  

I asked Forst about one thing that had troubled me all offseason, the fact that the A’s hadn’t given themselves more of a safety net with their young starting rotation.  They have a lot of talent, but should some of those pitchers take a step backwards this team as a whole could suffer.  Forst said they had not explored that avenue, because they felt they already had enough depth to weather any pitching storms with the likes of Travis Blackley, Dan Straily, and even Brad Peacock and Sonny Gray.  ”It’s not necessarily an attractive place for a veteran guy to come and have to make the team or fight for it,” Forst added.  That makes total sense, no starting pitcher with any other options would want to come to a team that he would have to compete for a spot on.  Any starter who wouldn’t mind competing for a spot may not be any better than the internal options the A’s already have.

The final question dealt with the incredible clubhouse chemistry that helped propel the A’s to the AL West title in 2012.  ”There’s no doubt that clubhouse culture is important, and it starts with Bob Melvin - that’s the most important thing. He set the tone for those guys, and they kind of followed his lead, which isn’t the case everywhere,” Forst said.  Bob Melvin won the AL Manager of the Year for a reason, and it’s clear to everyone within the organization just how much impact he’s had.  Forst understands the importance of team chemistry and they certainly take that into consideration when building the team for 2013.

The BlogFest portion of FanFest was a great experience, highlighted by a lot of good questions and good answers all around.  The excitement exhibited by all three of our guests served only to intensify the enthusiasm for the upcoming season.  The sky truly is the limit for this team, and they know it, but they know it won’t come easily.

The 2012 AL West Champs start things off right. (Kishna Woo-Hare)

Credit to the Athletics for making this season’s FanFest seem much more organized, and therefore a lot more fun.  Myself and Devin Pangaro were invited to attend the event as part of BlogFest, we were able to participate in small press conferences with Manager Bob Melvin, Assistant GM David Forst, and 3rd Base Coach Mike Gallego.  More on what they had to say in the coming days.  But along with the privilege of talking with the three of them, we also were able to experience the rest of the event with all of the A’s fans.

Some fans were there before dawn, hoping to get some deals on game used memorabilia, and get their vouchers for autographs and photos with players.  I personally was able to get photos with Sean Doolittle, A.J. Griffin and Michael Taylor, Seth Smith, and the FOUR Oakland Athletics World Series trophies (FOUR).  Just about a virtual who’s who on the Athletics roster was in attendance, including Josh Reddick, Yoenis Cespedes, and new shortstop Hiro Nakajima.

The best part of the entire event though had to have been the overwhelming positive energy cascading throughout the arena.  It was clear that the incredible 2012 season was still resonating through the fans and the players as well.  There was unfinished business last season and there is no doubt that this team intends to pick up where they left off and finish it in 2013.  In just over 2 weeks time, the first members of the Athletics will be reporting to Spring Training in Phoenix when pitchers and catchers are summoned to the desert.  From there it will be just a bit more than a week until they play their first games of the Cactus League schedule.  Baseball season is now so close we can all taste it.  I personally cannot wait (Super Bowl anticipation will indeed occupy a week of that time).

Stay tuned for our coverage of what Bob Melvin, David Forst, and Mike Gallego had to say about this team and some stories from the past as well.