February 18, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Shane Peterson (63) poses for a picture during photo day at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The rest of the pitching staff wasn’t quite so fortunate though, Evan Scribner allowed 2 earned runs in his inning of work on 2 hits and 1 walk, Sonny Gray allowed a 2 run home run to former A’s great Matt Carson in his 2 innings, Jordan Norberto failed to complete an inning and allowed 3 ER including a home run to Yan Gomes, Carlos Fisher walked 3 and allowed 3 runs of his own to complete Norberto’s disastrous inning, and Drew Granier allowed 3 runs (1 earned) in his inning.  Hideki Okajima though made his A’s debut in a clean inning despite allowing a hit and a walk, and Carlos Hernandez finished off the boxscore in nice fashion with a 1-2-3 9th inning.  The A’s must have been running a free pass to first base promotion to celebrate their first Spring Training home game, because A’s pitchers handed out 7 altogether.  There’s no surprise that the Indians scored 14 runs when you consider that fact.

The A’s were shut down at the plate early on by Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Vinnie Pestano, but they managed to get on the board with Shane Peterson‘s first (and the A’s first) home run of the Spring.  That didn’t come until the 6th inning though and by then the Indians had gained a 5 run advantage.  Peterson went 3-3 though after replacing Josh Reddick, he surely has to be opening some eyes right now.

Speaking of eye-opening performances, let’s discuss Michael Choice.  After entering the game in a double switch along with Jemile Weeks in Jed Lowrie‘s spot in the order, Choice went 2-3 with 3 runs scored, a 2 run home run, and is hitting a scalding hot .714 so far.  Of course it’s just through 3 games, but it’s better to put on a display like this than to appear overmatched by big league camp.  Jefry Marte and Andy Parrino each contributed 2 hits and scored twice as well, with Parrino driving in 2 runs on top of that.

It’s all exhibition baseball, and it’s very early in the exhibition schedule so no major concerns should be had at this point.  Let’s all keep in mind that it is still February.  The A’s will play the Arizona Diamondbacks AKA the Arizona Athletics tomorrow in Scottsdale at the famously fancy Salt River Fields.  The first projected member of the A’s starting rotation will make his 2013 debut as A.J. Griffin takes the hill against the funky delivery of Josh Collmenter.  Michael Choice will be rewarded for his hot start with a start in the lineup in center field.

July 31, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young (24) hits a triple in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

A big thanks and salute one last time to MLBDepthCharts.com for their amazing work that made this entire series a million times easier to put together.  I’ve gone back and forth in my head on exactly how I should rank the teams, based simply on the level of talent they acquired this offseason, or based on the probable impact of those moves.  I’ll save the projections for a later date, and tonight simply look at the sum of talent infused into each team’s roster.  There will be plenty of time to assess the impact.  I’ll also be focusing on just Major League talent, I don’t want this article to start reading like a MiLB textbook or anything.  If you’re on this list, you’re expected to play with the big boys all season.

1. Josh Hamilton, Ryan Madson, Joe Blanton, Tommy Hanson, Jason Vargas, Sean Burnett – Los Angeles Angels

It’s no surprise that the Halos come in at the top of this list, they did exactly what any team with a multi-billion dollar television contract would do, spend wildly.  They wanted to use that money to bring back Zack Greinke, but when he bolted for the Los Angeles team that actually plays in Los Angeles, they had to spend that money on something.  Josh Hamilton was the benefactor of that, when they failed to upgrade their starting staff they saw fit to just add more offense.  Hamilton was probably the top free agent this offseason, and he’ll be paid like it.  Tommy Hanson, Jason Vargas, and Joe Blanton will not represent much of a difference from what they got out of Dan Haren, Ervin Santana, and Garrett Richards/Jerome Williams.  They did well though to replenish what initially looked like a completely gutted rotation.  The sheer quantity of quality Major Leaguers as well as Joe Blanton (mwahahaha) give them the top spot once again.

2. Chris Young, Hiroyuki Nakajima, Chris Resop, Andy Parrino, Andrew Werner – Oakland Athletics

Needless to say there is quite a drop off after the Angels, no other team in the division has their resources and it shows.  But the Athletics did a very admirable job addressing a couple needs, one that may not be apparent to the untrained eye.  Chris Young is a dynamic outfielder with plus defensive skills and can hit for good power, adding a player of his caliber somewhat for depth purposes is pretty impressive.  Hiro Nakajima is something of an unknown in the United States, but if his career in Japan is any indication he has a bright future.  Chris Resop, Andy Parrino, and Andrew Werner are guys who may fill out the 25 man roster, but will not be in the most featured and prominent roles.

3. Lance Berkman, A.J. Pierzynski, Jason Frasor, Joakim Soria, Josh Lindblom – Texas Rangers

The Rangers did a bit of hole plugging this offseason, adding aging veterans in Pierzynski and Berkman on 1 year contracts after the departures of Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli (although Napoli’s contract still isn’t official with Boston).  The two of them can still be quality players, but their best years are behind them.  Pierzynski did have a big power year in 2012, but it remains to be seen if he can repeat that performance.  The additions of Frasor and Soria especially will no doubt help the bullpen, and those two are what vaulted the Rangers into the number 3 spot on this list.

4. Kendrys Morales, Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez, Scott Cousins – Seattle Mariners

I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not exactly sure what the Mariners are trying to do.  Signing a couple of past their prime outfielders and trading their most effective starter not named Felix Hernandez for a probably eternally hobbled Kendrys Morales is rather questionable for a team in their position.  Based on pure talent, Ibanez has a flair for the dramatic as he showed with the New York Yankees in 2012, but his days as an everyday outfielder probably should be over, but they are apparently not.  Jason Bay wishes he had stayed in Boston with the Red Sox, he was flat out awful in New York with the Mets and he’s just happy to have a job now, his ceiling is mediocrity.  Kendrys Morales is the most talented of the bunch that they acquired, but I’m still not entirely sure why they did it.  He’ll probably suffer slightly from playing in Seattle as opposed to Anaheim.  Scott Cousins, well he’s still hated in San Francisco for the Buster Posey incident, but he’s okay in my book.

5. Carlos Pena, Alex White, Jose Veras, John Ely, Philip Humber – Houston Astros

I promise I have nothing against the Astros, they simply are at the bottom of the barrel now.  I like the Carlos Pena signing for them, someone who can help the team acclimate to the American League with his extensive experience in the AL.  Beyond that, it’s a lot of filler players.  But Philip Humber does have a perfect game on his resume and that’s nothing to take lightly.  I am interested to see if Alex White can realize any of the potential that made him sought after as a prospect, he’ll get ample opportunities in Houston.

There isn’t much left to be done this offseason, so I doubt much will be missed between now and Spring Training in the transaction department (Unless Justin Upton has a sudden change of heart regarding Seattle).  As the NFL playoffs rage on, we inch ever closer to baseball season.  At that time the A’s will be able to prove just how they stack up against  the new 5 team AL West.

September 22, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Tyson Ross (66) throws a pitch during the fourteenth inning of a game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-US PRESSWIRE

On the surface this really seems like a change of scenery type move, as Ross had always struggled in Oakland.  Over 3 partial seasons in Oakland, as a starter and in the bullpen, Ross posted a 5.33 ERA over 148.2 innings.  He made 21 starts over that time, often in situations where the A’s had exhausted almost all other options.  Ross always seemed like a good teammate, and he’s a local guy so it’s really too bad it didn’t work out in Oakland.  It was obvious though that he would never find any real success with the A’s, so a move to pitcher friendly (Although somewhat less so in 2013 and beyond due to the fences being moved in) Petco Park can only help his career.  He’ll join his younger brother Joe in the Padres organization, so without a doubt that has to be a silver lining for Ross.

A.J. Kirby-Jones was an intriguing fringe prospect for the A’s, seemed to show some signs of being able to hit in the lower minors with a .248/.382/.461 line with the Stockton Ports, going deep 21 times.  Chances are he’ll wind up in Double A San Antonio for the Padres in 2013.

On the receiving end, Andy Parrino played primarily shortstop for the Padres last season, he made appearances at 2B, 3B, and even a cameo in RF.  His numbers will jump off the page, but for all the wrong reasons.  His .207/.316/.276 line wreaks of Eric Sogard and Adam Rosales.  The knee jerk reaction to this deal is that Billy Beane was serious about bottom feeding, and this is going to be our starting shortstop in 2013.  I have a really hard time believing that.  Assistant GM David Forst told Susan Slusser that Parrino will be in the conversation for the starting gig, but personally that seems like an executive saying the right thing and talking up a new acquisition.  If the A’s want to seriously contend for the division once again, Andy Parrino simply cannot be the Opening Day shortstop.

Andrew Werner falls under the “throws left, has pulse” category.  He made 8 starts for the Padres last season, and posted a 2-3 record with a 5.58 ERA.  But as the 2012 season clearly demonstrated, you can never have too much pitching.  Werner will in all likelihood take over the organizational role that Tyson Ross filled, and he may find himself wearing out the I-80 corridor between Oakland and Sacramento throughout the season.

This is a minor deal in all aspects, none of these players are expected to have major impacts on their teams next year.  Sometimes perhaps GMs just make a deal for the sake of making a deal.  Hopefully Ross figures it out in San Diego, and maybe someone down there can iron out that horrific hitch in his delivery.

The 2012 season was the year of Brandon in Oakland, perhaps 2013 will be the year of Andrew.