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	<title>Swingin&#039; A&#039;s &#187; MLB Spring Training 2012</title>
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		<title>Spring Notes: Cespedes, Ramirez, Milone, &amp; More!</title>
		<link>http://swinginas.com/2012/03/11/spring-notes-cespedes-ramirez-milone-more/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2012 04:05:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joseph Lopez</dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Yoenis Cespedes]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>On Saturday, the A&#8217;s finally got to see what their $36 million man could do. Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes made his Cactus League debut on Saturday and put on quite a show, going 2-for-2 with a walk, an RBI single, and a home run. The A&#8217;s were definitely salivating at the mouth over Cespedes&#8217; performance on [...]</p><p><a href="http://swinginas.com/2012/03/11/spring-notes-cespedes-ramirez-milone-more/">Spring Notes: Cespedes, Ramirez, Milone, &#038; More!</a> - <a href="http://swinginas.com">Swingin&#039; A&#039;s</a> - <a href="http://swinginas.com">Swingin&#039; A&#039;s - An Oakland Athletics Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_4099" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/101/files/2012/03/6086500.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4099" title="MLB: Spring Training-Kansas City Royals at Oakland Athletics" src="http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/101/files/2012/03/6086500-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">March 11, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) walks to the plate from the on-deck circle during the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE</p></div>
<p>On Saturday, the A&#8217;s finally got to see what their $36 million man could do. Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes made his Cactus League debut on Saturday and put on quite a show, going 2-for-2 with a walk, an RBI single, and a home run. The A&#8217;s were definitely salivating at the mouth over Cespedes&#8217; performance on Saturday, and fans of the team were definitely excited to see the Cuban star in action.</p>
<p>The A&#8217;s are in desperate need of a power hitter, and with Cespedes they may get the power production they&#8217;ve longed for. It&#8217;s easy to get caught up in all this Cespedes hype, but at the same time, it&#8217;s important to remain realistic about Cespedes&#8217; first season in the bigs.</p>
<p>In his second start on Sunday, Cespedes struggled a bit. He went 0-for-3 with a walk in Sunday&#8217;s win over the Kansas City Royals. Cespedes has talent, but it&#8217;s important to remember the A&#8217;s are still taking a big risk with Cuban star. He&#8217;ll likely go through an occasional rough patch here and there during the year.</p>
<p>In other spring news, how about <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/milonto01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Tom Milone</a></strong>? The guy is looking mighty impressive, isn&#8217;t he? <a title="A’s 2012 Top 10 Prospects, #6: Tom Milone" href="http://swinginas.com/2012/02/23/as-2012-top-10-prospects-6-tom-milone/">Ranked #6 on my list of A&#8217;s Top 10 Prospects</a> this year, Milone has shown flashes of brilliance in three appearances this spring. He&#8217;s gone 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA and 7 SO in 8.2 innings of work this spring.</p>
<p>Oakland&#8217;s starting rotation is still far from being complete, but Milone is definitely making things a whole lot easier for skipper Bob Melvin &amp; company. The A&#8217;s have <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mccarbr01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Brandon McCarthy</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colonba01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Bartolo Colon</a></strong> penciled in at No. 1 and No. 2, but after that the rotation is a bit sketchy. With the way things are going, though, Milone should definitely be in the running for one of the vacant spots in Oakland&#8217;s rotation.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parkeja02.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Jarrod Parker</a></strong>, <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/peacobr01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Brad Peacock</a></strong>, and <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rossty01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Tyson Ross</a></strong>, meanwhile, are all vying for a spot in the rotation as well. According to <a href="http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120311&amp;content_id=27203054&amp;vkey=news_oak&amp;c_id=oak">Jane Lee of MLB.com,</a> Oakland&#8217;s rotation could look a little something like this: McCarthy, Colon, Milone, Ross, Parker. Melvin and the rest of Oakland&#8217;s front office, though, will be the ones responsible for putting the best product on the field.</p>
<p>On offense, <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ramirma02.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Manny Ramirez</a></strong> is still looking for his first hit of the spring. He&#8217;s gone 0-for-8 with a strikeout over his three games of action this spring. He hasn&#8217;t shown me much, but he has shown a little effort while busting down the line. That&#8217;s the kind of effort we&#8217;d all like to see from Manny this year.</p>
<p>The first-base job is still seemingly up for grabs. <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kaaihki01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Kila Ka&#8217;aihue</a></strong>, <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=allenbr01,allen-004bra&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Brandon Allen</a></strong>, <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=cartech01,cartech02,carter001chr&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Chris Carter</a></strong>, and <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bartoda02.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker" target="_blank">Daric Barton</a></strong> are all currently in the run for the job. Right now, though, the job (if up to me) would have to go to Allen, who has 8 RBIs so far this spring.</p>
<p><strong><em>Follow me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/oaklandace75">@oaklandace75</a> and f<strong><em>or more A’s related analysis, stories, and opinions, follow us on twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/FS_SwinginAs">@FS_SwinginAs</a> or like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Swingin-As/179661022045871">Facebook</a>.</em></strong></em></strong></p>
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