September 30, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (16) and first baseman Brandon Moss (37) celebrate after Reddick hit a home run during the eighth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Tommy Milone started the game, and delivered 2 solid innings of work, not allowing a hit and walking one with a strikeout.  He gave way to the youngster Sonny Gray who had given up a couple runs in his first outing, but looked much more in control of himself this time around.  Gray worked around a hit and a walk in his 2 inning stint, and struck out 2 in the process.  Mike Ekstrom worked a clean 5th inning today as well.  The only blemish came from Andrew Werner, who allowed a 3-run homer to Nolan Arenado in the 6th inning during his 2 innings of work.  Fernando Rodriguez worked a clean 8th inning, and Arnold Leon closed things out in the 9th for the save.

The offense for the Athletics came from two familiar power sources as Josh Reddick connected for a 3-run bomb in the 3rd, and Brandon Moss hit a solo homer in the 4th.  Eric Sogard added an RBI single, and Michael Choice drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for the other two runs today.  Coco Crisp, Shane Peterson, and Reddick each had two of the A’s ten hits today, Moss, Sogard, Choice, and Seth Smith accounted for the other hits.

The A’s will meet the Rockies once again, this time in Scottsdale at Salt River Fields.  A.J. Griffin will take the hill for the second time this spring, he’ll be opposed by the lefty Jorge De La Rosa for the Rockies.

June 3, 2011; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores pitcher Sonny Gray (2) winds up to throw against the Belmont Bruins during the Nashville regional of the 2011 NCAA baseball tournament at Hawkins Field. The Commodores beat the Bruins 10-0. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

Gray signed relatively quickly, and reported the A’s rookie league squad in Arizona, after throwing just 2 innings he was promoted all the way up to Double A Midland.  Gray would dazzle everyone in his first true professional audition with the Rockhounds by posting a 0.45 ERA in 20 innings of work, it looked like he might be on the fast track to Oakland.

Gray would open the 2012 season in Double A once again, but would have a few growing pains.  His ERA ballooned to 4.14 over 148 innings, his walk rate went up (2.7 to 3.4/9 innings), and his strikeout rate went down (8.1-5.9/9 innings).  But despite his struggles, the Athletics organization didn’t seem worried, as he was promoted to Triple A Sacramento before the minor league season concluded. He didn’t fare that well with the Rivercats either, allowing 4 ER in his 4 innings of work there.  He figures to pick up back in Sacramento as the 2013 season gets under way, and will undoubtedly have his sights set on Oakland this year.

Early on in Athletics camp Sonny Gray has reopened a lot of eyes in the Athletics organization though, those who may have begun to forget about the talent that he possesses.  Both Susan Slusser and Casey Pratt reported from A’s Manager Bob Melvin that Sonny Gray has been standing out during bullpen sessions so far, and that the right hander is looking more comfortable on the mound.  This is a great sign for Gray, for the near and the distant future.

It seems almost impossible that Sonny Gray could break camp with the A’s, but it seems possible that he could be on his way to forcing the issue.  The 25 man roster seems more or less set, with very little room to maneuver barring injury.  But a strong Cactus League performance versus some high minor league and major league quality hitters could put Gray on the doorstep of the O.co Coliseum.  While Brett Anderson, Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, and Bartolo Colon seem to be entrenched in the starting rotation, and A.J. Griffin battling Dan Straily for the 5th spot, there doesn’t seem to be room for Gray.  But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance Gray could leapfrog both of them and find his way into the rotation.

As we’ve detailed ad nauseum over the last few weeks, the A’s have built an impressive amount of depth in just about every aspect of the game.  Sonny Gray could prove to be just that and more in 2013 if all goes well.

Dec 5, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane on the MLB network set during the MLB winter meetings at Hilton Anatole. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

I’ve gone back and forth in my head about what I wanted the A’s to do this year, with a clear opportunity to make the playoffs well within their grasp it’s hard to resist wanting to go for it all.  But that certainly can come with consequences in the form of losing top prospects.  Nobody wanted to see 2012 breakout prospect Dan Straily moved out of the organization, or top draft picks Michael Choice, Sonny Gray, or Grant Green either.  And none of them were.  It appears to me that Billy Beane’s strategy coming in was to try and improve the team now, if and only if he could do so without mortgaging the future.  The market dictated that was not going to happen, so Billy kept quiet.

There’s no telling what kind of deals nearly came to be like the Hanley Ramirez deal that almost was.  But as the Texas Rangers, in perhaps a moment of extreme panic with the knowledge that Neftali Feliz is having Tommy John surgery traded a top 100 prospect in 3B Christian Villanueva for Chicago Cubs starter Ryan Dempster who for a week seemed destined for Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Angels acquisition of Zack Greinke from the Brewers over the weekend, the two main rivals of the A’s made moves for the here and now.  Those moves do not scare me.  Besides Billy Beane has two aces up his sleeve perhaps in the form of rehabbing starters Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson who should be activated within the month of August.

The A’s do not have the perfect roster by any stretch of the imagination, as evidenced by last night’s horrific lack of contact in racking up 21 K’s against the Tampa Bay Rays.  But they somehow managed to win that game.  That’s what they’ve often done over the last month or so.  Perhaps a deal could still be in the works as the month of August plays out though, it just becomes a little bit tougher as players have to pass through waivers to be traded.

I think the possibility of picking up someone like Jimmy Rollins would still remain a distinct possibility.  Given the fact that Rollins is in the first year of a 3 year contract with the Phillies for a pretty hefty salary it seems almost guaranteed that he’ll go through waivers untouched.  He’s certainly not the player he once was, but I find it hard to imagine he wouldn’t be a significant upgrade over the Eric Sogard/Brandon Hicks tandem the A’s have right now.  Cliff Pennington has been lost all season and there is serious doubt now that he is actually the A’s SS of the future.  There remains some question as to whether Rollins would allow himself to be traded to Oakland in the first place (The opportunity to play alongside Nate Schierholtz is pretty enticing), but one would really have to think he’d be intrigued by the idea of playing in his home town.  It seems like a crazy idea for the cash strapped A’s to take on a player like Rollins, but aside from the money he really shouldn’t cost much of anything.  Rollins may be the perfect solution as he can help the A’s now, and not risk the bright future of this organization.

We’ll just have to wait and see as all the frantic wheeling and dealing get’s started up once again as the dog days of August roll on.