FanHouse MarkEllis

The A's, whose infield has been ravaged by injuries, have acquired former ALCS MVP Adam Kennedy from the Rays for a player to be named. Kennedy, 33, was assigned to Triple-A Sacramento as a paper move because he wasn't expected to arrive in time for Friday's game. He will be with the big league club on Saturday, and he's expected to be in the starting lineup at second base.

Kennedy was hitting .280 at Triple-A Durham. Last year he was the Cardinals everyday second baseman, hitting .280 in 115 games. A veteran of 10 years in the majors, Kennedy is best known for his time with the Angels, from 2000-06. In 2002, he won the MVP of the ALCS. The Angels went on to win the World Series.

Kennedy would provide some insurance for the A's, who have second baseman Mark Ellis, third baseman Eric Chavez and utilityman Nomar Garciaparra on the disabled list.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Indians offense apparently busts out every 10 days, just like clockwork.

Cleveland scored 22 runs at Yankee Stadium on April 18 – and then scored 23 total in the next eight games.

The offense reversed course again Tuesday as the Tribe rallied from deficits of 5-1 and 7-3 to win 9-8 on a run in the bottom of the ninth inning and end Boston's 11-game winning streak.

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NEW YORK -- You pretty much have to hate your offense to bring your infield in with the score tied 0-0 in the bottom of the second inning and the other team's No. 9 hitter at the plate. But while Bob Geren obviously wouldn't admit to such dramatic motivation, that is what he did Tuesday night against the Yankees. And he did cite his team's offensive struggles as the reason for the move.

"The way we've been scoring runs, we just wanted to not give up a weak run right there with the 9-hitter up," the Oakland A's manager said after his team's 5-3 loss at Yankee Stadium.

Just Geren's luck, the A's gave up two runs right there as Brett Gardner grounded a single past second baseman Mark Ellis. And just like that, Oakland was staring up a hill. And these A's don't have what it takes to do the climbing.

OAKLAND -- Terry Francona was having one of those mornings.

Not only was his team reeling from its worst eight-game start in 13 years, but he had just hours earlier milked 11 innings out of his bullpen and had to put Daisuke Matsuzaka on the disabled list. The pitcher who was coming from Triple-A to take Matsuzaka's spot was traveling all the way from Rochester, with no chance of arriving in Oakland by the start of the game.

So the Red Sox manager was somewhat heartened when Tim Wakefield stopped by his office with a message.

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the...
Most average team in the league. It's weird, because there don't seem to be many real weaknesses on team -- but can you really find a bunch of strengths? I hate the term "very average," but this team is pretty close to the mean across the board. As you scroll through ADP charts, you'll find the A's aren't often towards the top of the lists, but they are definitely there. As I said, average.

Who said you can't go back home again? While Derek Lowe pines for a return to Boston, it seems some of the Oakland A's are hoping for a reunion with Jason Giambi, who's once again a free agent after seven years in the Bronx.

Mark Ellis, who just signed a two-year extension, lobbied for Giambi on Saturday, and Eric Chavez seconded the idea on Sunday. From Susan Susser of the San Francisco Chronicle:

"I think it's a great fit," Chavez said. "I don't know if it will happen or not, and I don't know what the shape of the team will be, but Jason has had productive seasons in New York and there's no doubt he could still be a good hitter. And he'd be a big hit in the clubhouse.

"Every time I watch him, it seems like he comes up with a big hit or a home run."

I hate to pluck the same low-hanging fruit as Steve Lombardi from Was Watching, but what was Chavez watching? Giambi had a fine season by traditional (32 home runs, 96 RBI) and non-traditional metrics (130 OPS+) alike, but if there's one thing he didn't do was shine in the clutch: he hit just .216 (.707 OPS) with two outs and a runner in scoring position and .155 (.596 OPS) late and close.

When I first found out yesterday that the Oakland Athletics had traded Rich Harden to the Cubs, my first reaction was "Why?" I didn't even know who Oakland had gotten in return from the Cubs, and already the deal didn't make that much sense to me. Then I heard who the A's got, and the deal made even less sense to me.

Don't get me wrong, I think Matt Murton has the potential to flourish in Oakland as he's finally found an organization that can appreciate what he's capable of (Matt has struggled this season, but does still have a career OPS of .810 without ever getting regular playing time), and Sean Gallagher could end up being a very effective pitcher for the Athletics. Eric Patterson is probably just an insurance plan should Mark Ellis not re-sign with the team after the season, as the A's are pretty thin at second base in the minors, and I don't know anything about John Donaldson.

But why now, Billy Beane? Why pull the trigger on this deal when your team is only five games out of first place in the AL West, and only 3.5 behind Boston for the wild card? There is no way that Beane can honestly think his team has a better shot at making the playoffs this season without Rich Harden.

Yet, while on the surface this deal makes absolutely no sense to me, I also realize that Beane knows what he's doing and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's just tired of being held hostage by Harden's injury history and is tired of having to build a team around a pitcher who may or may not be available at any given time. If you look at Beane's history of letting his pitchers go, he seems to have great timing, as Mark Mulder and Barry Zito have never been the same since leaving the bay area.

It's still way too early to tell if this was a mistake or not, but I have to say, at the moment I don't think this was one of Beane's finest moment.

Oakland Athletics second baseman Mark Ellis is slated to become a free agent after this season since he's in the final year of a three-year deal he signed with Oakland back in 2006. He's never been the type of player to carry a team or anything, but generally, he's the type of player any GM would have as their second baseman.

I mean, he's no Chase Utley or anything, but he gives you solid offensive production and has one of the best gloves of any second sacker in the game today. Odds are that if he were to hit the market this off-season, he could pull in anywhere from $6-$10 million a season from a team that sees him as a nice alternative to Orlando Hudson (who should be the most sought after free agent second baseman this winter).

Unfortunately for anybody who was hoping to sign him, it doesn't look like he's going to be available.

Ellis is in the final year of a three-year contract, and he isn't all that interested in leaving Oakland, so he's encouraged that his agent, Jamie Murphy, recently started talking with A's assistant general manager David Forst about an extension.

"It's only been a couple of conversations, so we'll see where it goes from there," Ellis told MLB.com on Wednesday before the second game of a three-game Interleague series against the visiting Phillies at McAfee Coliseum. "But it's nice we're talking."

The Athletics are just as interested in keeping Ellis around as well, because even though they just drafted second baseman Jemile Weeks in the first round of the draft, the team could move him to the outfield. After Weeks, the A's don't have any other real prospects at second, so keeping Ellis would be ideal.

The Oakland Athletics are still tied for first place in the AL West, much to everybody's surprise, and it's all the more surprising that they've done it without Rich Harden. Still, if the Athletics are going to continue playing this well, and stay atop the division with the Angels all season, they're probably going to need Rich to stay healthy for the rest of the season.

Something that anybody who has been paying attention to Harden's career knows isn't likely to happen. Still, Harden will make his latest return from the disabled list this afternoon and start Oakland's series finale against the Rangers.

His teammates know how much he means to the team, but they're also aware of how fleeting his appearances usually are.

"Rich is very good when he's out there. We just want him to be out there," second baseman Mark Ellis said. "We hope he can throw well the rest of the season. The guy's in great shape and has an incredible arm. We want him out there because when he's out there, we've got a good chance to win."

Harden has only been healthy enough to make 18 starts since 2006 (two of them coming this year), and while I'd like to be able to say that this is the time he finally stays healthy, I know I'd be wrong. In fact, I'm setting the over/under at 20 innings pitched before Harden is back on the disabled list.

The Oakland Athletics haven't had a successful season this year, but with all the injuries they've suffered over the last six months, let's just all be happy that nobody died. I know teams don't like to use injury as an excuse, but I think it's safe to say that if the Athletics want to, nobody will get on their case.

The Athletics realize this, and they wanted to let Bob Geren know that he doesn't need to worry about his job in the foreseeable future, so Billy Beane picked up his option and Geren will now be in Oakland through 2009.

"I appreciate his vote of confidence," Geren said. "I was thinking back on it and I've been in the organization for nine years. It's a wonderful place to work and everyone's been great. The minor league system is second to none. The best thing about it is through all the injuries and transactions all year, we've discovered some wonderful young talent. It will be a fun team to be leading."

Geren wasn't the only Athletic receiving good news on Monday, as the team also exercised the option on Mark Ellis' contract. Ellis will make $5 million in 2008, though the Athletics could have bought him out for $250,000.

Sure, they may have saved some money by letting Ellis go, but they probably just saved a lot of errors. Ellis is one of the best defensive second baseman in baseball and he set career highs in home runs, RBI, hits, runs, doubles and stolen bases. Not to mention he also stayed healthy all season, which is a feat in and of itself.