Mr. Beane is right again. There is no reason to struggle to be mediocre. Take a step back to take two steps forward.

Billy Beane stays ahead of the curve, dealing off noteworthy championship parts in Dan Haren and Nick Swisher to bring in a full organization's worth of prospects that should give them plenty to work with going forward. This means the A's will be a pretty good team ... in three years.

This year, forget it -- unless you're really in a deep AL-only or long-term keeper league.

The pitchers won't get run support. The hitters won't have much of a supporting cast.

But there will be a slew of rookies and prospects with opportunities and that should make for some sleepers in deeper formats. Also, injury-risk sleepers Rich Harden, Bobby Crosby and Eric Chavez will get ample time to stage career comebacks.

Spring position battles

First base -- Daric Barton vs. Dan Johnson

The A's are ready to hand the position to Barton, a key piece in the Mark Mulder trade years ago. But we don't see him as a significantly superior player than Johnson, who has failed to meet expectations for years. Johnson did have some vision problems, but laser-eye surgery is reported to have corrected that issue. Whoever loses out here -- likely Johnson because the A's are going with the youth movement -- will wind up getting at-bats at DH. Consider Barton an AL Rookie of the Year candidate and a potential sleeper in deeper leagues, but don't discount Johnson from finally putting up a .300, 25-HR year.

Center and left fields -- Carlos Gonzalez and Jack Cust vs. Aaron Cunningham, Emil Brown, Ryan Sweeney and Chris Denorfia

Gonzalez, the key piece in the Haren deal, is an elite prospect coming off a somewhat disappointing year in the minors. It shouldn't take much for him to prove worthy of the starting job either in center or left. Consider him an AL Rookie of the Year candidate and a sleeper in deeper Rotisserie leagues. His young age and raw prospect status make him a late-rounder in mixed leagues at best. Cunningham looks more like a future big-league reserve, having bounced from the White Sox and then the D-Backs in the past year. Sweeney, Brown or Denorfia, who is coming off a season-ending surgery, profile as nothing more than reserves for the deepest of AL-only leagues -- with or without at-bats.

Starting pitchers Nos. 3-5 -- Justin Duchscherer, Chad Gaudin and Gio Gonzalez vs. Greg Smith, Lenny DiNardo, Dan Meyer and Dan Eveland

The winner(s) of this derby won't have value outside of deeper AL-only or long-term keeper leagues, regardless. Don't get us wrong, we like Duchscherer, Gonzalez and Smith's potential long term, but the A's are going to be awful and won't give them much of a chance to be .500 pitchers. With that said, they will come far more cheaply on Draft Day than their talent would otherwise suggest. Consider Gonzalez the most intriguing flier here, because of his strikeout potential. He led the minor leagues in Ks last year.

Oakland Athletics Outlook
Projected lineup Pos. Projected Rotation
1 Mark Ellis 2B 1 Joe Blanton RH
2 Bobby Crosby SS 2 Rich Harden RH
3 Eric Chavez 3B 3 Chad Gaudin RH
4 Jack Cust LF 4 Justin Duchscherer RH
5 Travis Buck RF 5 Gio Gonzalez LH
6 Daric Barton 1B Alt Greg Smith LH
7 Dan Johnson DH Top bullpen arms
8 Kurt Suzuki C CL Huston Street RH
9 Carlos Gonzalez CF SU Alan Embree LH
Top bench options RP Santiago Casilla RH
R Donnie Murphy UTL RP Andrew Brown RH
R Emil Brown OF RP Joey Devine RH
Rookies/Prospects Age Pos. 2007 high Destination
1 Daric Barton 22 1B Majors Majors
Numbers don't yet suggest he'll be any better than, or as good as, Johnson.
2 Carlos Gonzalez 22 OF Triple-A Majors
Trade to Oakland opens up huge opportunity for well-regarded five-tool talent.
3 Gio Gonzalez 22 LH SP Triple-A Majors
Smoke-thrower should be one of 2008's best Fantasy rookie starting pitchers.
4 Greg Smith 24 LH SP Triple-A Triple-A
Should get a long look this spring and will at least be an early call-up this year.
5 Brett Anderson 19 LH SP Low Class A High Class A
Quietly an outstanding young piece received in the Haren blockbuster.
Best of the rest: P Trevor Cahill, 1B Chris Carter, OF Ryan Sweeney, OF Aaron Cunningham, P Fautino De Los Santos, C Landon Powell, P Dan Meyer, OF Jeff Fiorentino, P Henry Rodriguez, P Andrew Bailey, C Anthony Recker, P Jerry Blevins, 2B Kevin Melillo, OF Javier Herrera, OF Richie Robnett, P James Simmons, 1B Sean Doolittle, P Vincent Mazzaro, P Jared Lansford, OF Danny Putnam, SS Cliff Pennington, C Jeremy Brown, P Jason Windsor, OF Jermaine Mitchell, P Chad Lee, OF Matt Sulentic, P Shane Komine, SS Josh Horton, OF Grant Desme, OF Corey Brown, P Sam Demel, P Travis Banwart, 2B Justin Sellers.

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