Oakland has a new Big three!

Oakland's original big three of Hudson, Zito and Mulder was one of the best rotations in baseball. Is it possible that Oakland has another trio down on the farm? Yes! and you might see them this year. Oakland's new big three consists of three prospects all under 22 years of age. Cahill(21), Mazzaro(22), and Anderson(21). It is starting to look like two if not all three of these young studs could break camp with the A's starting rotation. Team ace Justin Duchsherer and fifth starter candidate Gio Gonzalez look like they could both start the year on the DL. That will leave Dana Eveland (named opening day starter today) Sean Gallagher (the prize of the Harden deal) and Dallas Braden (having a really good spring) as the top three starters for opening day. That means two spots are open in the rotation for these prospects to claim. Anderson is having the best spring(1.54 era, 11.2 ip, but only 2 K's), Cahill is also having a great spring(3.94 era, 16 ip, 10 K's) and Cahill has logged the most innings this spring so far. Right now it looks like Mazzaro would be the odd man out with his poor spring(7.30 era, 12 ip, 12 K's) but Anderson is dealing with a stiff forearm which could allow Mazzaro to sneak in. My personal feeling is that Cahill is a lock to open the year in the bigs as the fourth starter and he should be drafted in the late rounds of your draft. As for the fifth spot in this rotation, your guess is as good as mine. Both Anderson and Mazzaro are elite prospects and should be monitored for the rest of spring training. Is there a chance all three start the year in the majors? Simple answer is YES! they could. Check out this blog from MLB.com's Mychael Urban on the subject, http://bigurb.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/03/interesting_comments_from_mr_g.html

The Bay State Scout