Oakland A's Designate Rule-5 Pick, Call Up Kirk Saarloos

Who would have thought the Oakland Athletics would have the best record in the American League halfway through the month of April? The A's will finish up their road trip in Chicago today, after going 6-1 so far against the Blue Jays, Indians, and White Sox.

Last season, Oakland kept their Rule-5 pick, Jay Marshall, on the roster for the entire year.

This season, it seems the front office likes their chances in the AL West, designating Fernando Hernandez for assignment and calling up long-reliever Kirk Saarloos.

Saarloos had 10 wins for the A's in 2007.

This is a smart move, given the fact that Lenny Dinardo is currently in the rotation due to Justin Duchscherer and Rich Harden spending some time on the disabled list. The A's need a reliever who can last for a few innings, and Hernandez wasn't getting the job done.

Personally, I'd like to see Rich Harden in a reliever role when he comes back from injury.

He's an awesome pitcher, and it'd be great if he could stay in the starting rotation, but he has a real hard time staying healthy. He might be better off coming in for an inning or two a few times a week. I'm sure there will be situations where having a guy like Harden ready and waiting will be a major benefit.

Greg Smith is looking really good so far, as comparisons have been made to Kenny Rogers and Tom Glavine. He also has a few very good pickoff moves, and he showed it yesterday against the White Sox, picking off two of their guys... including Nick Swisher, who met his old team for the first time.

Swisher was the only guy he faced that he seemed to have a real problem pitching against. Other than that, he was solid, and will probably have a spot in the starting rotation for the entire season.

All in all, I know it's only April ... but I feel like something special might be going on in Oakland. It should be fun to watch.