Observations from the 2010 Oakland A's Spring Training in Phoenix

Spring Training is a time for veterans to renew their Major League routine and for rookies to both show off and learn. I was learning myself, being a rookie fan, visiting Spring Training down in Arizona for the first time. While only there for three games, I made plenty of observations.

1) In 2010, the A's will be running every bit as much as they did last year after the All-Star Break. Leading the pack of the "Runnin' A's" will be the same man as last year: Rajai Davis. The A's aren't afraid this Spring to let Davis show off his speed.

In Saturday's game (March 13) Davis hit a ball to left that got by the diving left fielder. Of course Davis is thinking, three bases all the way . Even though I could tell he'd be a sitting duck and thrown out at third, I couldn't help but cheer on Davis anyway, and the rest of crowd felt the same way. Run Rajai, Run!! On Sunday's game (March 14) Davis picked up where he left off leading off the game with a double, and then stole third.

Not to be outdone, Pennington and Patterson, the A's other two big speedsters, pulled off a double steal. After Davis found himself on second base the next inning, the pitcher was deservedly keeping a very close eye on Davis. I look forward to seeing the A's runners get into the heads of opposing pitchers this year.

2) While touted as a three man competition for the fifth starting rotation spot, Vince Mazzaro is clearly being outdone by Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez. After watching Gonzalez calmly work three scoreless innings against the Giants, I was eager to see how Cahill would respond the next day. Four scoreless innings from Cahill.

Everything I've read presumes Cahill as the front runner, and it's well deserved. Aside from one walk issued on pitches in the dirt to Kansas City's Kila Ka'aihue, Cahill was well in control.

3) The A's have impressive young pitching talent at the Major League level. We knew that of course, so I was keeping an eye on a few other young Minor League pitchers. Tyson Ross and Fautino De Los Santos have talent but clearly have a bit to work on.

Ross: Damage control. His fielders didn't help him, but he needs to learn damage control.

De Los Santos: Clearly he's still shaking off some rust after missing most of the past two seasons, but the five earned runs in 2/3 innings was far from impressive

4) Similarly, the A's potential second baseman of the future, Jemile Weeks, was far from impressive. While he didn't record any errors, he looked very bewildered out on the field. I understood the point-of-view from his draft report suggesting he'd make a better outfielder.

5) Eric Chavez is looking strong, healthy, and, not to be underestimated: happy. The A's know not to expect too much from Chavez based on his health history, but his smiles out at first base were hard to miss. A healthy Chavez creates hard roster decisions to make at the end of the Spring. That's a great problem to have.

6) While The A's this Spring have shown an ability to have their bats silenced, overall I was very impressed with how the ball is jumping off the bats, especially from Kurt Suzuki's bat. Suzuki will make it hard for AL All-Star manager Joe Girardi to snub Suzuki for his first All-Star appearance.

7) Daric Barton is also looking really good and confident. I think it's become very obvious to him that it's time to shine or soon be forgotten with Chavez backing him up and Chris Carter waiting to jump to the big show. Barton may finally have a strong start to the season, which gives the A's a good problem to have at first base.

8) Lastly, Brad Ziegler is a wonderfully friendly guy. Before the game against the Kansas City Royals, he was at ease perched upon the tarp on the first base line talking to fans and signing autographs. Possibly because he was very happy to see a former college classmate, but he didn't turn away any autograph requests, including mine.

This is an exciting team with a lot of potential. I'm looking forward to when the games start to count!