The Triple-A infield

As the post below demonstrates, I've been thinking quite a bit recently about the A's glut of not quite that good, or in other cases not quite ready infielders. With that in mind, I have reached a new low. Today I am rosterbating about the Rivercat’s infield situation. Here’s the list of players who could see time in ’09.

Barton
Doolittle
Bozied
Petit
Pennington
Patterson
Wimberly
Chen
Baisley
Dillon

This list doesn’t even include Jack Hannahan who very well could end up in Sacramento if Ellis and Chavez are both ready for Opening Day. So how do 10 guys share four positions? Let’s break it down by position.

First base:
It's easy to forget that just one calendar year separates Daric Barton and Sean Doolittle. Doolittle is coming off a very impressive big league camp, and Barton is very much in the team’s future plans, so the pair of youngsters will split time at first base. Both, of course, are lefties, so no platoon to be had here. Between Barton DHing and Doolittle playing right, both of their bats will be in the lineup everyday. A huge first half by Chris Carter in Midland could further complicate the situation, and I haven't even considered minor league vet Tagg Bozied fits in. Unless he spends time in left field/DH, it looks like he'll get released.

The Middle infield:
Gregorio Petit, Cliff Pennington, Eric Patterson, Corey Wimberly and Yung Chi Chen. One would think that Petit and Pennington would switch off at second and short, but that doesn’t leave much room for Patterson and Wimberly. Assuming he’s not traded, Patterson probably figures to see most of his action in left field. I get the feeling that the organization thinks very highly of Wimberly and his stirrups, so he probably sees time at five or six positions. Basically everywhere but first. Chen looks like he might go from 40-man to released in the span of a couple of weeks. Either that, or he’s headed to Midland.

Third base:
Jeff Baisley and Joe Dillion will probably share the hot corner, but as they are both righties there are no obvious platoon opportunities. Further crowding the picture is the presence of Hannahan and the fact that Petit, Pennington and Wimberly all could see time at third base.

Conclusions:
As it currently stands, it looks like three of these guys are going to get released or demoted. Of course factoring in injuries and general crapiness, it will probably just be two. Barton, Doolittle, Petit, Pennington and Wimberly all seem to have spots locked up. Any of the other five, however, could be in danger. I see Chen as the most likely release candidate followed by Bozied, and Patterson seems the most likely to leave via a trade. I can see him being dealt for a high upside, high risk A-baller. Dillon’s versatility, and Baisley’s roster status probably keep them on the squad. In the end, it seems as though there will be a lot of infielders taking fly balls for the Rivercats next season.