Happy New Year, dudes and bettys. There's not much to pass on today.

First up, Jeff Fletcher's report that the A's are talking to Cody Ross about joining their outfield in 2012. Ross isn't a terrible player, but, putting aside the question of whether the A's have to spend a little in free agency to keep the MLBPA off their backs, all he'll do is take time from players who need to prove themselves. Not one of Michael Taylor, Colin Cowgill, Josh Reddick, Jermaine Mitchell, and Brandon Allen is a young tyro who can be left in AAA for more seasoning. Josh Reddick is the youngest of the bunch at 24. Their time is now, and, more importantly, their time to see whether their time will be 2014 is now. (Got that?)

If the A's really feel that they must spend money, they could sign a veteran utility man -- Felipe Lopez, Orlando Cabrera, and Jack Wilson are all available. They're all crummy, but that's not the point. All they'll be doing is taking time from Eric Sogard or Adam Rosales, which is hardly worth worrying about.

Alternatively, they could sign a pitcher. Hell, make a splash and get Edwin Jackson. Sign Paul Maholm. Roy Oswalt. Jon Garland. Ryan Madson, even. Some of these guys are good, some are not, and not a one of them will stand in the way of the A's developing the next good team. (Jackson might even be part of that team, or could at least be traded for pieces.)

David Wishinsky agrees.

I didn't know that Clay Davenport had a projection system, and I have no idea what goes into it, but he writes about the Bailey trade here and you can see his projection for Josh Reddick here. The projections are for Boston, which means we shouldn't expect a .472 SLG now that he's in Oakland, but his EqA and WARP shouldn't be changed by the move, so the end result is: Davenport's system expects Reddick to be a league-average (or slightly above) player.

Does Ryan Ludwick's name occur to anyone else when they see those projections?