The reason I have not yet recapped Game 2 is because I have not yet watched Game 2. I'm planning on it tonight. Instead, here's some links.

1. Matthew Leach has five questions about the A's and the Mariners in advance of their season opener. Well, it's not in advance anymore. But it was published in advance.

2. Upon the news that Casey Blake was released by the Rockies, David Wishinsky looks at whether he might fit at third for the A's. The main thing that gives me pause is that the Rockies aren't stupid and that, per a Twitter friend, Blake has been battling his back all spring. The A's have plenty of experience with a third baseman with back troubles, and Blake is no Eric Chavez.

   If he's healthy, Blake's surely better than anybody the A's have in-house, and a one-year deal isn't going to stand in the way of Scott Sizemore returning to the spot next year, but the question, with the team having a full 40-man roster, is whether the upgrade is worth losing a potentially intriguing pitcher like Sean Doolittle or Pedro Figueroa. Odds, of course, are that neither will amount to much at the major-league level, but the possibility that they'd end up claimed by another team on waivers is enough to give me at least some pause about recommending that a 70-to-75-win team add a win at third base.

3. As with many SBN sites, Athletics Nation has added a YouTube channel. David Wishinsky does the first video post.

4. Jonah Keri has a write-up at Grantland of Game 1. He's a good writer.

5. Chris Jaffe has this at The Hardball Times because it was Billy Beane's 50th birthday yesterday.

6. The Chronicle broke down the A's roster, but calling Coco Crisp "a dangerous offensive player" is only true if you're talking about the danger to his own team's run-scoring.

7. The AP recap of Game 2 includes Yoenis Cespedes saying, "They tried to throw me sliders every at-bat," which I love, because it's an awesome "welcome to American baseball" quote.

8. This Slusser story has some tidbits, including that Ryan Cook could be used in a late-inning role sooner rather than later. He's really shooting up the charts very quickly. Fautino De Los Santos should watch his back.

   Also in the piece is that Bob Melvin does not consider third base a platoon despite going L/R in the first two games with Eric Sogard and Josh Donaldson. This makes me a little sad because everyone loves platoons.

   More on the platoon situation from Jane Lee, who has Bob Melvin saying that Sogard started not because he was left-handed but because he wanted a hitter who makes better contact against Felix Hernandez. If you prefer Joe Stiglich, he's got the same from Melvin.

9. Here's a Game One recap from Jane Lee that declines to mention Brandon Allen bunting.

10. [Lee's Game 2 preview](http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_03_29_seamlb_oakmlb_1&mode=preview&vkey=preview_web_home&c_id=oak&partnerId=rss_oak) includes the tidbit that the A's haven't had this many rookies on the Opening Day roster since 1992. (They didn't have that many in 1992 -- Lee just didn't have roster information going back further.) This might be sort of cheating, though, because of the weird 28/25-man rules that allowed the A's to deactivate two of their starting pitchers. Is Collin Cowgill still going to be on the team when real baseball starts again? Graham Godfrey? Andrew Carignan?
    

11. [The first sentence of this MLB.com piece](http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120329&content_id=27719962&notebook_id=27720094&vkey=notebook_oak&c_id=oak&partnerId=rss_oak) uses "weary" when it means "wary." C'mon, editors. I don't even get paid for this.
    

12. Just when you thought first base was settled: [nope](http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120329&content_id=27719962&notebook_id=27720100&vkey=notebook_oak&c_id=oak&partnerId=rss_oak). [And the same from Stiglich](http://www.ibabuzz.com/athletics/2012/03/29/as-first-base-decision-remains-tba/).
    

13. [Yoenis Cespedes got a $12,000 bonus for being the MVP of the opening series.](http://mlb.mlb.com/news/wall/article.jsp?content_id=27728210&partnerId=rss_oak) That's pretty good.
    

14. [David Wishinsky's season preview is here.](http://toddvanpoppelrookiecardretirementplan.com/2012/03/28/2012-oakland-as-preview/) Factoid I did not know: all of Kurt Suzuki's 2011 homers were solo. 
    

15. [Nathaniel Stoltz has his first piece on Athletics Nation](http://www.athleticsnation.com/2012/3/28/2909966/why-tyson-ross-not-graham-godfrey-should-go-to-the-pen-upon-bradens) about why Graham Godfrey should stick in the rotation when Dallas Braden returns, pushing Tyson Ross to the bullpen. I really like the post, and have a hard time disagreeing with the outcome, which turns on the idea that Ross can better optimize his pitches and reduce the pain of his splits if he's in the bullpen.
    

16. [Here's the second Athletics Nation video.](http://www.athleticsnation.com/2012/3/30/2913940/an-youtube-channel-opening-day-bunting) It's got a Blair Witch vibe going on. I'm a little frightened about Wishinsky's apparent aversion to, like, lights. Anyway, it's about Brandon Allen bunting. You know where I stand on this.
    

17. [Here's Joseph Lopez's team preview.](http://swinginas.com/2012/03/27/as-2012-team-preview/)
    

18. [David Spencer, whose profile pic is mad beardy, has a PITCHf/x look at Jason Vargas](http://swinginas.com/2012/03/28/jason-vargas-pitch-fx-preview/). It's a little late for me to be linking this, but oh well. I'm sure the A's will see him again.
    

19. [And here's Spencer's Game Two recap.](http://swinginas.com/2012/03/29/game-2-recap/)
    

There are more links to non-A's blogs and sites, but I have a big backlog, so I'll get to those later.