Tonight's win over Texas resulted in half a game of a fun lesson in what happens when "injury stacks" happen: you wind up with your everyday first baseman playing center field. That's what Bob Melvin was forced to turn to when Yoenis Cespedes had to leave the game with a tummyache¹. With Coco Crisp, Chris Young, and Josh Reddick all on the disabled list until at least Wednesday (when there's now some hope that Crisp could actually be the first one off the list, with Young apparently not recovering as fast and the possibility of Reddick having surgery being tossed around), it's amusing to ponder what the A's depth chart at each situation actually looks like and how many owies it would take to get to a really dire situation.

In center, we've already seen it:

1. Coco Crisp
2. Chris Young
3. Yoenis Cespedes
4. Josh Reddick
5. Grant Green
6. Brandon Moss!

Moss is by my estimation the sixth center fielder on the depth chart, but that makes him, again, as we saw tonight, #2 on the current roster.

Let's just note right now that right field, left field, and first base aren't fun. "Oh no Jemile Weeks is the 10th first baseman on the depth chart!" never made anyone laugh that hard.

So. Second base?

1. Eric Sogard
2. Jed Lowrie
3. Adam Rosales
4. Andy Parrino
5. Hiro Nakajima
6. Grant Green
7. Jemile Weeks (noting that Weeks actually has more games at short this year than at second)
8. ... Josh Donaldson? Mmmmmmmm Coco Crisp?

As for the current roster, this means Donaldson is fourth, though if you get to the point where you're down Sogard, Lowrie, and Rosales, that means you're also missing your shortstop, so Donaldson probably plays there, maybe with Luke Montz at third, and ... gosh Daric Barton at second?

In a sense what this really means is that you only need two injuries to get Donaldson to second base because whoever that third guy is will be playing short. That's an exciting prospect.

Catcher?

1. Derek Norris
2. John Jaso
3. Luke Montz (third catchers make things dull)
4. EDIT: Josh Donaldson, thanks Chris Biderman
5. Stephen Vogt
6. Daric Barton!

Unless I'm missing someone, Daric Barton is the only non-catcher on the A's with a catching background in professional baseball, but² Bob Melvin's desire for a third catcher so that he can designatedly hit John Jaso against righties makes it harder to imagine the situations where Barton dons the implements of bewilderment EDIT: especially with Josh Donaldson an ever-present presence.

If you want to get into rank speculation of who would come after Barton among all the players who've never caught before, you'd probably have to go with Adam Rosales, though it's worth wondering whether he'd hurt himself leaping forward for a pitch and launching his head directly into the hitter's swing path. Maybe just sit Bartolo Colon back there.