I've done some not-so-real posts on the new blog, so here's a semi-real post, though it's just a link roundup.

From yesterday, we've got three stories in one from MLB.com's Tyler Emerick, with the lead piece talking about Ryan Cook being "on track to throw a bullpen session soon." Good! I'm reasonably certain the A's can make good use of Ryan Cook if he's healthy. Goin' out on a limb here.

The second piece is that Jesse Chavez will be the A's starter in their Cactus League opener. Starting, relieving, I'm sure it's all meaningless, and he's certainly nowhere near A.J. Griffin or Dan Straily, whoever you think the fifth starter is,¹ but it'll be interesting to see who the A's consider the sixth starter, especially with Scott Kazmir in the fold. Is it Chavez, with his four-pitch mix? Tom Milone? Josh Lindblom? Drew Pomeranz? I would not feel entirely confident with any of those pitchers starting for the team for a month, but you can probably do worse.

Finally, Derek Norris made a comment about the new collision rules. I'm mentioning it only because it's in the piece and I already said there are "three stories in one" and lord knows I can't just go back and edit that. So there, I mentioned it.

Here's an Athletics Nation FanPost asking whether the A's should trade for Nick Franklin, though it's worth noting that the writer asks whether Franklin is an upgrade on Eric Sogard, not whether he's an upgrade on Alberto Callaspo. Defense and all, for this one year, I'd rather have Callaspo given that I already have him. Franklin, of course, would not just be a one-year player but would be a second-baseman-of-the-future type of player, ready to step in full-time come 2015 as Callaspo leaves in free agency. Though then the question really is how much better he is than Sogard and whether that's worth paying the cost it'll take in trade to acquire him, particularly given that other teams are likely interested. All of which is to say that I don't think I see this working.

Apparently John Jaso is going to start at catcher in the Cactus opener. But I already mentioned that Jesse Chavez will be the starting pitcher, so you can tell how much this means overall. The rest of the lineup is similarly spring-training-y: Punto at short, Callaspo at third, Taylor in left.

I'm actually a little disappointed that Sean Doolittle is throwing a good slider and changeup in camp. Visions of a 20-year career of single-pitch dominance were dancing in my head. I'm sorta serious.

I guess the A's didn't bother to tell Alberto Callaspo that he'd be playing first base this spring? He didn't bring a first baseman's glove. I don't want to make this a bigger thing than it is but

oh my god a's what the hell are you even doing

Instead of turning off email notifications, Bob Melvin deleted his Twitter account. The kids would say: smh.