Peter Gammons has a column on ESPN.com that was posted on May 15th, and contains this snippet: "[A's General Manager Billy] Beane wants to get infielder Dan Johnson, last year's Pacific Coast League MVP, up to the majors and into the club's lineup."

...

That was my blank stare. Beane's had every opportunity to bring up Johnson, including when Swisher got hurt and when Harden got hurt. That's putting aside the idea that Oakland might send down Charles Thomas for a spell.

So what do the A's have? Six outfielders, four left-handed and one nominal switch-hitter, one first baseman who doesn't hit like one, and a complete inability to win a baseball game.

I hate to pound on this point over and over again, but this idea that Beane "wants" to bring up Johnson but hasn't found the opportunity yet is ludicrous. Klutts hit it on the head when he said, "I think he must have some sort of plan for the roster construction and the Dan Johnson dilemma but I don't see it clearly yet." We're on the same page on this for now. Based on Beane's past, you have to assume he's thinking about how this is all playing out. What he's thinking is impossible to tell, though, because he seems to be making the weirdest possible move at each step.

I mean, come on, Jermaine Clark?