Q&A With Kane County Mgr. Steve Scarsone, P1

In 2009, the Kane County Cougars welcomed a new manager, former major league infielder Steve Scarsone. Scarsone, who was also in his first season as part of the Oakland A’s organization, led the Cougars into the Midwest League playoffs. He then served as the manager of the A’s Instructional League squad. We spoke to Scarsone last week for an extended Q&A.   Full Story

Coty Blanchard, quarterback from Centre-Cherokee County, Ala., made a decision during the summer to commit to Mississippi State to play baseball. He chose the Bulldogs after the bigger school offers in football had not yet arrived. Scout.com has the latest news of the weekend...    Full Story

The Oakland A's 2009 Instructional League camp is in its final two weeks. On Monday, we caught-up with A's minor league pitching coordinator Gil Patterson to discuss the pitchers who are participating in camp. Patterson gives us some rehab updates, as well as progress reports on the attempts at improvement by the pitchers participating in camp. This is Part One of a two-part interview...   Full Story

There were six former Bulls on NFL active roster’s on opening kick-off Sunday, Mike Jenkins, Anthony Henry, Stephen Nicholas, Kawika Mitchell, Marc Dile and Chad Simpson See how the former Bulls did during the opening week in the NFL.   Full Story

Former USF DE Jarriett Buie is given another chance to prove his value with the Buc’s.   Full Story

Linebacker Tyrone McKenzie who was selected in the third round (97th overall) by the Patriots signed a rookie deal, the team announced today.   Full Story

The Falcons' rebuilt defense is still a work in progress. Atlanta is attempting to replace five starters, so things were expected to be bumpy at the outset. "There are going to be some growing pains," coach Mike Smith said. "There are a lot of new pieces on the defensive side of the ball."   Full Story

The Kane County Cougars are continuing to struggle to find their form from the first half of the season, when they won the division title. David Malamut brings us a report about the week that was with the Cougars...   Full Story

Buccaneer rookie Mark Dile a former Bulls offensive lineman is among three other USF free agents trying to get noticed and make an impression during the Buc's training camp. Dile gives his thoughts on the camp, the competition, the transition to the NFL, the difference beteen the Coach Leavitt & Coach Morris, and the overall experience. Only on USFNation.com   Full Story

Quick hits before training camp including Draft pick signing status, a hiccup in the media for one defender, an honorary captain and more...   Full Story

One of the Oakland A's top prospects celebrated the holiday weekend in style by making his 2009 regular season debut. We have news and notes from around the Oakland A's system inside...   Full Story

During the off-season, we named our top-50 prospects in the Oakland A's system. Now that we have passed the midway point of the season, we thought it would be a good time to check the progress of those players. In the second in our series, we take a look at the progress of prospects 40-31 from our off-season list.   Full Story

In this edition of Oakland A's Minor League Notebook, we have news on two new draft pick signings, as well as some roster moves and an injury update on rookie Josh Outman...   Full Story

Almost as soon as the gun sounded in the playoff loss to Arizona, the Falcons started rebuilding their defense. Five starters -- linebackers Keith Brooking and Michael Boley, safety Lawyer Milloy, cornerback Domonique Foxworth and defensive tackle Grady Jackson -- were not re-signed or were let go.   Full Story

Former USF defensive end Jarriett Buie and Buccaneer rookie is among the hundreds of undrafted free agents trying to get noticed and make an impression before NFL training camps begin.   Full Story

Despite a constantly changing roster, the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats are in a familiar place atop the Pacific Coast League's Northern Division. For the River Cats, it has been the pitching that has led the way to the team's 32-20 record.   Full Story

When Patriots rookie linebacker went down with an injury in minicamp and was lost for the season, he did it without a signed contract. So what happens now? Is he out or luck or...? Salary cap specialist J.I. Halsell addressed that very question in his blog. Reprinted here with permission.   Full Story

Tyrone McKenzie the former Bulls linebacker who was drafted by New England Patriots in the third round of the NFL draft is out for the season with a torn ACL.   Full Story

Both Jeff Gray and Jeff Baisley got a taste of the big leagues with the Oakland A's late last season and both are determined to get back to the show. We have notes on both players, as well as some news on Sacramento alumni, inside...   Full Story

TAMPA, FL - Addison Maruszak’s college career earned him a spot in the minors then he topped that with a successful professional debut season with the Staten Island Yankees last year, speeding up his career. As a result he has gone straight to high-A this season and he's ready for the jump.   Full Story

The toughest part of spring training has begun at Papago Park in Phoenix, as the Oakland A's have had to make a series of cuts to get their minor league rosters in order for the start of the season. We have the names of nine more players let go inside...   Full Story

The Oakland A's minor league spring training camp is underway. We caught-up with A's Director of Player Development Keith Lieppman at Papago Park and discussed with him some of his thoughts and early impressions of a number of prospects in the A's system. In part 2 of the interview, we touch on Jermaine Mitchell, Arnold Leon, Daniel Thomas, Josh Horton, Adrian Cardenas, Grant Desme and more...   Full Story

Nathaniel Stoltz, whose columns focus on the statistical analysis of players, returns to take a look at a few of the Oakland A's players who participated in major league camp this spring who are trending positively with their statistics over the past three years.   Full Story

The Oakland A’s started spring with a crowded major league camp, with 63 players on-hand, the most since Billy Martin brought 80 players to camp in 1982. While only 25 of those players will break camp with the team, there are more who are likely to be key cogs for the A's over the next few years. We are taking a look at the position battles in camp this spring, continuing with the IFs and Cs.   Full Story

Falcons coach Mike Smith will get the chance to put his stamp on the defense. Last season, they went for offense with Matt Ryan and Sam Baker in rebuilding that unit. Smith was salivating with Glenn Dorsey on the board, but had to go with the consensus.   Full Story

One of the most well-known and well-respected prospect watchers is Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. Goldstein recently released his top 11 Oakland A’s prospect list on the Baseball Prospectus website. We had a chance this weekend to speak with Kevin about the A’s system and prospects in general. In part two of our interview, we touch on Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, Josh Donaldson and more.   Full Story