A few new faces, a few surprises, and another season of Oakland A's baseball

And then there were 25.

The A’s announced their Opening Day 25-man roster today, and injuries and circumstances opened up jobs for four people I didn’t expect to see in green and gold in Seattle on Monday afternoon – Travis Buck, Lenny DiNardo, Jay Marshall, and Todd Walker.

Buck is definitely the most exciting addition of the four. Named the A’s top prospect by Baseball America for 2007, the outfielder tore it up in spring training, hitting for a .339 average and a Beane-esque .417 on-base percentage. The logical situation would be for Buck to start in right field against righty pitchers, and sit in favor of Bobby Keilty versus southpaws. That still puts him in the game more often than not, so I think I like the move. He definitely has shown he is ready, and if you’ve got the at-bats to give him, go for it!

DiNardo makes the team, likely as the fifth starter, replacing the injured Esteban Loaiza. Bob Geren has yet to say whether the job will go to DiNardo or Gaudin, but I think Gaudin is too valuable in the ‘pen and the pitching would be weakened in the late innings if he wasn’t available. I always like to see castoffs from other teams do well so I hope DiNardo can make the most of this opportunity.

Jay Marshall – not Ryan Goleski – makes the team as a Rule 5 pick. He had an impressive spring, posting a 2.76 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched. Marshall looks to be a lefty specialist in the bullpen, a role that the team’s other lefty reliever, Alan Embree, is not as well suited for. And with his funky sidearm delivery, he could give the AL West some fits this year.

Last but not least, Todd Walker is an A. What? When did this happen? It’s catching a lot of people by surprise, that’s for sure. But apparently Walker was cut by the Padres on Monday, and the A’s inked him to a minor-league deal on Friday, in light of the injury to Dan Johnson. The A’s cut Erubiel Durazo, likely because of his lackluster defense and lack of versatility, and signed a guy who can play first, second, and third base. That’s probably Walker was also kept in favor of Antonio Perez, whom the A’s designated for assignment. So, they end up carrying only two backup infielders – Walker and Marco Scutaro – who can play all over the infield.

As I do every year, I like this team on paper going into the season. Even with three significant pieces to the team set to miss big chunks of time due to injury, the team is set up well to absorb these losses. The team looks good from top to bottom.

Now let’s go out there and watch our boys defend the AL West crown! GO A’S!!

UPDATE: Looks like I was wrong about DiNardo's role on the team, as the A's have announced Chad Gaudin will get the Thursday start versus the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Well he has definitely earned it. I'm looking forward to watching it!