BALTIMORE- The Orioles on Tuesday announced that they have acquired OF JAI MILLER from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash considerations and have also traded INF BRANDON SNYDER to the Texas Rangers in exchange for cash considerations.

Miller, 26, batted .276/.368/.588 with 32 home runs, 88 RBI and 16 stolen bases without being caught in 110 games for Triple-A Sacramento in 2011. He also appeared in seven games for the A’s, going 3-for-12 with a home run.

Miller has batted .271/.351/.516 with 85 home runs and 253 RBI in 423 games at the Triple-A level in the last four seasons. His major league time also includes 20 games with the Kansas City Royals in 2010, when he batted .236/.300/.345. He made his major league debut in 2008 with the Marlins.

“Jai Miller has the power, speed, base stealing skills and good athletic ability to be an asset in our outfield as he competes for a spot on our ballclub this spring,” said Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations DAN DUQUETTE.

Snyder, 25, batted .261/.312/.406 in 114 games with Triple-A Norfolk in 2011. He also appeared in six games for the Orioles, going 3-for-13.

The Orioles 40-man roster remains full with these moves.

When the Oakland Athletics arrive in Dallas on Monday for the start of Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings, there will be much anticipation surrounding which cornerstone players they might deal.

General manager Billy Beane is beginning another rebuilding phase, and it’s been widely reported that he’s discussed trades involving two-time All-Star closer Andrew Bailey and left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez, the team’s lone All-Star in 2011.

“I think we’re definitely going to be open-minded,” Beane said. “We’re going to be somewhat all ears. I don’t think we’ve made a commitment to (trading veterans), but I think we have to be open-minded on anything.”

He wouldn’t confirm whether he’s willing to part with Gonzalez or Bailey, but his refusal to deny it speaks volumes.

With the A’s anticipating word from baseball commissioner Bud Selig on whether they can build a new ballpark in San Jose – speculation is that a decision could come in January – Beane’s plan is to restock with young players, thinking they would be ready to flourish once a new ballpark is opened, whenever that may be.

“That’s the word on the street, that the A’s are going to go young and maybe add to the minor league system as well as add at the major league level – go young and (cost) controllable,” said one major league scout who requested anonymity.

A’s fans are familiar with this storyline.

Following the 2007 season, Oakland dealt All-Star pitcher Dan Haren and fan-favorite first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher, netting the A’s nine prospects. Trades of veteran pitchers Rich Harden and Joe Blanton followed, bringing more prospects.

Among the players obtained in those trades were Gonzalez, a top-of-the-rotation starter; Ryan Sweeney, a serviceable outfielder; and Fautino De Los Santos, a hard-throwing reliever who projects as a potential closer.

Other prospects obtained have yet to bring a return.

First baseman Chris Carter has a .167 batting average with 41 strikeouts in 39 major league games.

Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez was included in a November 2008 trade with Colorado that brought Matt Holliday to Oakland. Gonzalez has since won a batting title with the Rockies.

The A’s dealt Holliday to St. Louis in July 2009 for a package that included first baseman Brett Wallace, who was eventually flipped for outfielder Michael Taylor.

Taylor, like Carter, has yet to become the impact hitter the A’s envisioned.

The jury remains out on left-hander Brett Anderson – received in the Haren trade – who has made just 62 starts in three seasons because of elbow problems. Anderson is recovering from Tommy John surgery and figures to miss much of 2012.

Pulling the trigger on a deal is one thing. Scoring with the players you get is another.

Magnuson made his major league debut with Oakland last season and had no decisions and a 6.14 ERA in nine relief appearances. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 18 with right shoulder tendinitis and missed the remainder of the season.

Gonzalez is 14-25 with a 5.90 ERA in 107 career appearances for Arizona, Oakland and Colorado. He pitched mostly in the minors last season.

Timmons batted .341 with eight homers and 62 RBIs at Triple-A and Double-A for Oakland last season.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

After one season with the Boston Red Sox, pitching coach Curt Young is leaving to take the same position with the Oakland Athletics, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reported Friday.

October 14, 2011, 7:16 pm

By ANDREW KEH

October 14, 2011, 7:16 pm By ANDREW KEH

Richard Gardner

In “Moneyball,” the well-received baseball film, Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane walks into the locker room, sits next to a player strapping braces on his legs and delivers the news:

“You can’t have 26 players in the clubhouse,” Mr. Beane, played by Brad Pitt, says.

All emotions fly across the player’s face: a sliver of hope that the visit is merely social, then panic, sadness, fear and, finally, resigned stoicism — he hasn’t made the 25-man roster that Major League teams are limited to for the bulk of the season.

“I’m sorry,” Mr. Beane says.

Richard Gardner knows all about sorry.

“I know how it hurts,” said Mr. Gardner, of Marlton, a man in his early 60s who heard a similar speech in May 2009, when he lost his main job. He is still unemployed — one of 14 million Americans without a job.

“It is a hurt,” said Mr. Gardner, who supervised more than 100 people as a plant manager at Helvoet Pharma Inc., formerly Owens-Illinois Inc., in Pennsauken and Burlington. After he was laid off from Helvoet in May 2009, he landed a contract job. That ended in May 2010.

“You spend 33 years with an organization and you help build it up and then you are let go,” he said. “I thought I was immortal, that I was going to survive until I retired.”

Mr. Gardner is different from many people who have be laid off, because he, like Mr. Beane, has also laid people off.

Michael Lewis’ book “Moneyball” tells how the Oakland A’s Beane, with a minuscule budget for signing players, in 2002 overruled his scouts and adopted a new and controversial way of choosing players by using exotic statistical evidence called sabremetrics.

Those statistics led Mr. Beane and the A’s to sign undervalued players and stretch the club’s limited budget. In 2002, the A’s payroll totaled $41 million; the New York Yankees’ totaled $125 million.

After a rough start that nearly caused Mr. Beane to lose faith in his approach, the A’s started to win.

Maybe, Mr. Gardner says, hiring managers can take a leaf from “Moneyball,” and not always focus on the obvious.

“If you know the guy has skills, but he’s shy or gets nervous in interviews, take a chance,” he said. “Maybe he’s the diamond in the rough who will pull you through.”

First published on October 8, 2011 at 12:00 am

In Moneyball, the well-received baseball film, Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane walks into the locker room, sits next to a player strapping braces on his legs, and delivers the news:

“You can’t have 26 players in the clubhouse,” Beane, played by Brad Pitt, says.

All emotions fly across the player’s face: a sliver of hope that the visit is merely social, then panic, sadness, fear, and, finally, resigned stoicism – he hasn’t made the 25-man roster that Major League teams are limited to for the bulk of the season.

“I’m sorry,” Beane says.

Richard Gardner knows all about sorry.

“I know how it hurts,” said Gardner, of Marlton, a man in his early 60s who heard a similar speech in May 2009, when he lost his main job. He is still unemployed – one of 14 million Americans without a job.

“It is a hurt,” said Gardner, who supervised more than 100 people as a plant manager at Helvoet Pharma Inc., formerly Owens-Illinois Inc., in Pennsauken and Burlington. After he was laid off from Helvoet in May 2009, he landed a contract job. That ended in May 2010.

“You spend 33 years with an organization and you help build it up and then you are let go,” he said. “I thought I was immortal, that I was going to survive until I retired.

“I remember walking out the door and shaking hands and saying, ‘I never thought it would end this way.’ “

I met Gardner earlier this year – he was one of nearly 80 unemployed people that I profiled online and in The Inquirer in the series “Looking for Work.”

All of them remember the moment they learned, just as that ballplayer did, that they would lose their jobs.

“You knew that he knew it was the end of his career,” Gardner said.

But Gardner is different from many of those profiled, because Gardner, like Beane, has also laid people off. He has hired employees as well, which is why I asked him to see Moneyball with me last week.

Like many Americans, Gardner is a ballplayer – Little League as a youngster, frat vs. frat in college, and summer softball as an adult.

“I love the game,” he said.

Baseball has never meant much to me. Because I’m a Philadelphian, I’m happy that our team is doing well, but I couldn’t name five players.

But, as a business writer who covers employment, I avidly read Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball, despite having had absolutely no interest in Beane and the Oakland A’s.

The story, and it’s true, goes like this: The Oakland A’s had a minuscule budget for signing players, so, in 2002, over his scouts’ objections, Beane adopted a new and controversial way of choosing players.

His scouts had made decisions based on talent, heart, looks, and even, “he has an ugly girlfriend,” as one scout said as he passed over a prospect. “It means he has no confidence.”

A couple of economics majors, boiled down in the movie to one Yale nerd played by Jonah Hill, persuade Beane to assess players with more obscure measures, using exotic statistical evidence called sabremetrics.

Those statistics led Beane and the A’s to sign undervalued players and stretch the club’s limited budget. The A’s also signed more high school players than college players, because their initial contracts were cheaper. In 2002, the A’s payroll totaled $41 million; the New York Yankees’ totaled $125 million.

Beane chose has-beens, injured players, wild cards, and oddities, “an island of misfit toys,” as described in the movie. For some, ending up with the A’s was not only their last chance, but their only chance.

After a rough start that nearly caused Beane to lose faith in his approach, the A’s started to win.

All of this is familiar to Gardner.

Does one hire by “heart” or by statistics? Both, says Gardner: “You can tell the ones who are energetic and want to become part of the process and the ones that won’t contribute anything.

By Associated Press


Published: Sep 28, 2011 at 1:55 PM PDT

The Oakland Athletics have recalled catcher Anthony Recker, a 2001 graduate of Catasauqua High School, from Triple-A Sacramento. Recker is scheduled to join the team in New York for the upcoming series against the Yankees.

Recker, a PCL All-Star, was hitting .287 with 16 home runs and 48 RBIs for the River Cats. He will take the place on the Athletics roster of Landon Powell who was optioned to Sacramento after struggling in 27 starts this season.

This will be the first time on a major league roster for Recker, who was selected in the 18th round of the amateur draft out of Alvernia College in 2005.