Here’s the good. Ryan Sweeney is getting healthy.

Here’s the bad. It doesn’t look like he’s an every day player.

“I have no clue,” Sweeney said last week when asked about his role is this season for the Oakland Athletics. “Obviously, you read things on the Internet that say I’m a fourth outfielder now. I’ve never been a part-time player, a fourth outfielder before.”

Sweeney was speaking via telephone from Phoenix, where he’s a very early arrival for A’s spring training. A lot of that has to do with testing out his surgically repaired right knee.

The 25-year-old Xavier High School graduate has suffered from chronic patellar tendinitis and opted to go under the knife last August, cutting his 2010 season to 81 games. Sweeney also has a balky left knee that has been treated with rest and rehab.

“I’d say I’m about 90 percent right now,” Sweeney said. “I’ll be ready for opening day.”

The question is what he’ll be doing on opening day. Sitting or playing?

The A’s had a busy off-season, acquiring outfielders David DeJesus and Josh Willingham, among others. With Coco Crisp back in center field, that would seem to leave Sweeney on the outside looking in for playing time.

“I’m not taking that (as a given),” Sweeney said. “It’s one of those situations that I’m using for motivation. I don’t want to be a fourth outfielder, I want to play every day.

“But if I have to be a utility player or something, I’ll deal with that as it comes. Anything to stay in the major leagues.”

Last year’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Sweeney, who became arbitration eligible for the first time this off-season. He signed a one-year, $1.4-million contract with Oakland in December.

A second-round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 2003, the knock on Sweeney throughout his career has been a lack of power. He always has hit for average, coming into this season a .286 major league hitter.

But his career high for home runs and RBIs is just six and 53, respectively, coming in 2009 when he played 132 games. He also had 31 doubles that season.

Is this is a defining season in his career?

“Every year is right now,” Sweeney said. “Just getting past the salary arbitration point last year, that was the biggest year of my career. Unfortunately, I got hurt.

“You just go year to year. When you sign a one-year deal, it’s tough. The ultimate goal for me, obviously, is to sign a multiyear contract somewhere.”

Whether that’s in Oakland or Toronto or Philadelphia or Chicago …

The biggest thing right now is being fully healthy. Sweeney feels he’s getting there.

“I’m just waiting for our strength and conditioning coach to get here to see what he wants me to do,” Sweeney said. “I don’t have that pain in my knee anymore. Don’t have that pinching feeling.

“I feel like 100-percent better, for sure.”

This is part of a 30-article series looking at each team’s depth chart headed into spring training.

Rotation
1. Dallas Braden
2. Trevor Cahill
3. Brett Anderson
4. Gio Gonzalez
5. Brandon McCarthy
6. Rich Harden
7. Josh Outman
8. Bobby Cramer
9. Tyson Ross
10. Guillermo Moscoso
11. Anthony Capra

The Brian Fuentes and Grant Balfour additions would seem to make it more likely that Harden will begin the year in the rotation, but I’m sticking with McCarthy in the fifth slot for now. He’s probably the better pitcher at this point. With the Coliseum aiding and an excellent outfield defense behind him, he could be very good while healthy.

Bullpen
1. Andrew Bailey
2. Brian Fuentes
3. Grant Balfour
4. Craig Breslow
5. Michael Wuertz
6. Brad Ziegler
7. Rich Harden
8. Jerry Blevins
9. Joey Devine
10. Tyson Ross
11. Bobby Cramer
12. Fernando Cabrera
13. Trystan Magnuson
14. Graham Godfrey
15. Vinnie Chulk
16. Mickey Storey
17. Travis Blackley
18. Willie Eyre

I don’t imagine that the A’s will keep all of these guys, but they have some crazy bullpen depth at the moment. Wuertz, Ziegler and Blevins are the best bets to go. The A’s certainly won’t need both Wuertz and Ziegler if Devine looks sharp this spring in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Catcher
1. Kurt Suzuki
2. Landon Powell
3. Josh Donaldson
4. Anthony Recker

First base
1. Daric Barton
2. Conor Jackson
3. Chris Carter
4. Adam Rosales

Second base
1. Mark Ellis
2. Adam Rosales
3. Eric Sogard
4. Andy LaRoche
5. Jemile Weeks

Third base
1. Kevin Kouzmanoff
2. Adam Rosales
3. Andy LaRoche
4. Steven Tolleson
5. Adrian Cardenas

Shortstop
1. Cliff Pennington
2. Adam Rosales
3. Steven Tolleson
4. Grant Green

Third base remains an area of concern after Kouzmanoff’s awful first year in Oakland. The A’s picked up Edwin Encarnacion, only to non-tender him three weeks later. Now they have LaRoche as a potential fallback plan, though he’ll almost certainly play regularly in Triple-A initially. Ideally, Cardenas would step up this year and challenge for the spot if Kouzmanoff falters again. … Tolleson was recently bumped from the 40-man roster, but since it looks like he cleared waivers, he’s an insurance policy on the left side of the infield.

Left field
1. Josh Willingham
2. Conor Jackson
3. Ryan Sweeney
4. Hideki Matsui
5. Chris Carter

Center field
1. Coco Crisp
2. Ryan Sweeney
3. David DeJesus
4. Jai Miller
5. Michael Taylor

Right field
1. David DeJesus
2. Ryan Sweeney
3. Michael Taylor
4. Chris Carter
5. Sean Doolittle

Designated hitter
1. Hideki Matsui
2. Josh Willingham
3. Conor Jackson
4. Chris Carter
5. Sean Doolittle

Hit hard by the injury bug so frequently in recent years, A’s GM Billy Beane has focused on building the deepest team he can, and it really shines through in the outfield and the bullpen. As a result of the Willingham and DeJesus additions, Jackson and Sweeney will be fighting for at-bats as reserves, while Carter and Taylor will both head back to Triple-A. Matsui probably won’t see any outfield time aside from interleague play.