Kottaras hopes to fit in with A's

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OAKLAND -- He may not have white cleats yet, but he's an Oakland Athletic. George Kottaras has arrived in Oakland after being acquired in a trade on Sunday from the Brewers. He joins an A's team that is unquestionably the hottest in baseball, and will be tasked with catching a pitching staff that is first in the American League with a 3.44 ERA. No pressure. Kottaras' main goal is simply to fit in. Don't move anything, don't alter anything, just go with the flow. "Everyone is pitching great, so I want to kind of roll on from where they are now," Kottaras said. "I'm not going to change a thing. I'm going to see what they are doing and go along with that." The A's new catcher arrived late last night. He got a chance to meet his teammates for the first time on Monday. He likes what he sees."Great attitude in here, I see guys having fun and also getting their work in," he said. "That's the way it should be."Kottaras, 29, is left-handed so he adds another dimension to the A's offense from the catcher position. Kurt Suzuki and Derek Norris both bat from the right side. A's manager Bob Melvin likes to platoon hitters. He believes that has been one of the main reasons the A's offense is performing so well. His plan is to use Kottaras and Suzuki in that fashion.The idea of a platoon has a lot to do with why rookie catcher Derek Norris -- who had been seeing roughly two starts to every one Suzuki was getting -- was sent down. "I don't think we wanted to get in a position with him where we were platooning," Melvin said. "He knows he can play here. For a young catcher he was very well received by the pitching staff. Sometimes that's difficult to do." Norris played in 21 games with the A's since being called up on June 21. He batted .195 with three homers, 11 RBIs and a surprising three stolen bases in his time with Oakland. He gained a lot of valuable information on the A's starting pitchers and learned how to carry himself at the big league level."Norris handled himself very well," Melvin said. "We won a lot of games with him in the lineup. It was valuable experience for him. He is going to be a heck of a player down the road." You can trust Melvin's opinion when it comes to catchers. He spent 10 years in the big leagues donning the tools of ignorance. So what did Melvin think of his new backstop? "He works the count, gets on base, he's got a little power in his bat, and they say he calls a good game," Melvin said. Sounds like Kottaras has everything he needs to succeed here -- except white cleats. He was wearing someone else's white kicks in the clubhouse to fit in."These were handed over for me," he said proudly while modeling them for us. "It's pretty cool walking around with white cleats." Notes:- Coco Crisp is still nursing a hamstring injury. He won't get in the field on Monday. They A's hope to run him around on Tuesday and re-evaluate him. - Cliff Pennington hit off the tee on Saturday. Monday he took some soft toss, hit off the tee and did some dry swings. Its the first day he feels pretty good and hasn't been sore while swinging. Melvin says that he'll have a better idea how soon they can get Pennington back when he starts taking batting practice. He noted that Pennington would have to go on a rehab assignment before returning. - Brandon McCarthy pitches for the Sacramento River Cats in Reno tonight. Brett Anderson goes Tuesday. Anderson will throw around 75 pitches.

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