Jeff

Baisley

Baisley, whose older brother Brad was once a top prospect in the Phillies system, is batting .305/.382/.535 with 21 homers and 101 RBI in 417 at-bats. He’s 23, so he really should have been in high-A months ago. He’d have to move up to Double-A next year and put up quality numbers right away in order to truly establish himself as a prospect.

He’ll come to spring training as a non-roster invitee. Baisley, who turns 29 next week, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2008 as a member of the Athletics. He batted .303/.355/.483 with 20 homers, 100 RBI and an .838 OPS over 589 plate appearances this past season with Triple-A Salt Lake in the Angels’ organization. Look for him to serve as organizational depth.

Baisley was recently released by the Dodgers after hitting .284/.346/.476 with eight homers, 41 RBI and an .822 OPS over 62 games with Triple-A Albuquerque. The 29-year-old will function as organizational depth.

Baisley, 26, debuted for the A’s last September after hitting .298/.374/.478 in Triple-A. He’s probably not going to hit enough to make it as a starting third baseman, and since he’s limited defensively, it’s going to be tough for him to make it as a bench player. Still, since he can be optioned to Triple-A, it’s rather likely that someone will pick him up.

Sweeney drove in 100 RBI in low-A ball in 2006, causing the A’s to bump him up to Double-A the following year. He hit .257/.308/.408 for Midland then and .298/.374/.478 in 299 at-bats in Triple-A this year. A’s fans can think of him as a right-handed-hitting Jack Hannahan. He’ll probably get some starts versus lefties.

Baisley’s hits were just singles, but they each plated two runners. Rob Bowen, Carlos Gonzalez and Daric Barton also drove in runs. The RBI Baisley tallied were the first in his major league career. He’s 5-for-20 since being called up on September 9.

Brett Anderon, Trevor Cahill and Vin Mazzaro all get to stick around. Cameron looked like a legitimate candidate for the bullpen before the Russ Springer and Michael Wuertz additions. He allowed two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Williams, one of the long shots for the rotations, gave up four runs in nine innings.

Baisley is skipping high-A ball after hitting .298/.382/.519 for low Single-A Kane County last year. He turned 24 in December, so he needs to be successful in Double-A right away if he wants to be taken seriously as a prospect.