1.  I think it was good to see that even when Rich is not on his game, he can still pitch effectively. Strikeouts are sexy but they can raise the pitch count. I think Rich was trying to pitch for contact today but he was missing his spots on occasion, especially out of the stretch.

Halsey on the other hand still disappoints. Why aren't the A's giving Gaudin a shot? That scenario could give Jay Marshall a place in the bullpen which would be cool.

2.  I think they've pegged Gaudin as a reliever, for some reason. They did the same thing to Duchscherer back when--I've thought that both could be pretty good starters.

In any case, even if they changed their minds and wanted Gaudin to start, it might be too late in spring training to get him stretched out to pitch five innings by the fifth game.

There are rumors the A's are interested in Byung-Hyun Kim if Kennedy continues to flail. I don't understand that, really...is Kim any better that Jason Windsor at this stage?

3.  #1-When you can strike out so many batters, why take the chance that your fielders will make an error? (unless Piazza is behind the plate, maybe)

2-Maybe Gaudin has the same mental block that Kennedy seems to have, only the A's recognize it?

Let's hope Harden didn't read the Blanton article, and is deciding to become a 'mlb sanctioned gutsy winner'.

4.  Strikeouts are boring, and besides that they're fascist. Ground balls are more democratic.

I know we all love Gaudin, but since we brought up DIPS, his xFIP was 6.16 last year, good for 3rd worst on the A's. I'm not sure that placing him in a position where he has to back off a bit is such a great idea.

5.  take heart; it's a small sample size.