OAKLAND A's outfielder Travis Buck can connect the dots.
He knows the team's signing of Jason Giambi could ultimately eat into his own playing time. When Daric Barton plays first base and Giambi is designated hitter, Jack Cust often will slide to right field, pushing Buck to the bench. But Buck says not only was he understanding of the A's adding Giambi, but he also was rooting for it.
"When you get guys that can interchange, it gives the offense a lot of different options," Buck said Thursday, during an A's media luncheon at the Oakland Coliseum. "I think it's going to be great.
"Obviously, the guys that are doing well are the ones that are going to be playing. I don't look at it as a bad thing for me. I've been telling everybody, I'm more excited this year than I have been in the past."
Buck, 25, exudes optimism heading into this season. Part of it is based on his strong finish last season he hit .367 with four homers and 12 RBI in 12 games after being recalled from the minors in mid-September.
Surely, his optimism also stems from a belief that this season can't possibly go worse than 2008. Buck got off to a miserable start offensively, was demoted to the minors twice and had some scary complications from a concussion he suffered while making a catch and slamming into an outfield wall for Triple-A Sacramento.
"To end the year on a good note, it really meant a lot," he said. "I showed myself, and I'm sure I showed the whole organization, what I could make of some unfortunate events."
A's manager Bob Geren was asked Thursday to list his probable starters by position. He made a point of mentioning both Buck and Cust as possibilities in right field (Barton and Giambi shared the billing at first).
The most surprising revelation from the luncheon: Geren mentioned left-hander Dallas Braden as one of four pitchers with the inside track to rotation spots entering the season. The others were Justin Duchscherer, Sean Gallagher and Dana Eveland.
It was quite the endorsement for Braden, who shuttled between Sacramento and Oakland for the past two seasons. He finished last season 5-4 with a 4.14 ERA. In his 10 starts, all in the second half, he allowed three earned runs or fewer seven times.
"I thought what he did toward the end of last year was indicative of what he could do," Geren said. "He proved he deserves a spot there."
Lefties Gio Gonzalez and Josh Outman are among the candidates fighting for the fifth spot.
With the A's unlikely to sign a free-agent starter, consider highly touted prospects Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill and Vin Mazzaro dark horses for the fifth spot. All three are nonroster invitees to spring training.
Among players coming off surgery, Geren said Duchscherer (right hip) and third baseman Eric Chavez (right shoulder) should be ready for the start of camp.
Barton (right hip) and second baseman Mark Ellis (right shoulder) probably will be brought along slowly but shouldn't be far behind.
Contact Joe Stiglich at jstiglic@bayareanewsgroup.com
