This is a must for the long haul..

If fatso Panda in SF and the cupcake monster Cabrera in tiggerland can play 3rd, why not give the Cespedes a shot at 3rd... If it worked, the possibilities opened up for the A's lineup are mind boggling... It's not like we have anything approaching quality defence over there now in Donaldson... Could it be any worse???...

Again, he was a Short in his early days in Cuban baseball... Heard some positive stuff about how good he looked taking grounders in pre game warm ups too last season.. The lad has a rocket launcher for an arm...

Hate to use him at first fulltime as long a Moss is hitting well..

I hate leaving 2 of our better hitters on the bench all the time because of a logjam of talent out there... A solid hitting Carter at DH is another wrench in the gears for getting more at bats for our 5 good OFers

Cespedes at 3rd would go miles in improving our options for using the whole team... It wouldn't have to be everyday... It would be fun too..

I think, it is worth a look in ST... Yeah, it might not work out.... BUT WHAT IF IT DID!?!?!?

You'll come up with any scheme to get Donaldson off third base :-) Not sure I can recall any poster with such an unrelenting campaign for any purpose.

I have a feeling there is no inclination whatsoever in the F.O. or on the coaching staff to convert Cespedes to any sort of infield position. For openers, you would be wasting all that speed and the highly accurate deep throws.

Maybe Beane is shopping Smith for a third baseman. That would break up the outfield logjam and put Donaldson on the bench where you want him.

Beane: For all the negative I have had to say about Donaldson... I have always pencil him onto any roster I can dream up... He has proven he belongs on the team - without any other names being added to the mix...

Plus, he really is a decent backup catcher option...

Beane: Young, Reddick and Crisp... even Smith are not chopped liver in the OF...

2 of these guys will sit with Cespedes out there...

I don't think "not using the whole team" is a problem. I don't recall anyone on the team last year complaining about playing time. Seems like it was made pretty clear to all 5 OF's as well as our two 1B-men that platoons and rotations would be the law of the land in Oakland, and it resulted in fewer injuries and many victories.

Anyway, moving Cespedes to the infield would dramatically increase his risk of injury. He's a power hitter, and he plays a power position. The reason Panda and Miggy play 3B is they don't have the running speed Cespedes obviously possesses. Donaldson will improve his D on a more consistent basis because they actually do have some guys who could send him to the bench if he doesn't (Sizemore, Green, Parrino, Rosales, Moore plus this Double-A kid they just got from the Mets). Besides he made some SPECTACULAR plays last year that nearly put Chavez in his prime to shame.

"Not sure I can recall any poster with such an unrelenting campaign for any purpose."

Remember curtner? That guy hated Suzuki. Didn't think he should be catching in Little League. Even when Kurt was clearly the A's MVP in '08 and '09.

Why is it everyone is down on Donaldson? Don't you guys feel that he has earned his way to playing 3rd? I have NOT heard a thing about Inge, is he still with us? If he is platoon the two of them at 3rd. If Barton could find his stroke, he WOULD become the BEST 1st baseman, or one of the top 5 best 1st basemen out there. I heard he has spends his time well, trying to find his stroke in winter ball.
Does anyone know what happened to Gomes? The Smith and Gomes change -up worked quite well last year.
Now that we have a shortstop we should just work on the timing and solidifying of our infield; the rest ain't broke so we shouldn't try to fix it. I think Norris will improve quicker, and sooner than later. If not, than we have a problem at that position. Barton won't play there or at 3rd, neither will Cespedes. He wants to inherit Coco's job. By the way Chris Young is an exciting player, good defense but not the arm of either Reddeck or Cespedes. But he climbs walls and hauls them back.

" If Barton could find his stroke, he WOULD become the BEST 1st baseman, or one of the top 5 best 1st basemen out there."

Seriously....did I miss an A's season? Was I in a car accident or something? Did Barton have a great year that I missed? Barton had one decent year out of 6. He has been atrocious.....

And Gomes is on the Red Sox.

And I totally agree with you on Donaldson.

Poo: If we get stuck with Donaldson at 3rd all year... And he does a good job.... I will be the first to say, I was wrong... I will root for him to do good too... When all is said and done I bleed Green and Gold... ((Oakland raised!!! I could hear Charlie O's fireworks from my house in the old days when I wasn't at the games... Use to hit about 3 dozen a year minimum until I left the area for the 73 season... That's when there was no one there... A couple of thousand some nights))

Sorry, I just did not like what I saw after he came up..

I been thinking, if the reason he got moved from behind the plate, was his throwing accuracy... Some guys just can't hit the broad side of a barn... Always thought it was Suzuki blocking him... Now that I have seen him throw, I've rethought that..

it won't hurt to try but i think it is unnecessary. remember that Coco will be free to go to any team he wants after this season so the outfield will perhaps again become a hot topic for us to talk to in 2014. the A's however do have their #1 top prospect as an outfielder in AAA next year and if he gets hot and the A's falls out of contention during the 2013 season, they just might bring him up as well and trade Coco and Smith in July 2013.

Ang: So why not play around with Cespedes now while we can???... I want the best lineup this year we can put out there... This year is our window IMO

You are right about anyone who plays well and his contract is up is gone ...

Donaldson has an extreme pre/post all star split.

.153 before and .290 afterwards. Lets all hope post All-Star Donaldson shows up. That being the most recent version of him, I'm hopefull. Maybe he figured something out.

BH: Donaldson fielding was not All Star... It was an embarrassment... And if not substantially improved, it is bad enough to lose a bunch of games all on its own...

You'll come up with any scheme to get Donaldson off third base :-) Not sure I can recall any poster with such an unrelenting campaign for any purpose."

You're forgetting Curtner and his unrelenting campaign against Suzuki. :-)

Don't forget about 90% of the posters on this board (myself definitely included) who have been vigorously campaigning to have Barton dumped for the past 2+ years!

And then there was the anti-Geren crowd!

"You're forgetting Curtner and his unrelenting campaign against Suzuki. :-)"

LOL! So true. It's yet to be determined if Donaldson suffers the same fate.

His fielding was sub-par .945, and I hope it gets better. At least a league average .952?

I like Donaldson of the second half of the season. I'd love to see a full season of the Donaldson we saw from July on. That said, Cespedes to third is an intriguing idea. My first reaction to the post was in line with most of the posters, but the more I thought of it, the more I it might have some merit ... at least as a ST experiment. Hey, for all the good things Yoenis did last year, every time a ball was hit right at him or directly over his head (but in range of his glove) you'd have to hold your breath. Now, I realize he will learn how to handle that play, so I wouldn't write the change down in ink, but it might give BoMel some options if he needs to play one. The great Mickey Mantle played seven MLB games at short, one at third and one at second. Maintain the status quo, look for an upgrade possibility at third, and give Cespedes some reps there in ST.

anti-Geren crowd? i don't think it was a crowd, more than it was an absolute, 100% anti-Geren movement!

the only people that wanted to see Geren stay were non-A's fans.