First, as is likely the foremost item in A's fans minds right now (unless you're worried about Yu Darvish being on the Rangers), Gio Gonzalez. Justin Bopp has a quote from Ken Rosenthal, but it doesn't really add much. The Nationals are supposedly making a hard charge to get Gonzalez. There's not much to say about this beyond the obvious fact that any time a team is pushing for a player, they're more likely to overpay.

For the sake of good form only, I'll link to this Andy Martino piece in the NY Daily News saying yet again that Jesus Montero + pitchers was the asking price for Gio Gonzalez. Every negotiation starts somewhere. Link via Marisa Ingemi at Daily Dish.

The Dish also links to some Ken Rosenthal tweets discussing the Royals' interest in Gio Gonzalez and their lack of willingness to trade Mike Montgomery or Wil Myers in a deal for the A's lefty. Their reasoning appears to be exactly that of Billy Beane in acquiring Jarrod Parker: the younger guys could very easily be just as good as the veteran in a fairly short amount of time.

Steve Slowinski looks at "overlooked" relievers, including Michael Wuertz -- he points out the slider specialist's injuries, declining velocity, and poor control, but argues that a minor-league contract flier could be worthwhile given the possibility of a return to form from the former ace short man. Then again, who's not worth a minor-league contract? AAA roster spots aren't free, but they're not the scarcest of commodities, either.

Former Sacramento RiverCat Danny Borell is now the Yankees' Low-A pitching coach.

Former Sacramento RiverCat Jeremy Hermida is now a Tucson Padre.

Rany Jazayerli gives us a sneak-peak at an upcoming Grantland column, where he's apparently going to write about the "shockingly low" price the Diamondbacks paid for Trevor Cahill. I'll be curious to see what Rany has to said that hasn't been hashed out and beaten to death already around the A's Twittersphere and the blogoworld in general. Link via Justin Bopp at Daily Dish.

Jon Morosi appears to be speculating that Oakland might want Seth Smith and could have the pitching to entice Colorado. The reasoning is that "Billy Beane must upgrade his subpar offense." This is silly. Oakland is not winning in 2012. It's not happening. The A's could go 0-162 in 2012 and the only effect would be a great draft pick and a place in the history books. Beane could go get Seth Smith and it's not going to matter. It won't move the needle. It really is time everybody get on board with the idea that some teams are not in a position to try to win their division each year. Link via Julian Levine at Daily Dish.