Danny Putnam got the start for the A's tonight in right field with lefty Erik Bedard on the mound, which means (a) that Milton Bradley went on the DL and (b) that the A's didn't use the roster spot to bring up Dallas Braden. I'm very unclear on what the roster is going to look like over the next few days, but leave it to SuSlu (Susan Slusser) to clear things up for us:

Rich Harden has gone to the DL, since with retroactivity, he'll be back before too long anyway. With Bradley also going to the DL, that creates the two spots filled by Dallas Braden and Danny Putnam (up from AA, actually). Putnam was also not on the forty-man roster, so my earlier question of who was going to be removed in order to get Braden up got doubled. The answer turned out to be Scott Dunn, who was released. That was kind of predictable, I guess. As for the other roster spot, Mark Kotsay was pushed to the sixty-day DL to create room.

Apparently Travis Buck didn't only sit because Erik Bedard's a relatively tough lefty, but also because he has two sore wrists. For a guy whose major worry as a hitter is whether he'll have power, wrist injuries aren't the way to go. See also Eric Chavez's forearms.

Of course, the other news is Brad Halsey ripping the A's a new one for ticky-tack behavior with regard to his injured arm. He's having an MRI, and he says that the A's chose not to start him on Tuesday (going with Braden instead) because if he came to the majors and then was hurt, they'd have to pay him major-league money while he was on the DL. Billy Beane denies this on all counts: not only was Halsey never scheduled to be the Tuesday starter, but Beane was unaware, he says, that Halsey was having an MRI done.

Who knows who's right. It would hardly be unexpected for a team like the A's, not knowing for throwing cash around lavishly, to save a few pennies here and there on a guy like Brad Halsey.

One interesting thing is that, while Halsey specifically mentioned throwing the ball for some other team in the near future, the A's say that he hasn't been eliminated from consideration for making a start if the A's need it, whether due to Braden being ineffective or someone else getting hurt.

But hey, at least the A's won tonight, powered by a couple of Nick Swisher homers. The bullpen was mediocre, but since the win is all that matters in real life, I'll take it: Alan Embree gave up a three-run bomb to Aubrey Huff, who I'm carrying on my fantasy team. Danny Haren's only run allowed was a solo homer by Brian Roberts, also on my squad. And Haren himself is on the team as well, so I'm really happy with seven innings, five strikeouts, and the victory.

Haren's now 2-2 - you don't see too many pitchers getting decisions every time out in these days of lots o' relievers and rough-and-tumble offenses.