[Pelican]

The Athletics were active in the run-up to Spring Training.

Traded OF Bill Renna to Cleveland for OF Dave Philly. Philly hit .303/.355/.424 for the A's in 1953.

Traded 1B Don Bollweg to the Senators for OF Jim Lemon. Lemon played 16 games for Cleveland in 1953. Ratings are 38/63/54 and he is a great defensive player.

Signed free agent SP Vinegar Bend Mizell (formerly of The Cardinals) to a four-year, $300,000 contract. Mizell, 23, went 13-11 and 3.49 for St. Louis in 1953. 83/70/38 ratings.

Signed free agent SP Bud Black to a one-year contract. Black, 21, had been in the Detroit Tigers minor league system.

Signed free agent RP Carlson Maloney to a one-year contract for $25,000. Maloney, 24, went 6-1 and 3.88 with five saves for Jacksonville in the Braves organization. Decent 49/64/51 ratings with higher potential.

Signed free agent 2B Billy Martin to a one-year, $25,000 contract. Not sure why the Yankees let Martin, age 25, go after a solid .257 season with 15 HR and 75 RBI. Probably a blow-up with Casey Stengel.

Purchased the contract of RP Bill Wight from the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. Wight, a lefty, was 2-1 for Cleveland with an ERA of 3.71, after starting the 1953 season with Detroit (0-3, 8.88). Has good 46/73/43 ratings.

Traded veteran OF Gus Zernial (.284 with 42 HR and 108 RBI in 1953) to the Phillies for C Smoky Burgess (.292/.367/.417). Gus is 30 with 52/84/56 ratings; Smoky is only 27 and 79/48/61. Losing a lot of power; but I have Lemon and Joe Taylor (47/66/42 and good defense) and Al Pinkston (.296/.340/.460 in the minors) to play LF. Catcher was a black hole for the A's.

And, traded 33 year-old OF Elmer Valo to the Braves for 28-year-old OF Bill Bruton. Valo hit only .224 in 50 games last year, after a string of solid seasons and high OBA. He did not hit in Spring Training. Bruton hit .250 and led the NL in SB in 1953. Excellent defense.

The A's have rookies Jim Finigan (65/41/52 and 71 defense)at 3B, Hector Lopez (47/46/39 and 75 defense) at SS, and Lou Limmer (32/61/52) to share 1B with Vic Power (63/45/18).

Bruton and Philley will play CF, Philley (a switch-hitter) and Taylor platooning in RF, Lemon and Pinkston in LF. Limmer and Power platoon at 1B. Burgess does most of the catching duty. Billy Martin at 2B backed up by Delaware's Spook Jacobs. Eddie Joost and Lopez will share SS.

The rotation will include Mizell with Bobby Shantz (MVP in 1952 but 5-9 in 1953; still sporting 77/48/62 ratings), Alex Kellner (11-12 and 3.93 in '53), and rookies Bob Trice (21-10 and 3.10 in AAA) and Arnie Portocarrero. Knuckleballer Marion Fricano (9-12 and 3.88) and lefty Morrie Martin (10-12, 4.43) can also start if needed.

So that's two rookies in the rotation, and four in the starting lineup, a couple key guys in the bullpen. With more help on the way. This is not a team that will lose 100 games. The preseason prediction was 77-77, which made me feel pretty good about all of the wheeling and dealing.

In a moment, a brief look at the Orioles.