| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
A's activate Mecir, drop Piatt
Wednesday August 13, 2003By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) The Oakland Athletics activated right-hander Jim Mecir from the 15-day disabled list Wednesday and designated outfielder Adam Piatt for assignment.
To make room on the roster for one of their top setup relievers, the A's finally gave up on Piatt, who has never lived up to his potential as the 1999 minor league player of the year.
Mecir has been out since July 24 with inflammation in his right knee, and he also spent time on the DL earlier in the season with left knee problems. Mecir is 2-1 with a 5.13 ERA in 26 appearances this season.
Piatt hit .240 with four homers and 15 RBIs while appearing in just 47 games as one of Oakland's six outfielders. He also clashed with manager Ken Macha, who blasted Piatt's lack of production earlier in the season.
``There wasn't a lot of choices,'' Macha said of the move. ``I don't really feel there was any other option but that. Some people would view this as a bad break for Adam. This could be good news for Adam. He could get a chance to play every day someplace.''
Piatt had his best major league numbers in 2000, hitting .299 with five homers and 23 RBIs in his rookie season. He was the consensus minor league player of the year in 1999 after winning the triple crown in the Double-A Texas League.
The moves leave 12 pitchers on Oakland's roster. The A's kept relievers Mike Neu, who has pitched in just 24 games all season, and Chad Harville, who was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento two weeks ago.
``We've invested the whole year in Neu,'' Macha said. ``We want to keep our pitching. Harville can help this club. There was not a lot of choices.''
Last week, the A's lost outfielder David McCarty on waivers to the Boston Red Sox when Oakland acquired Jose Guillen in a trade with Cincinnati.
The A's have 10 days to trade Piatt, release him or outright him to the minors. Though Piatt will almost certainly be claimed by another team, Macha said the A's would recall Piatt to the big leagues when the rosters are expanded on Sept. 1 if he isn't claimed.
(