30 A's in 30 Days – Dana Eveland

Acquired: Traded from Arizona (along with the entire D'Backs' minor league system) for Dan Haren (December 14, 2007).
Contract: One year thru 2009. Eligible for arbitration after 2010.
Position: #1 or #2 starting pitcher

Projected ERA: 4.13

Over/Under: The 2009 edition of Baseball Prospectus says: "[Eveland's] an average, usable starter, which is all that the A's are expecting from him at the back end of their rotation this year". Ummm, yeah, except the A's have all but anointed him their "ace" with Justin Duchscherer likely to open the year on the DL. Eveland walks too damn many, doesn't strike out nearly enough and last year's 4.34 ERA is almost certainly his ceiling. OVER.

By the Numbers: 89.9 – It didn't get much play outside of Oakland (lousy east coast bias) but on May 16, 2008, Eveland established what's believed to be a new Major League record in getting thrown out at home plate by nearly 90 feet. Atlanta RF Jeff Francoeur threw a laser to nail our corpulent pitcher whose awkward "slide" into home was akin to cow tipping.

Surefire '09 Prediction: Dana Eveland will go down as the second-least memorable Opening Day starting pitcher in team history. Your gold medal remains safe 1996 Carlos Reyes!