Kurt Suzuki, the heir apparent to Jason Kendall, is back in the big leagues in order to pick up as much as he can from Kendall.
"Jason's the best you can get,'' Suzuki said Sunday at AT&T Park. "I'm going to follow him and how he prepares himself, be around him a lot doing as much as I can.''
There has been some internal discussion of having DH Mike Piazza serve as the backup catcher at some point when he comes off the disabled list. It remains to be seen if he can handle the role physically after a severe right (throwing) shoulder injury.
Kendall, whom many A's pitchers credit with the staff's success in 2007, is in the final year of a $60 million contract he signed with the Pirates in November 2000. He has said several times that he would like to return to Oakland and expressed interest in reworking his deal last winter, but the A's have not held talks with Kendall or his agent, Arn Tellem.
We all know it's very unlikely that Jason's going to be part of the future. He would need to take a pay cut that he's most likely not willing to do for this to happen.
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