The A’s have released 25-year old righty swinging catcher Petey Paramore. Paramore played in 8 games in A+AAA-ball last year and he was 7 for 30 (.233 avg, .670 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He played five seasons in the minors with the A’s, playing in 336 games in which he was 262 for 1,104 (.237 avg, .689 OPS) with 135 runs scored, 22 homers, 136 RBIs and 1 stolen base. This wasn’t much of a loss for the A’s as Paramore isn’t a legit prospect.

31-year old righty swinging DH/OF Jonny Gomes should start getting more P.T. for the A’s. He has played in 18 games for the A’s this year and he is 13 for 51 (.255 avg, .975 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 5 homers, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Gomes has walked 9 times while whiffing 23 times already this year, so it has been all or nothing so far this year. With the utter lack of hitting on the A’s, it just doesn’t make sense that Gomes is only playing part time right now. He is tied for the A’s lead in homers (5) with Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes, and he’s tied for #3 in both runs scored and RBIs with 10 apiece.

The A’s have placed switch-hitting starting LF Coco Crisp on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 3rd with an inner ear infection. Crisp played in 18 games for the A’s last year and he was 13 for 67 (.194 avg, .469 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers, 5 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The A’s have called up 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Michael Taylor to replace Crisp on the active roster. He came into this season as the A’s #6 prospect according to Baseball America. Taylor has played in 23 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 33 for 95 (.347 avg, .938 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers, 18 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He got his first taste of the majors last season with the A’s when he played in 11 games in which he was 6 for 30 (.200 avg, .614 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. The A’s hope that Taylor is better this time around for them.

24-year old righty swinging OF/SS Grant Green came into this season as the A’s #4 prospect according to Baseball America. Green has played in 23 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 25 for 94 (.266 avg, .698 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has played only in the outfield this year in the minors, but he can handle SS if he is needed in Oakland there. Green now played in 286 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 359 for 1,191 (.301 avg, .807 OPS) with 197 runs scored, 31 homers, 166 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. If Green starts to get hot at the plate in the near future, the A’s are going to have to consider calling him up for his first shot at the show in 2012.

24-year old righty reliever Ryan Cook struggled in his first taste of the majors in 2011 with the D-Backs. He pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs last year and he was 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA and a 2.48 WHIP. But, GM Billy Beane saw something he liked in Cook as he was part of the return in the big Trevor Cahill deal over the winter. Cook has been electric for the A’s so far this year. He has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the A’s so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. Cook has only given up 2 hits while whiffing 13 batters in his first 12 1/3 innings so far this year. The only negative has been his control as he has walked 7 batters so far this year, but that’s nitpicking considering the way he has pitched so far this year.