ESPN: Neyer: We’ll miss you, Dallas McPherson

Who shot R.N….out of a cannon?

McPherson’s 29 and he spent 2009 playing in Japan. He’s also got a .280/.360/.635 line in Triple-A. Oh, one more thing: McPherson missed all of 2007 and 2009 with back injuries. So you can understand why the A’s weren’t exactly counting on him to play 150 games at third base in 2010.

Still, let’s assume he can actually play, and that he can still hit ... You know what might be close to awesome? A McPherson/Kouzmanoff platoon (with Kouzmanoff coming in for defense when the A’s are ahead after six or seven innings). For that matter, a McPherson/Jake Fox platoon might have been interesting, too (except neither of them would have been suitable for late-innings defense).

That’s all gone now. Thanks to the dozen-man pitching staffs that we all love so much, teams resort to platoons only as a last resort. You’ve got your 12 pitchers, your nine guys in the lineup, and your extra catcher, and now you’ve got room for only three more players. You also need a utility infielder and a fourth outfielder ... and now you’re down to one roster spot.

Which is why you don’t see many platoons at all anymore. I continue to believe that 12-man pitching staffs are foolish, because the manager has to sacrifice offense at one position (at least) while benefiting very little from that last man in the bullpen.

But nobody listens to me. And I doubt if I’ll see much of Dallas McPherson (or Jake Fox) in 2010.