Suddenly Baseball America’s Executive Editor Jim Callis seems to be everywhere at once, which is a good thing, as he’s one of the more knowledgeable baseball writers out there. He never writes over his head and his insight is usually original and well-thought out.

What I didn’t realize until recently is that he also comes across very well via audio, and can be heard here doing a recent podcast with Baseball Digest Daily. One topic, which he covers on the show and also in his recent column  (ostensibly, a mailbag) is Billy Beane and the A’s.

Both Haren and Swisher are young and productive, and they’re signed to easily affordable long-term contracts that lock them up for at least the next three seasons. In short, they’re exactly the type of cornerstones a rebuilding club would want to rebuild around. But Oakland’s farm system had fallen into such a state of disrepair that the A’s decided they had to shed Haren and Swisher to bring in some minor league talent for the future.

Billy Beane has proven himself to be one of the game’s best general managers, but how he escapes blame for the collapse of his farm system is beyond me. Yes, big league promotions have thinned out Oakland’s store of minor league talent, but with 19 first-round or supplemental first-round picks in the last six drafts, there’s no excuse. Funny, I seem to remember reading a book a few years ago about how the A’s were revolutionizing the draft.

I don’ t want to jump on an anti-Beane bandwagon, but Callis makes a great point, arguing that the A’s traded a sure-fire  prospect (Swisher, who’s 27) for a couple of high  end prospects. Ditto with Dan Haren who had such a breakout year in 2007.    

Callis also checked in with a Q&A on The Stat Pack, which amongst several Rays questions asked Callis his thoughts on the prospect of having international players be made available for the amateur player draft. Callis told TSP:

I don’t think so. For one, it would be a logistical nightmare. And two, while it might save some money on the handful of elite international players because they wouldn’t be free agents, it also might drive the cost up on the next tier of players. I would just leave it like it is. Teams that work hard and make the investment can find quality talent at a relatively reasonable price. No need to change that. Putting them in the draft would just gum up the works even further.

Agreed, although we’re starting to see more and more players from Asia signed right out of high school. I’m guessing someone will have a problem with that somewhere along the line.  

Back to his Baseball America piece Callis gave his opinion on the prospects of Kosuke Fukudome for the 2008 season. He’s bullish.

Had Fukudome signed in time to make our Cubs list, I would have ranked him No. 1 ahead of Josh Vitters. I think Vitters, the third overall pick in the 2007 draft, has a higher ceiling but Fukudome has starred at the highest level of baseball outside of Major League Baseball. I think he’s a near lock to be a solid regular for the Cubs, though I don’t see him becoming a star, reiterating the Hideki Matsui comp from our scouting report. Combining his ceiling and his likelihood of reaching it, I’ll probably put Fukudome in the 21-30 range on my personal Top 100 list.