Jim Bowden has been eerily prescient with his free-agent predictions, and for some bizarre reason, that makes me trust his unconfirmed sources more than most. That logic doesn't make sense, but it's true. And now we have this:

Unconfirmed source...Coco Crisp close to returning to Oakland A's

What's the A's outfield situation look like? Well, they traded away Ryan Sweeney, who was the only player listed on their depth chart for a while, but they got Josh Reddick back in the deal. Their official depth chart has Reddick in center, with Colin Cowgill in left and Michael Taylor in right.

A Crisp signing would push Reddick out of center (probably a good thing), but it would probably be a spring training between 25-year-old outfielders Cowgill and Taylor for the last outfield spot. Taylor is the more highly ranked of the two, though his star has dimmed with two so-so seasons in AAA. Cowgill hit .354/.430/.554 in AAA last year (wow!) in Reno (oh).

So in a way, Crisp would make sense for the A's. He'd be a better defender in center than any of the internal options, and he's a pretty solid player. In another way, the A's might be better off playing their young guys to see who could be around for the next good A's team.