I get your point about Barton but my thinking is that Barton shouldn't have been given 6 weeks. The amount of leeway the A's gave Barton is part of the reason I'm slightly concerned about the Manny situation. Both guys are pretty far away from when they were actually productive major leaguers, I don't think you have to let them work through things in the majors early on out of respect.

I felt at the beginning of the season that Barton should've started the year in AAA and proved in Sacramento that he was over his injuries/struggles from last year. Then, if he was looking like the player he was in '10, you promote him back to the majors when he's earned it.

This is all hypothetical right now, because for all I know Manny could show up in Sacramento and hit the ground running, making it obvious that he belongs in the majors. I agree that Manny deserves an extended chance to show what he can do but I don't necessarily agree that his chance should needs to be in Oakland right away.