Time to shine for Barton

PHOENIX -- More than two years have passed since a fresh faced 22-year-old kid jolted the A's community as a late-September callup.

With a bat that produced a .347 average and 1.067 OPS in 18 games, the rookie presented a struggling Oakland team with an offering of hope in the form of a power-hitting first baseman.

That hope has since begun to fade. And those numbers have diminished greatly.

But the kid is still a kid -- in baseball years at least.

And Daric Barton, now 24, is out to prove he's done some major growing up.

He doesn't care that the jury is still out on whether he can produce consistent numbers. He wants to be his own judge.

"I have nothing to tell anyone who doubts me," Barton says. "Really, it's about me and what I can do, but I don't care what other people think. Some people are going to think negative, and some are going to think positive."

The doubters are likely to look to 2008 and point fingers at the .226 average he posted during 140 games in his first full big league season. They'll then recall the time the A's pushed Barton aside and brought back Jason Giambi to fulfill first-base duties in 2009. Surely the organization has lost all faith in him, they would conclude.

Not at all, insists Barton. In fact, "they have never done anything to make me feel like they don't want me here."

"They've given me every opportunity in the world," he says. "I think I took advantage of that opportunity in '07. In '08, I don't think I did. I might have taken it for granted a little bit, and that's something that's behind me. This game isn't easy, and I know that once you get here it's harder to stay here than you think."

Barton realizes he had to learn that the hard way. After a disappointing 2008 season, he was shipped to Triple-A Sacramento at the beginning of the year and didn't make his 2009 debut until June. Again, he struggled. Barton hit .118 in 17 games for the month before batting .188 in another 17 games in July.

Things got worse before they got better, as Barton battled a hamstring injury. But in September, he created flashbacks of that strong 2007 finish and went out batting .310 with 16 RBIs for the month to end the year with a respectable .269 average.

"I think starting off last year at Triple-A was the best thing that ever happened to me," he says. "I learned to be myself again and realized what it took to get to the big leagues in the first place. That was big for me last year. When I came up and got the time in at the end of the season, I think it showed that I was back to my normal self."

Whether he has maintained such presence has yet to be seen in a game situation, and Barton understands the A's won't wait forever for him to develop. After all, they have the power-heavy prospect Chris Carter right behind him in queue.

Barton won't let any of that shake him, though. A year ago it may have, but a mental makeover has done wonders for this Southern California kid.

"This year I'm going out there like I'm trying to make the team," he says. "It's different than before because I kind of took things as they were and saw things as whatever happens, happens. This year I'm trying to make it hard for them to make a decision.

"I don't feel any pressure at all. I'm not worried about anybody else but myself. I never thought making the team was going to be easy, but I just don't think I took it as serious as I should have, and it showed."

The only thing Barton wants to show off now are the extensive efforts he's made to become a constant in Oakland's lineup for years to come. That process began when he cut his offseason short -- not before a five-day trip to Costa Rica -- and made the move to Arizona in the second week of January "to get ready and get in baseball shape."

He says his central focus this spring is offense. After all, it's what the A's liked most about him when he arrived in 2004 as part of the Mark Mulder deal with St. Louis.

"I'm absolutely working harder on offense than defense this spring," he says. "I'm not trying to dissect it too much. I'm just trying to go back to the simplest form of hitting that I used to do. That means not thinking and looking for a pitch up in the zone to attack right away, and hopefully the results will come."

Barton firmly believes he can bring to the plate what he displayed in those three short weeks as a rookie. He's also acutely aware of his defensive abilities, which have transformed from what he deems "terrible" to "tremendously better" over the last couple years.

"When I first came over here, it was pretty bad," Barton admits. "I think it affected my offense. That's another thing I've had to learn -- balancing out what you're working on and honing all your skills. Now I've learned to work on both the same amount."

Through it all, the A's organization has kept his youth and track record -- including a .293 career Minor League batting average -- in mind. They've been patient and forgiving, along with trusting of Barton's ability.

He'll be the youngest of Oakland's expected starting position players on the field come Opening Day, but he could arguably be the most experienced in growing pains and lessons learned.

"I think my mind's going to be a lot more clear," he says. "I'm not worried about what anyone else thinks. I'm just focusing on what I can do, and I know I can do it well."