Zack Adams's Oakland Athletics fan blog

This could be a short post.  No, no one will bite and claim Bobby Crosby and his $5.25 million contract.  For the sake of completeness, though, let's run through who might conceivably pick up Crosby. 

The Padres' current options at shortstop are Luis Rodriguez and Everth Cabrera.  Rodriguez will be 29 next season and in three seasons of part time play has a career line of .257/.316/.343.  That's bad, but he's also cheap and the Padres aren't going anywhere this year anyways.  There's no reason they'd pay over $5 million for a guy who will probably only be slightly better and has a very small chance of being somewhat decent (albeit a greater chance than Rodriguez who has almost no chance of being decent).  Cabrera, a Rule 5 pick, is most likely bench fodder, having not played above low-A ball.  But since he has to stay on the big league club if the Padres want him, they may as well see what he can do and play Rodriguez if Cabrera is overmatched.  Odds they claim Crosby - 1/100

Continue reading "Bobby Crosby on Outright Waivers...Will anyone bite? (Update: No)"

With Rafael Furcal turning down the A's and going to play for the Braves, the A's now have to look at other options of what to do with the money they had budgeted to signing Furcal.  Most of what I said last time it looked like the A's were out of the running still applies.  We still know the A's are willing to spend about $15 million extra in payroll for next season.  We know they are comfortable signing a player for up to 4 years.  We know, or at least I still believe, that the A's should try to compete in 2009, but do not yet have a roster that could make a serious run at the playoffs.  There are a few things that have changed, though, some good and some bad for the A's.

• The Yankees signed CC Sabatia and AJ Burnett.  Regardless of what you think of the signings' affect on the Yankees payroll in the future, there is little doubt that these pitchers will make the Yankees a much better team in 2009.  These moves basically ensures that the AL Wild Card winner will come from the East.  Two of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays will make the playoffs.  The A's shot at a playoff spot liss solely in their ability to win the AL West.

Continue reading "Dance Over - Furcal Goes Home with the Braves (Well, Dodgers I guess)"

It looks like the A's are once again in the hunt for Rafael Furcal.  It looks like the A's are willing to up their offer by one or two million a year up to a four year - $44 million deal, and that Furcal is considering it.  It's right in the range of figures I guessed he'd get. so if this turns out to be the final deal I'll be happy. 

A Furcal signing would alo likely be the last of the A's big free agent moves.  Maybe if the A's can find a taker for Bobby Crosby (doubtful) they'd have some money to make another signing.  However, with a wide open rotation (only Duchscherer and maybe Eveland are guaranteed spots) the A's are known to be looking for a veteran to help round out the staff.  The A's have plenty of OK options to fill out the rotation, but adding a few cheap alternatives in the mix couldn't hurt.  A couple of guys who were non-tendered last week would fit this description.

Continue reading "FA Bargain Bin, Also Furcal Dance Continues"

Nothing big happened for the A's at the Winter Meetings in Vegas, but they have made a few minor moves over the past few weeks.  Here are there moves in reverse chronological order:

It looks like the A's grabbed Copeland hoping he'll be able to compete with Rajai Davis for a 4th or 5th OF spot.  All it cost the A's was $50,000, so I guess it'll be worth seeing if his defense is as good as Davis' and if he can be a bit more useful with the bat.  His minor league numbers are fairly mediocre )(a career .281/.367/.422) but he does run well, having stolen 24 bases last year.  There's probably a 25% chance he sticks on the major league roster and it's unlikely he'll ever be a starter, but there wasn't much available in the Rule 5 draft this year and the A's don't really have room in the bullpen to stash a reliever with upside (Eduardo Morlan, part of the Delmon Young for Matt Garza trade, fits this description).

Continue reading "A's Minor (League) Transactions"

Continue reading "Giambi to the A's?"

A few days ago I outlined a plan for the A's to take this offseason now that they were no longer interested in Rafael Furcal.  In my analysis, though, I missed two options the A's have for turning their roster into a contending one for 2009.

I noted that the A's should consider acquiring Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, Jason Giambi, and Nick Johnson to play 1B in 2009 (and in the case of Dunn and Burrell for a few more years as well).  Each of these players have their warts, Dunn and Burrell would have to move to a new position and are unlikely to be positives on defense.  Additionally, both have played the last few seasons in favorable home ballparks, meaning their numbers may be a bit inflated.  Johnson and Giambi are big time injury risks and Giambi is not someone you really want playing the field very much.  Furthermore, Dunn, Johnson, and Giambi are all lefties, which is not ideal as the A's' best hitters (except for Holliday) are left handed.  That isn't to say that these guys have no place on the A's.  Each do have value to the A's and if the money is right, then the A's should pounce.  This list, however, leaves off (at least) one important name.

Continue reading "Two Options I Overlooked"

Apparently the A's offered 4-year $40 million take-it-or-leave-it deal to Rafael Furcal, which he turned down.  This means the A's are no longer pursing him as a replacement for Bobby Crosby.  I'm disappointed by this, but I can't say that this wasn't a smart move.  I may have left the deal on the table longer, but at the end of the day, if Furcal wasn't going to accept the A's top offer they weren't going to get him.  Should they have offered more?  Maybe a million or two per year, but guaranteeing the 4th year was the big deal and if that wasn't enough to satisfy him, who knows how much more it would take?  Now the A's can take their money and spend it on other upgrades, which they'll definitely need to make to compete in 2009 (which they should since that's how long they're likely to have Matt Holliday).

Continue reading "Report: A's out of Running for Furcal...What's Next?"

Shortstops are changing places left and right.  In the past two days the Giants signed Edgar Renteria, the Cardinals traded for Khalil Greene, the White Sox traded for Brent Lillibridge, and Jack Wilson looks to be on his way out of Pittsburgh.  That leaves the A's, Dodgers, Orioles, Padres, and Tigers as teams that may be looking to add a shortstop, though it looks like Wilson may be on his way to Detroit.  Assuming Wilson does go to the Tigers, that leaves four teams who have holes at shortstop and might be interested in signing Rafael Furcal.  The Braves, once thought to be in the running for Furcal, appear to be set, as a Furcal signing appeared to be contingent upon trading away Yunel Escobar for Jake Peavy.  Now that they've acquired Javier Vazquez, it is less likely they'll make that deal.

Continue reading "Where the A's Stand in Shortstop Roulette"

Being an A's fan and going to school in San Francisco in the late 90's made me a little defensive at times.  The Giants were either 1st or 2nd in the NL West every season but two from 1993-1998 while the A's were awful in that time span, never winming more than 78 games.  While the A's-Giants rivalry isn't a big deal to most, and not even that big of a deal to me most times, there are days when I am truly grateful to be an A's fan.

I don't know if I could have stayed a Giants fan given the teams' moves the last few seasons.  It's not just that they've been bad - I'll stick by a bad team, some of my favorite memories come from those mid 90s A's teams - but their transactions make it seem like they'll be bad forever.  Brian Sabean's obsession with veterans is killing the future of the Giants and he's built a franchise destined to the middle or bottom of the NL.  This despite the presence of two of the best young pitchers in baseball, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum.

Continue reading "Why I'm Glad I'm not a San Francisco Giants Fan"

I like to write longer, more thoughtful pieces, but I had a few thoughts in my head that don't really relate.  That means it's time for a Blogger Special (AKA bullet article).

•  I was right about The Big Hurt...still waiting on Alan Embree (according to the SF Chronicle).

• The Braves are rumored to be in on the Rafael Furcal sweepstakes because they might trade away Yunel Escobar. I don't want to make a habit of pulling out trade ideas from nowhere, but shouldn't the A's consider just trading for Escobar?  He's younger and cheaper and doesn't have the same health questions.  I'd guess it'd take giving up Justin Duchscherer, but it may be worth it (especially if the A's can re-sign Matt Holliday)

• Apparently, it's unlikely that anyone will sign Furcal until the winter meetings.  I doubt this is the reason, but I'd want to see a few big name free agents sign to see if current economic conditions have any effect at all on player salaries.  They most likely won't, but it doesn't appear that anyone is jumping to the front of the line to sign Furcal; the A's might as well wait.

Continue reading "A's Bullets"