2:04pm: Tejada told a Spanish-speaking AP reporter that he's willing to play any infield position, according to Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN.com. Arangure Jr. cites Tejada's road numbers (.283/.313/.395) and fading defense and suggests that the infielder will have to accept a one-year deal with a low annual salary.
12:50pm: Slusser now says Tejada's representatives contacted the A's, not the other way around. The chances of a reunion don't sound great.
She says the A's inquired on Andy LaRoche a while ago, only to hear that the Pirates wanted Ryan Sweeney and Gio Gonzalez in return. Slusser suggests the A's would like to acquire a high-quality young infielder to play third or short. Failing that, the team could turn to a bargain free agent.
11:42am: The A's would consider adding an infielder who can play third base, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Two of the options they're considering are former A's Miguel Tejada and Adam Kennedy. The A's have contacted Tejada's agent and the sides could work a deal out if Tejada lowers his asking price.
After hitting .315/.340/.455, Tejada may be reluctant to sign at a discount and is apparently looking for a two-year $16MM offer. The Twins and Orioles are possible fits for the former AL MVP.
The A's also like Kennedy, but would prefer to add a player with experience at short. The infielder, who turns 34 this weekend, hit .289/.348/.410 in nearly 600 plate appearances last year. His defense was below average at second and third, according to UZR/150. We heard earlier in the week that Kennedy was Plan D or E for the A's.
i heard a rumor linking khalil greene to the a’s somewhere, prolly on MLBTR. that seems like a good fit as he could play short or third. pennington will eventually take over at short.
Those are 2 players I’d like the A’s to acquire the LEAST. Adding Khalil Greene to the list makes 3.
Come Beane get Lowrie, Kouzmanoff or Andy LaRoche! We need younger options at 3B and SS. Stay young, after last years veteran fail you would think he would learn to stay far away….
Khalil Greene at a close to league minimum base wouldn’t be bad, but if he sucked, Geren would still play him every day. That’s the problem. He shouldn’t be guaranteed a starting job, period. Unless Pennington is awful, he should be the starter.
the only position players who should be guaranteed starting jobs right now are Suzuki, Ellis and probably Sweeney.
Barton, Davis (if he is not traded), and Cust should probably be guaranteed their starting jobs as well.
I failed to mention Cust, and you’re probably right about Rajai. He’s earned the chance to prove whether or not his second half was a fluke. And like it or not, Crisp’s salary alone probably guarantees him a job. Barton, however, I still can’t endorse. Fair or not, I’m too hung up on his September/non-September splits to just hand him a job. Not that it really matters though, 2010 is a year for filler and stop-gaps anyway.
Being a plan D, E, F, G, it makes no difference except that it means the A’s don’t want Kennedy.
I’d love to what would happen if Pennington was allowed to be the everyday SS until June 1. After that, then start looking around. He’s already a plus defender and if he OPS’s 725+ then there’s no reason to upgrade.
Seeing Tejada return to the As would be kind of nice. For the As it would have been a 6 yr break; for Tejada it was 8 years being apart. š
It would be nice to see the Twins front office grow a pair and sign Tejada to a 2/14 with incentives to reach his 2/16. Tejada would be a monster in that lineup, imagine the types of pitches he would get to see!
I agree, Brian. He would get to see some nice pitches in the 2 hole batting in front of Mauer.
Tejada is good but the 2 hole is not for him he lead the world in double plays the last two years.
Even is he was moved down in the order, the Twins have so much thunder (mauer morneau kubel cuddeyer) that he will inevitably see some great pitches to hit.
I’m an Astro fan and regardless of what people said i enjoyed watching Miggy play everyday good club house guy and a good hitter always worked hard and gave 100% who ever gets him will not regret it. He would fit anywhere in the lineup except lead off or second in the line up.
Hey ADJPB – I suspected you were being sarcastic.
I looked up all MLB player stats for 2009.
Um, Tejada DID lead the world in grounding into double plays.
Good to know. That does indeed make for a poor #2 hitter.
“She says the A’s inquired on Andy LaRoche a while ago, only to hear that the Pirates wanted Ryan Sweeney and Gio Gonzalez in return.”
Sorry, but…
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!!
Whew… What a laugh. Thanks, Pirates!
Gio and Sweeney is a lot to ask for LaRoche. Maybe one or the other would be fair. This may seem out there, but why not give Patterson a shot. The guy can clearly hit and with the outfield being this full, he needs to find a full time position. He also has experience in the infield. There is no way he could be as bad as Fox. At worst he plays as well as Kennedy last year.
With you on Patterson. I’d rather give him a shot that give up anything for LaRoche or Kevin Kouzmanoff.
Wow, the Pirates front office needs to chill. No way are they getting Sweeney & Gio for a guy like LaRoche. League average 3Bmen dont net you 4+ WAR outfielders and high ceiling SPs.
LaRoche for Mazzaro and Buck is fair.
I think that’s the Pirates FO’s way of saying “If you want laRoche, you’ll have to overpay, because we don’t need to/want to give him up.”
LaRoche was a 2.5 WAR player last year, and ended the season with a power surge at the plate. So, he has good upside offensively, and plays great defense. I think sweeney for LaRoche might be a fair deal, but I dont know if Sweeney’s a particularly good fit either for the Bucs.
Patterson cant play 3B dudes. He can barely play 2B. He and Miles are in line to be released in spring training.
This.
100% chance that one of Patterson or Miles is not on the Opening Day roster, most likely released.
I’d say 50% chance both are off.
Only reason A’s took on that salary was to get Fox, although that move was confusing as hell (but then, Ross Gload got more money, and Fox is a better bench bat than Gload).
I’ll say there is a near 0% chance that Patterson will not be with Oakland. Miles is very possible, but Petit will be gone long before Patterson.
3b is a fast reaction position and in my opinion is less taxing than 2b. Patterson has never played there, but neither had Kennedy. The point is not that he would be great there, but how much better he would be than Fox! No harm in giving it a chance.
The reason the Pirates asked for that is because they don’t want to give up LaRoche. It’s smart if they try to fleece another team for LaRoche.
Except Barton, Pennington, Davis and Crisp have already been told they are starting.
1B – Barton
2B – Ellis
SS – Pennington
3B – Chavez
UI ā Miles (I guess people say he can play 2nd and Short – but I sure didnt see it last season)
CI ā Fox (defensive liability at Third, cant play Second or Short)
Do they even have a roster spot to add another fielder to this infield? Is Fox (who is out of options) on his way out of town already?
The Pirates asked for that because in trade negotiations you always ask for more than you want to start then they try to lowball you and eventually you meet in the middle. All trades start with overzealous offers from both sides so I don’t know why everyone thinks the Pirates are stupid here. I think LaRoche wouldn’t be bad at all, he greatly improved last year and could still very easily be an above average MLB 3rd baseman. So I think they could work something out here especially since the Pirates have Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez coming up this year (at least that is my guess). I agree with the comment someone made that one of those guys for LaRoche would be a fair swap. I’d rather have Gonzalez because of his relatively high ceiling. I think Sweeney is very good too but the Pirates have too many outfielders as is.
Boston has Jed Lowrie, but I really hope they hang onto him. Recently acquired Billy Hall may find himself released since Seattle/Brewers are paying 7 of the 8M of his salary and Boston let him play 3B/SS/2B reserve utility role instead. He’s still young enough to be an everyday SS, once he shows himself fully over the wrist problems/surgeries that hampered him the last 1+ season.
He’s got the glove and arm to play a very respectable SS and 3B, but lacks the power you would want to see from a 3B.
Never mind.
I wouldn’t want that package for the Pirates. That’s like getting Nyjer Morgan and Oliver Perez. I don’t buy the gaudy defensive statistics of Sweeney unless there is more than one or two years track record.
Gio and Sweeney for a light hitting 3B? If the reports are indeed true, this makes the Pirates GM look like an idiot. That is like being on a first date, and saying, “let’s skip dinner and the movie, and jump straight to the sex.” Good luck getting that to work.And no, you don’t ask for as much as you can leading off trade negotiations, then you come of as an irrational a-hole, and will lessen your chances of maintaining a professional image with a fellow GM you might want to trade with in the future. You come in with an open mind, discuss a few players you like, and try to fleece the other GM at the end with throw-ins you highly value.
It’s not like we’re talking about Nick Swisher here, then throw in another pitching prospect, and the deal might work.
Sweeney may have been a 4 WAR player last year, but that’s based largely on a defensive performance that seems way out of line with the rest of his career. He had very little offensive value. CHONE projects him as a 1.8 WAR player next year. Gonzalez is a very talented young arm, but he’s always struggled with his command and hasn’t really put up dominant numbers anywhere. He’s gotten rocked in his brief major league stints.
I wouldn’t give up both players for Andy LaRoche, but it doesn’t seem like an extremely ridiculous place to start talks. One or the other plus a lower level player at the other position doesn’t seem too bad to me.
Doesn’t this make the Brett Wallace for Michael Taylor flip look a little silly? The A’s infield needs now and in the near future look much more severe than in the crowded outfield, where at least they have speed and defense already and a potential bounceback player in Buck. Thoughts?
How would yet another 1B/DH (Wallace) help when they are looking for a 3B?
Not really – I thought it was pretty clear that Wallace wasn’t going to stick at 3rd.
Sweeney and Gio, Mazzaro for Chase Headley
???
Hi this is Beane you want what?? Click sound of silence. LaRouche is average in everyway so no you don’t get 2 young players for him that are not arbitration ready. Pirates need a closer more and should have asked for a closer instead. Now the pirates Gm is just looking terrible.
It’s not like the Pirates were trying to deal LaRoche, they were asked what it would take to get him, and they apparently don’t want to give him up unless someone will overpay, which is unlikely. Doesn’t seem that hard to understand.
Seems hard to understand to me, since they have better options at 3B in the minors, and they should be willing to deal with a GM instead of scaring them away with ridiculous commands. Ever play fantasy baseball and have someone offer you Lyle Overbay for Alex Rodriguez, or a similar trade? What did you think of that person?
They could always move LaRoche to 1B or 2B or Alvarez to 1B.
There’s not a 100% guarantee Alvarez sticks at 3B; LaRoche is still really valuable.
LaRoche has so far been above average defensively, is a very patient hitter and has power beginning to shine. Many teams would be thrilled to have a young player of his caliber. In my opinion he is currently equal with Alex Gordon. If you were the Royals would you take Gio straight up for Gordon? How about Sweeney? I agree that it’s a little much for the Pirates to ask, but not by any means insane.
What about Ziegler for LaRoche?
I totally agree. LaRoche is good but not that good! hahaha
thank you lol
putting paterson at third just doesnt seem right.
I would do it in a second lol if the A’s get Valverde this trade should happen. But i see the pirates wanting starting pitcher also.
Being from Pittsburgh, it’s tough with all of the never-ending losing. The GM is on the right track in obtaining quality potential for a quality player. Watching Andy Laroche, a key component in the Jason Bay trade a couple of years ago appears to be the “crown jewel” of a package of prospects/suspects obtained. Both Sox and Dodgers fans bemoaned what was traded from their respective systems. If the A’s want the quality major league multi-tooled major league player in Andy Laroche, they will need to pay the price of an equal quality major league player or a couple of better “prized” prospects…. the Pirate GM will accept nothing less.