All three of the Athletics’ starting outfielders hit free agency this offseason and with so much uncertainty surrounding the team's future, retaining the trio won't be easy. Here's the latest on the Athletics from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle:
- Agent Matt Sosnick told Slusser that the A’s “aren’t going to make an offer” to Josh Willingham unless they get a decision on their stadium situation first. It doesn’t appear that the A’s are currently able to offer a multiyear deal, according to Sosnick.
- Coco Crisp’s agent, Steve Comte, has a similar take on Oakland’s willingness to spend and says GM Billy Beane is limited by the the team’s uncertain stadium situation. “It is difficult,” Comte told Slusser. “I feel bad for any organization that is in the quagmire the A's are in because they do have to overpay to get good players to go there.”
- Crisp is looking to play for a competitive West Coast team and the Giants are a “viable” option for him, according to Comte.
- Slusser reports that Oakland's interest in bringing Hideki Matsui back has cooled off.
- The A’s are expected to offer Willingham (Type A) and David DeJesus (Type B) arbitration, as Slusser notes.
If Hammer and Crisp go, so goes any hope of finishing above 3rd place. Pitching alone won’t carry this team, they don’t have the ’71 orioles rotation or anything.
They didn’t finish above third place with them. I think management sees the picks they’d get from Willingham and potentially DeJesus as more valuable in the long run.
At this point, take the picks and let the kids play. They need to find out what they have in Carter, Taylor, Allen, et al.
This is such a crappy free agent class, I don’t know why people are feeling bad about Oakland not participating in the market this winter. They probably will still sign a pitcher or two, but overpaying for a guy like Reyes or Rollins isn’t a big deal at all. They need outfielders, which are sorely lacking this year. Willingham is a waste of a position where they could add a true centerpiece of a lineup, which Willingham is not. DeJesus is more interesting because he just seemed to have bad luck, but at least played awesome defense (he deserved the gold glove in RF this year). Crisp would be a great #9 hitter, but should not be looked at as a good leadoff man, leadoff men get on base more than 31.4% of the time.
The cornerstone players are Pujols, Fielder and potentially Darvish…but that’s no given. Its a weak class, Oakland’s probably better off adding money via trade than a sign.
As a Twins fan, I’d be okay with any of the three regular outfielders finding their way to Minnesota. Matsui doesn’t offer anything the Twins don’t already have (read: broken down lefties).
DeJesus, Crisp and Willingham could all help the club out next year. Willingham would provide some nice right-handed pop, but at the end of the day, he’s pretty much Michael Cuddyer with less positional flexibility and a little more skills with the lumber.
Crisp offers a nice upgrade near the top of the order and the legit “speed” threat the Twins went so hard after last offseason when they jettisoned JJ Hardy in favor of Casilla and Nishioka up the middle.
Crisp OBP was like .315 he shouldn’t be at the top of anyone’s order
His OBP numbers for the 3 previous years were .344, .336 and .342, though. It’s as least as likely, if not more likely, that 2011 was the fluke year instead of the 3 before it. He’s 32, just around the last couple years of what should be his prime. A 2 year deal like the one he just finished in Oakland isn’t bad for a CF with a strong glove and a legit stolen base threat if that OBP goes back up to the mid .330s or higher
Who cares if his OBP does bounce back? He’s made of glass and this year was more likely a fluke than the norm going forward. I wouldn’t pencil him in for 100+ games, that’s not a certainty with Crisp. I’d rather Grady Sizemore, he’s got the higher ceiling.
I’m sick of these owners crying about a stadium.
If you want one…BUILD IT. Stop begging for a handout!
I think the A’s situation is a little more complicated than the owner just wanting a handout.
First they were going to build in Oakland but didn’t get public financing, then Fremont fell through for similar reasons, now they are trying to move to San =Jose and build MLB’s smallest stadium (this is where the territorial rights come in).
They are building where they get the best deal for cheap financing, they could have started construction years ago if he was willing to pony up the money,
Wolff wants to build on land with a high underlying $$ value. Land in Oakland isn’t really worth very much compared to downtown San Jose (based on $/sq ft). The valuable areas of Oakland are not easy to build on.
You don’t really know what you’re talking about, do you.
Enlighten me then, if you know so much
Why should I?
It takes all of 10 seconds to Google the A’s stadium situation which would bring you to a ton of sites and at least one fantastic blog that chronicles all of the stadium developments to date from Oakland’s, San Jose’s and even Fremont’s perspectives.
I’m not gong to spend my time to inform you about T-Rights, EIR reports or the lack thereof, bought and sold land parcels, eminent domain, California’s redevelopment agencies, the importance of transportation options, corporate money in Oakland vs San Jose, MLB’s Blue Ribbon committee, etc.
Enlighten yourself. I’m not your Mom.
I already addressed this crap in previous posts, you just assumed someone didn’t know anything and you were wrong. the issue is not that complicated
I’m not saying it’s complicated. I’m saying it’s not as simple as your idea to just “BUILD IT” and “Stop begging for a handout!”
It’s your own comments that confirm that you don’t know what you’re talking about, not anything I’ve said.
Do you really think any mayor in any city in America, would tell a land developer who said “I have a $500+ million stadium that I want to build in your city” that they couldn’t do it? Probably not, which is why they A’s could have “Just built” a stadium in Fremont or Oakland.
Now he has territorial issues in San Jose but that didn’t stop him from building in those other places. The main reason he decided to switch to San Jose was because they were going to help him get cheaper/public financing.
So yeah is really is as simple as “Just Build It” in Oakland or Fremont, or stop looking for a handout
I’m not going to go back and forth battling your ignorance on a subject you clearly know little about. That’s your job.
You need to learn a little bit more on the State of California and it’s land development laws vs. other state’s development laws as well as the history of the A’s ballpark project. Because you’re not even close.
I highly doubt you know more than what you’ve read on the internet at the same sites as me.
He doesn’t want to pony up the money to get it done in Oakland. All that other stuff you are talking is nonsense.
Okey dokey.
Its not about a handout! Its about the territory rights to San Jose. they purchased the land last week and know they will need to pay to get it built.
Bud Selig once again is showing he is no leader. The A’s have been asking for 3 years to get a answer on this. Bud has even said he made his decision but did not give a answer. Bud needs to either say yes or no and get it over with. It looks like the A’s are going to the media and pushing Bud into making his decision.
I’m sure Wolff could have worked something out with the Giant’s owner/s by now if he wasn’t trying to get a free ride through his buddy.
You’re assuming the Wolff hasn’t tried to work something out with the Giants. All we know is that there haven’t been _public_ negoitations. Giants management has said publicly over and over again that the territorial rights will be something they are willing to take to court. (A case that, IMO, won’t hold up, since there is precedent, see Nationals/Orioles).
John is right. Bud Selig needs to take a stand on this issue. People keeps saying that Selig and Wolff are buddies, but if they really were, Selig would’ve done something by now.
It’s no secret the main reason A’s haven’t moved to S.J is because of the giants ownership. They want the A’s out of the bay area, period! Bay area is one of the biggest markets in the country so why would the greety giants want to share?! San Jose is majority giants fans, and by the A’s moving to S.J would take a huge chunk of their fan base away. In the end it’s not up to the giants whether the A’s move there or not as long as the majority of MLB owners vote, which more than likely will happen. And I can’t wait for that big punch in the gut to happen. No team wants to keep sharing their revenue, the A’s will move to S.J whether you like it or not giants “fans”
what’s with the hostility? i’m a giants fan and i want the a’s to succeed and find a home in the bay area. i think it’s a little ignorant to paint the giants as exceptionally greedy to try to protect their corporate sponsorships and money flowing out of san jose. any business, let alone baseball organization, would want to protect their cash cow. if selig ever gets around to making a decision and rules with the a’s, so be it. you can’t fault a team for trying though, personal biases aside.
Every thread he has ever commented on involves Giant hating…lol. dude is as bitter as it gets!
As an A’s fan, I don’t think I could find one positive in that update – unless you consider NOT signing Matsui a “positive”. This entire debacle has become extremely frustrating and even more so when you consider how good the pitching staff is. With just two more decent bats, this team could be a contender. But now, rather than adding offense, it looks like we’re losing it. 🙁
Since when has Beane ever had a quiet offseason? This won’t be any different. The A’s aren’t exactly destined for the cellar, they have the pitching talent to contend if all the pitching is healthy. I can see Billy trying his damnedest to pull off a couple “F’n-A!” trades this winter. Lomo, Youk, there’s a list of potential matchups with trades that could turn the A’s into a very dangerous team very quickly. It’s not like the FA market is even good this year. Josh Willingham and his 2.1 WAR want a 3 year deal? Coco Crisp and his terrible OBP want big money? Yeah, not even interested. Why bother overpaying lesser talent?
I’d rather they make trades for players that other teams might not even be looking at.
wow you dont wont to sign willingham becuse of a 2.1 war what about his 29-hr and 99-rbi and crisp was one of the top base stelers in the ML and had good d and i dont know about you but i dont want to have to trade gio for lomo and also from what i herd willingham was only asking for about 7 mill a year thats not that much
Yeah RBI is the most worthless stat ever and Willingham gives back all those runs from HRs on defense
If Gio is traded to Miami, a LOT more than just LoMo is coming back. I was thinking more like Outman & Ross for Lomo probably gets done, depending on how Ozzie views Morrison. One thing is for sure, LoMo would be a perfect fit for the A’s, he’s like a younger, stronger, better version than Willingham. I sincerely hope Beane at least makes an offer of some kind for him.
that would make me fill beter about losing willingham has long as we dont have to give up gio what would you think about trading for prado from the braves to play 3b as well im just worried we wont have no offence i like allen and taylor but im not sold on carter i think he has power but he has the speed of 12 dead turtles
I feel bad for the A’s, hopefully they get the stadium situation worked out.
I’m going to ask this in all honesty (no sarcasm or facetiousness), and hope for a real response… What’s to keep the A’s from just, in a way, “opting out” of next season?
Instead of signing any FAs or making any trades at all, the A’s just sit back and fill in their empty positions with last year’s acquisitions and AAA players. Then, piss off MLB by pocketing their revenue sharing check. It seems like MLB is after the small-market teams year after year to spend their revenue sharing, otherwise we wouldn’t see deals like Fuentes and Balfour last year, or Sheets the year before.
I can imagine this would probably piss off the clubs that pay into revenue sharing rather than receiving it, which would hurt the A’s cause if the San Jose rights issue is brought before all the franchise owners. On the other hand, the A’s need to do something to force a decision on this, and what better way to get people to take notice than buy taking their money and not working to make any of their own?
I think that’s what Beane is trying to do here actually, he’s begged and pleaded with Selig to get him to tell him yes or no on San Jose and after 4 years, nothing. So if he pockets revenue sharing and MLB calls him out on it, he could just say “Hey, tell us where we can move and I’ll spend my billionaire owners money. Its on you to tell the Giants they dont own San Jose and you can’t do that for some reason.”
i dont think it is wright to stick it to the fans that support this team willingham was good and they should be offering him a 2 or 3 year contract they are just being cheap how manny times can you keep rebuilding this stadium stuff is bs i dont understand why some of you are buying this crap why did we even trade for willingham we gave up 2 young players for him to be here for one year and now we are rebuilding makes no sence
Willingham was not good, he had a 2.1 WAR. His defense was complete garbage and he gave up a ton of runs by playing LF. After last year, the A’s were crying out for power, and whoop de doo, he hit 29 while doing every other facet of the game else very average-to-poorly.
I’m an A’s fan of 25+ years, I live and die with this team, and I want no part of Willingham as an outfielder. DH maybe, but even still I’d rather check out Chris Carter there. Willingham is massively overrated. His K rate went through the roof and his walk rate went down, he’s just a hacker as of now. If he had a good OBP I maybe would sing a different tune, but he wasn’t even that good at getting on base either.
How is is that the A’s need to relocate in the middle of the Giants biggest fan base. The city is on a peninsula open to the south and the area that supports them heavily. And the A’s want to cut them off? How is this fair? Go somewhere that has fans that won;t be stolen from another team.. Sacramento, Las Vegas, Portland……. somewhere of their own! And YES when the Giants wanted a publicly built stadium they were turned down many times but they finally used their own money and risked it to build a private stadium. It has not even been paid off yet but the A’s think they have the right to cut off the funds the Giants need to repay the loan. Greedy and shortsighted.
Trevor Cahill for Jay Bruce, who hangs up?
Hmmm…I’d love to see them add another player or two to that deal and also try to pry away Alonso or Grandal. That’s probably a pipe dream though.
I don’t care about Alonso, he’s a 1B and the A’s have Barton, Carter, Kila & Allen. I would definitely trade Cahill for Bruce, I think their contracts match up and both teams are trading from positions of strength.
Yeah, the A’s and Reds look like good trading partners. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make something happen in the near future.