The Athletics recently committed $14MM to retain center fielder Coco Crisp, but they'll continue to talk to free agent outfielders such as Ryan Ludwick, Cody Ross, and Conor Jackson, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Oakland's corner outfield depth chart currently features Josh Reddick, Collin Cowgill, and Michael Taylor after losing Josh Willingham and David DeJesus to free agency and trading Jai Miller and Ryan Sweeney.
Ludwick, 33, shouldn't cost much after a .237/.310/.363 performance in 2011. Jackson had a similar line. Ross was somewhat more useful at .240/.325/.405. His asking price appears to have come down to the two-year, $10MM range. Other unsigned outfielders include Rick Ankiel, Johnny Damon, J.D. Drew, Kosuke Fukudome, Scott Hairston, Brad Hawpe, Raul Ibanez, Magglio Ordonez, Luke Scott, and Ryan Spilborghs.
ESPN's Buster Olney writes today that some executives believe $40MM is the unofficial budget floor MLB and the union would like to see from teams. As such, the Crisp signing may allow the A's to avoid a slap on the wrist. Including projected salaries for Crisp, Brandon McCarthy, and Joey Devine, the A's appear to have about $33MM in commitments to 11 players.
cody ross seems like a good fit
pass on jackson, and ludwick
Bad year to need an OF now once the crisp signing becomes official and Ross signs.
Scott and Damon have use as DH/PT OF in an emergency, but none of the others are better than 5thOF at best, would prefer myself to see a top prospect on a team get the job over these washed up people.
I always have liked Hairston, even though he was with us only for a brief time, he’s got some pop when given regular at-bats
Hey, there’s always JD Drew!! 🙂
edit: nevermind
I am hoping the Nats could sign either Ludwick or Spilbourghs. If Werth could play center I think either of them could hold down the other corner spot until Harper is ready to start and afterwards be useful off the bench.
What happened to Conor Jackson? He used to be a pretty good hitter, didn’t he?
he got a pretty nasty virus when he was with arizona, then his power numbers dropped when he went to oakland
Yeah valley fever, it had him in bad shape
He’s fortunate to have ever stepped foot on a field and played at anything close to a major league level. HE was never a power hitter even in AZ, but he raked plenty of doubles and had by far, the best platedisciplne/eye on that team.
Agreed on the plate discipline and eye, but on that team it didn’t say much.
I always thought that Fukudome wasn’t so bad. Just grossly overpaid. Is there a detail I’m missing about this guy that makes him undesirable and rarely mentioned?
Great question! Fukudome and Juan Pierre (also quite serviceable but way overpaid previously) are probably just sitting around wondering how Ryan Ludwick is the subject of rumors but they are not.
Agreed! I’ve always loved Juan Pierre… as long as someone isn’t paying him 12M. He’s not as good as he once was, but noodle arm can still bat lead-off or and make a case as a serviceable LFer.
well, the a’s just got coco crisp who’s the same as juan pierre, but i could see a kosuke signing, even though i’d rather them stick with the young’uns
I feel like the reds will pick up on one of the two to make for a quality fourth outfield option. Young’uns are all over that outfield and one veteran backup wouldn’t hurt.
Crisp is not the same as Pierre. You are misunderstanding the value of a useful defensive CF
ok, maybe not the exact same, but both are good range, weak arm, low obp, high average, tons of stolen bases types of players
Last year everyone was saying the A’s were on the verge of contending, but now they are trading or have traded all their talent to start over. This is why I don’t buy the “build for the future” b.s. from some of these teams. That “build through the farm and compete in 5 years” is usually just an excuse to not spend money and try to win.
Cue the “we need a need a new stadium” rhetoric
They did appear to be on the verge of contending. And this time last year, I guarantee that they never thought they’d be rebuilding again right now. But between countless injuries, key players underperforming, free agents avoiding Oakland like the plague, and the fact that the franchise lost money in 2011, what else can they do but rebuild again and pray that they’re finally in a new ballpark in 2015?
I highly doubt they lost money of any significance, if at all.
Probably a convenient lie to tell to help their stadium pursuits. Why not contend now AND when they go into the new stadium?
In short: Because life isn’t fair.
LOL, fair enough…
Pass on all three, no thank you
Please no. I think Ross would have made sense if they weren’t able to get Crisp back. And Jackson would be okay on a minor league deal. But I have zero interest in Ludwick.
The A’s outfield seems like it’s as good as it’s gonna get, at this point in the offseason. So I wish they’d just drastically overpay for a high-risk/high-reward pitcher in order to meet their revenue sharing requirements, and then spend whatever else they can on international free agency.
agreed, although i’m skeptical they’ll bring in a high-risk, high-reward, unless roy oswalt miraculously chooses to play in oakland, i’m thinking someone more along the lines of Jeff Francis
i’m thinking one or two of jeff francis, aaron cook, brandon webb, jon garland, and chris young. this assuming they’ll accept 1 or 2 year deals
It would definitely be something of a miracle to see Oswalt agree to sign with the A’s. But who knows? If they offer him $13-14M, and his next best offer is closer to $10M, he may decide to take the $13-14M.
It also doesn’t hurt that he’d be playing in a pitcher’s paradise. Plus he knows that he’d most likely be flipped to a contender before August.
Stranger things have happened.
Agreed, stranger things that have looked oddly like Ben Sheets
Do not want.
If they want an outfielder, go get Cespedes.
(And Soler. Although they should continue to target Soler anyway).
Soler’s actually been at the very top of my wish list ever since I first started reading about him. Hopefully they’ll submit an incredibly high bid for him. I’ve got a feeling that kid’s gonna be a pretty special player in a few years.
plus his timeline to the majors would be right on par to what the a’s are trying to build, start him at high-A, and he’ll be in the majors by 2014
this this and this, although i’m pretty sure there’s at best a .01% chance of them signing cespedes.
i would love for them to sign soler, save any money they can to throw at them. sadly though, i wouldn’t put it past lew wolff to say “we couldn’t afford soler because of the money allocated to resigning coco crisp”.
I actually think they’ve got a pretty good shot at him. Beane has said that part of the reason why payroll will be reduced is so they can invest more heavily in international free agency. And between having the top bid for Michael Ynoa, having the the second highest bid for Aroldis Chapman, and having the top bid for the rights to negotiate with Hisashi Iwakuma, they’ve already proven that they’re not afraid to heavily invest in that market.
A lot of that saved money will go to the draft as well
But remember, the CBA will restrict draft spending. So throwing a lot of cash at signability concerns won’t really be the case anymore, sadly.
Yes, but the a’s do have 5 picks in the first two rounds, which would add up to at least 5 or so million, which is a good chunk of the saved up change
would love to see the A’s sign Juan Pierre. a lineup with a healthy Crisp, Pierre, and Weeks would be fun to watch.
Please A’s no, we already resigned coco, our outfield is already set i say we let these young guys play instead of signing some veteran when we are not even going to be in contention this year!