Before Edwin Encarnacion agreed to a three-year deal with the Indians, the Athletics made a surprisingly strong push to acquire him, offering Encarnacion a higher average annual value of $25MM, although at a shorter term. Top A’s exec Billy Beane shares the details of his team’s pursuit of Encarnacion, courtesy of Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area.
“We just lost out at the end,” says Beane. “The process was a lot of fun because those are not guys we’ve been in on the last few years.”
Encarnacion preferred to play in Cleveland rather than Oakland, since Cleveland would be a closer trip for his family to visit from the Dominican Republic. Beane says the Athletics were aware of the difficulty of signing Encarnacion, but says he represented too good an opportunity to pass up.
“We knew we’d face some headwinds going in,” says Beane. “But again, we saw this as a unique player. … [W]e thought was that type of player who would have served as a real good anchor point with our young pitching and some of our other young players.”
One factor behind the Athletics’ pursuit of Encarnacion, Beane says, was the franchise’s ownership situation. Last month, Lew Wolff sold much of his ownership stake, and John Fisher took over as managing partner.
It appears the team’s play for a big-name free agent in Encarnacion could be its last for a time, however. Stiglich emphasizes that the team’s biggest need right now is in center field, and there aren’t currently any free agents at that position who would justify a large expenditure. Instead, the team will likely look to the trade market as well as the free agent market to find a center fielder.
shawnlaroche96
I understand rather playing in Cleveland than Oakland for the mere fact that they have a much better chance to make the playoffs and Progressive Field doesn’t have sewage overflow for the locker room, but how is Cleveland easier to get to from the Dominican than Oakland? United no longer has a hub in Cleveland, and there might be non stops to San Francisco from the Dominican, just right over the bay.
zacharydmanprin
You have taken high school geography, correct?
Phil1234
I think he knows Cleveland is closer. He’s just talking about airlines. No need to be condescending.
shawnlaroche96
I was thinking of flight availability, not geography. The amount of flights in and out of Cleveland have dropped since United dropped the hub there, and San Francisco has added flights. It also depends on what airport they would fly out of the Dominican, Santo Domingo, Punta Cana or Santiago.
jayceincase
Something else to consider is the time zone. It may not sound like much, but it does matter to some. The three hour time difference can create challenges and makes the distance apart seem further. For $25M per year though… Move them!
chiefbender
Did I accidentally click on FAAFlightRumors.com?
VermontsFinest
Hahahaha
gmenfan
More so than other clubs, “playing for Oakland” may mean “relocating to Seattle” midseason. Cleveland seemed a no brainer for EE given that Oakland was the alternative. Better club, no stadium issues, recent success, and a little longer term contract stability.
reflect
Lmao
JKB 2
With his money they are most likely flying in private jets
aznz
maybe ee likes how geographically similar cleveland is to toronto. presuming that his family is already accustom to traveling to toronto, cleveland would be a much smaller difference than going all the way out to california. also, ee is probably losing at least an extra $1M in california state income tax as compared to ohio.
bollo
Hahahahaha
jlv3gem
Lmao I’m not sure there is a high school geography. Geography is just geography. Still a funny comment though
jd396
It’s gonna be a very short connection to Cleveland from anywhere on any major
Dock_Elvis
A guy pulling down that kind of change can charter as many private jets for family as he likes. It probably also has something to do with game start times for his family…theyd be up late watching those 10pm starts in the Dominican
bruinsfan94 2
Time difference is one thing, and he has the money to just charter a flight whenever he wants. Cleveland is a much shorter distance to begin with. Plus the fact Cleveland was offering a longer term deal to play with a legit world series contender vs a team that will be batting for 4th.
jakeperrow
Dude the guy makes 20 million a year, he has the ability to have his family flown on a private jet haha
wizeman
13% state income tax in California
Dock_Elvis
0% state income tax in Texas and there’s fewer weather issues earlier in the season in Dallas or Houston.
Dock_Elvis
Florida also has no state income tax…not that the Rays or Marlins were biting off that contract. That’d have been very close for the family.
Wolf Hoffmann
EE isn’t Ivanka Trump. He doesn’t fly commercial. Private jet. So Cleveland is closer, thus faster. You have to think like a multi millionaire.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Do the A’s have any prospects that the White Sox might want?
Cutch to the A’s, prospects (the A’s and some Pirates) to ChiSox, Quintana to Pittsburgh.
st1300b 2
Agree this is a possibility based on reports on need. So it begs the question what prospects do the A’s have that Chicago would find desirable and worth McCutchen to the bucs?
arc89
Will not happen because the A’s do have some very good prospects but why give them up for McCutchen when the A’s are far from contending this year. Better for the A’s to hold on to their prospects and wait a couple of years when they should have one of the top young teams in baseball.
skip 2
A’s don’t have really good prospects might wanna check again!
Lovetron
Barretto, AJ Puk, Grant Holmes, Matt Chapman all in the top 100.. Maenea was on the list too before we promoted him (Healy wasn’t, but is looking like one).
A’s also have Richie Martin, Yairo Munoz, and Frankie Montas up in the next 2 years. I dunno about top teams in baseball but we sure do have some nice prospects in the pipeline.
hawaiiphil
Good idea!
BrodiesHairisGreezy!
Ah yes…the successful religion of Moneyball at work again.
davbee
I know you’re being sarcastic, but Moneyball is successful because every team now uses statistical analysis. The rest of baseball has caught up to Oakland, so the A’s have lost their advantage.
BrodiesHairisGreezy!
Yeah, it’s so successful let me know when the A’s get back into the playoffs or the Mets win a WS.
mattdsmith
I think you need to go back and reread the comment to which you just so sarcastically replied
Dock_Elvis
I don’t even discuss the Moneyball book any longer. It was a Michael Lewis narrative originally to be intended to focus on the Minnesota Twins. He focused on a few interesting auxilary pieces like Scott Hatteburg, while remaining largely silent about the amazing starting three put together by the scouting staff…nor the amazing left side of the infield of high draft pick in Eric Chavez who anyone was taking…Tejada..a product of scouting. If anything that Moneyball book draft was an amazing failure…Mark Teahen was it. Beane has acknowledged this. Truth is the A’s were interesting…but Lewis had to fit things to his narrative of a small market underdog outwitting the big guys.
I say all this as an Oakland fan and a fan of stats…but nothing they were doing was particularly revolutionary….Montreal had been stat oriented for a long time….Earl Weaver thrived on it.
Beane just gets blamed or applauded unfairly. Actually, I thought this recent run they had was much more interesting. The team and the Bernie Lean was a breath of fresh air in a usually stale baseball environment.
BrodiesHairisGreezy!
I am not referring to the book I am referring to the ideology..One or two Stars backed by average performers with a bench of nobodies…
arc89
Money ball turned out to be successful for other teams. Redsox used it to win a world series. Moneyball is no more useful for the A’s now that many other clubs use it. Look at how many players now get signed that come out of nowhere.
Dock_Elvis
I dont believe there is an actual ideology. Who were the 1 or 2 stars on those A’s teams? The rotation itself was topnotch…chavez…tejada…dye…
racerx11
hit up the dbacks, they will give you Pollack for some used lottery tickets and a an empty soda can. better hurry, they are listening to the braves for an offer of a bag of lawn clippings
st1300b 2
Ha!
gmenfan
Maybe for a box of “Cleveland Indians 2016 WS Championship” hats ?
gmenfan
EE would have been someone for younger Oakland players to anchor around, on a two year deal ? Says something about Oakland’s mindset that a two year deal can be seen as along term commitment. Feels like Oakland had the “sign and flip” intention.
jakeperrow
* a long
gmenfan
Thanks for the correction. I didn’t notice the auto-correct until the edit window had closed.
winston2b
It’s going to be hard to get a marquee name to Oakland, when in fact they know they would more than likely be traded that same season. In the name of true Moneyball, Billy looking for some prospect infusion,, sign a big name, trade him months later. Story’s getting old!
doolittle
When was the last time the A’s signed a big name and traded him months later? Since it’s getting old, you must have dozens of examples.
jakeperrow
Matt Holiday
arc89
Holiday was traded for not signed. One of the worst trades Beane ever made.
phils phanatic
that was a trade,not a signing
bkwalker510
Rich Hill 2016
BrodiesHairisGreezy!
And the same poor results.
pat09
Glad to see that Oakland made a push for a big power bat FA. Would’ve helped them in the rebuild instead of always signing low risk/high reward type of players on 1 year deal. I would love to see the A’s compete like they did back in 12-13 and 14
stinkfinger
Thanks pat09. Out of 56 comment 2 or 3 actually got the point. The A’s were going to spend a lot of money to get a bat. That’s why I was reading the comments. Flights, moneyball, wtf? No insight at all. So do the A’s pursue someone else, now that they show a willingness to at least think about opening their wallets? If Bautista wasn’t attached to a draft pick, it would be a nice flippable piece, thought hitting in OAK isn’t the best place to boost your stats. IDK. I was hoping to hear what this means for OAK and their future plans? Happy Holidays to all.
detroitdave84
The Cleveland deal is far superior and more rewarding in terms of playoff contention. Three years with a 5 million buyout or 25 million team option, gets him potentially 85 million. Even if they turn down option, he gets 65 million Guranteed and he would probably get a 1 year 10 million from someone in the 4th year so he loses only 5 million from his original Toronto offer. Incredible results after a disastrous start.
catfishfingers
For some reason i’m seeing Jose bautista signing with the A’s now.
neurogame
He probably chose the stadium that could flush his deuce without concern. Get up to code Oakland!
PiratesFan1981
I hear Las Vegas has a desire to have a sports team. Las Vegas A’s has a good ring to it
stormie
They’re getting an NHL team next year.
Dock_Elvis
Have a hard time believing they will support an mlb team over 81 games…lack of tv area etc. Don’t really see how any remaining market is much different than Oakland.
PiratesFan1981
To be honest, Las Vegas can get a nice size TV deal. They have one for the Las Vegas race way and horse derby. Granted, they are one or two daily events a year, but Las Vegas could manage at least 2 major sports teams. Where Vegas sits, is split between LA to the west and St Louis to the east. Texas rangers to the south to Seattle to the north. Las Vegas sits in the middle of a huge open area that is untapped. I believe Las Vegas is a city that flies under the radar and waiting to get some major sports teams. Doing so, increases revenue for their casinos when games go to Las Vegas. Vegas can seriously make NY and LA teams sweat in terms of spending on teams. A’s seems logical choice to move to LV. Fancy ballpark, revenue that could reach higher than what they currently have, and many other benefits. It would give players a better “working environment” each and every home game.
Dock_Elvis
Everything that you stated is actually the reasoning why they arent a good market..they have NO footprint outside of Vegas…nothing to draw from. 81 home games and 162 tv games to sell. Its also a town built on hospitality…with a load of competition for night time entertainment that also provides a/c. Theyd be like a mini-diamondbacks. I dont think they can support two professional teams in one season…but rhey might support a less demanding niche sport….NHL..NBA…less home games…less seats to sell. I could see them selling 15-20k seats for a sport like that….but try selling 40k 4 nights during the week with the White Sox in town. AAA to the majors is a HUGE jump. There are a slough of solid AAA towns….A’s just need to be able to break that bay area,blockade that the Giants have….build in Jack London Square….personally I think its shortsighted to leave Oakland. San Francisco is ridiculously expensive to live in and takes work getting to…..Oakland is already pulling off a Brooklyn type renaissance. I’d play that niche to to the hilt….Id be the anti-Giants.
Dock_Elvis
Vegas doesn’t exactly split between LA and St. Louis….its more actually IN the SoCal market. Im not sure where you live…but I can tell you that you just described basically 2500 miles of nothingness…plus the Rockies have Colorado…and that bridges into Kansas and the Royals. The Vegas market is basically Vegas.
jlv3gem
No one wants to play in Oakland. As much as I enjoyed my trip there this summer, the place is a dump. Not to mention Billy Beane is kind of an idiot. Especially the last couple of years.
markdesio
Beane is / was the longest tenured GM without a title.