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A’s To Address Power Shortage

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No team has hit fewer home runs than the A’s (89), so GM Billy Beane and the rest of the team’s front office will be interested in adding power bats this offseason, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. 

"It's an obvious area to address, and between now and the offseason, we'll have a number of conversations about how best to fill that need," Beane said.

Daric Barton and Jack Cust have combined for tons of walks (152), but few homers (18) from traditionally power-oriented positions, first base and DH. Both players have provided value, but the A’s could trade Barton or non-tender Cust to make room for a more powerful bat. Oakland should be able to spend on power, since the Ben Sheets and Eric Chavez deals are among the contracts coming off the books in 2011.

The A’s, one of just three MLB teams whose home run leader has not reached the 20-homer plateau, can consider free agent first basemen and DHs including Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena, Manny Ramirez and (if their options aren’t picked up), David Ortiz, Adam LaRoche and Vladimir Guerrero. Many power hitting first basemen and DHs will be available as free agents, but the A's could just as easily pursue pop at a different position.

Athletics Designate Edwar Ramirez For Assignment

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Edwar Ramirez has been designated for assignment by the Athletics, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The move had to be made in order to create space for Jack Cust.

Ramirez has bounced around the American League so far in 2010. The Yankees designated the right-hander for assignment in February, then in early March traded him to the Rangers, who dealt him to the Athletics later in the month.

The 29-year-old pitched in seven games for Oakland this season, recording a 4.91 ERA in 11 IP. Control was once again an issue for Ramirez, whose ten free passes this year raised his career rate to 5.4 BB/9.

Odds & Ends: Pirates, Chico, Burrell, Cust, Indians

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Links for Saturday…

  • MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch writes that Pirates outfield prospect Starling Marte may require surgery on his left hand.  Baseball America's Prospect Handbook called the 21-year-old "the first tangible result of the Pirates' renewed commitment to scouting Latin America."
  • Matt Chico could start for the Nationals on Wednesday, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.  Chico was DFA'd by the club earlier this week, but only so that the club could place him in Triple-A.
  • Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that the recently-DFA'd Pat Burrell is another reason why teams won't be spending major money on designated hitter-types anymore.
  • Jack Cust is on his way back to Oakland after Eric Chavez managed just a .247/.298/.355 batting line during the first six weeks of the season, tweets CSNBayArea.com's Mychael Urban. The A's 40-man roster is full, so a move will need to be make to accommodate Cust.
  • Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer touched base with Indians' GM-in-waiting Chris Antonetti about having the fifth overall pick in June's draft. MLB's recommended bonus for that pick is in the $2.5MM-$3MM range, and Antonetti acknowledged that that money has already been set aside in the budget.
  • Mike Morse is close to returning from the disabled list, which will create a bit of a roster crunch for the Nationals since he's out of options, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
  • Meanwhile, MLB.com's Owen Perkins notes that the Rockies would have a similar problem if they were to call someone up to help fill in for the injured Eric Young Jr.
  • ESPN's Buster Olney spoke to Ken Griffey Jr.'s agent, who indicated that everything that happened this past week will have no bearing on his client's relationship with the club after he retires. Both links go to Twitter.

Players Who Were Once Designated For Assignment

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We see it all the time. Most weeks a handful of players are designated for assignment and more often than not casual fans barely notice. A DFA indicates that a team is willing to part with a player – sometimes for nothing. But sometimes those players come back from DFAs to become stars in the major leagues. Here's a list of some current players who have been designated for assignment:

  • David Aardsma – The Red Sox acquired Aardsma after the White Sox designated him for assignment in 2008. A year later, the Mariners traded for Aardsma, who became the team's closer and posted impressive rates of 10.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.
  • Mike Adams – Adams was designated for assignment in 2006, before he posted absurdly low ERAs and regularly struck out more than a batter per inning.
  • Milton Bradley – The Padres acquired Bradley from the A's after Bradley was designated for assignment in 2007. Bradley hit .313/.414/.590 for the Padres and led them to a one game playoff with the Rockies for the Wild Card spot. Of course Bradley didn't play in game 163, since he tore his ACL while manager Bud Black restrained him during an on-field argument earlier in the month.
  • Russell Branyan – No one claimed Branyan after his 2006 DFA, but the Cardinals traded for him when the Phillies designated him for assignment the next year. He didn't do much for the Cards in his 39 plate appearances in 2007, but Branyan rebounded to hit 31 homers for the Mariners in 2009.
  • Marlon Byrd – The Nationals designated Byrd for assignment in 2006 without losing him and the Rangers did the same in 2007. Byrd recovered from his '07 demotion to post three consecutive productive seasons in Texas.
  • Nelson Cruz – The Rangers designated Cruz for assignment at the beginning of the 2008 season –  usually a good time to sneak players through waivers. The Rangers must be thrilled no one claimed Cruz, who hit 37 homers in the minors that year and added 33 in the majors the following season.
  • Rajai Davis – The A's claimed the outfielder off of waivers from their Bay Area rivals in 2008. Davis was hitting .056/.105/.056 at the time, though he had batted just 19 times. He has gone on to become a useful player, hitting .305/.360/.423 last year with 41 steals and above average defense, according to UZR.
  • Jorge de la Rosa – The Royals designated de la Rosa for assignment in March of 2008, but it wasn't until a month later that the Rockies traded for him. The 29-year-old free agent-to-be has been a productive starter in Colorado since.
  • Ryan Franklin – The Reds acquired Franklin from the Phillies in 2006 after a poor start to the season. Franklin didn't do much better with the Reds, but he has been productive for three-plus seasons in St. Louis since.
  • Jeremy Guthrie – The Orioles claimed the former first round pick from the Indians early in 2007, when Guthrie had just 37 big league innings and a 6.08 ERA to his name. Since, the righty has posted a 4.19 ERA in 610.1 innings.
  • LaTroy Hawkins – The Yankees designated the reliever for assignment in 2008 and traded him to Houston, where Hawkins dominated for 24 appearances. He posted a 0.43 ERA along with 10.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
  • Bobby Jenks – He has fallen out of favor with the White Sox now, but they deserve credit for picking him up after the 2004 season. Jenks has struck out three times as many batters as he has walked in 301 innings with the White Sox.
  • Ryan Ludwick – The slugger started the 2005 season hitting just .154/.267/.385 so the Indians designated him for assignment. No one claimed Ludwick then, but the Cardinals made a shrewd pickup when they later signed him.
  • Brandon Phillips – The Reds claimed Phillips after the Indians designated him for assignment in 2006. He had just a .206/.246/.310 big league line at the time, but he has averaged 22 homers and 26 steals in his four full seasons with the Reds. UZR rates the 28-year-old as an above average defender at second base, too.
  • Joel Pineiro – The Red Sox designated Pineiro for assignment in 2007 when he had a 5.03 ERA and just 20 strikeouts to go along with 14 walks. Later that summer, the Cardinals acquired Pineiro and he went on to post 426.1 solid innings for the Cards. Under the tutelage of pitching coach Dave Duncan, Pineiro posted a walk rate of 1.6 BB/9 in a Cardinals uniform.
  • Grant Balfour, Ryan Church, Jack Cust, Matt Diaz, Jerry Hairston Jr., Joel Hanrahan, Livan Hernandez, Mike Jacobs, Colby Lewis, Julio Lugo, Mike MacDougal, Evan Meek, Vicente Padilla, Scott Podsednik, J.C. Romero, David Ross, Brian Tallet, Todd Wellemeyer and Randy Wells are among the many big leaguers who have been designated for assignment.

It's worth noting that this group does not include a superstar (Cruz might be the closest thing to one). Teams designate many talented players for assignment because of roster constraints, but few enjoy as much success as the group above.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the information.

Odds & Ends: Beimel, Cust, Dukes, Santos

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Saturday links..

Jack Cust Clears Waivers

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SATURDAY, 11:05am: Cust has accepted his outright assignment to the minors according to the team. Smart move, I'm not sure he would have been able to find another $2.65MM on the free agent market.

12:19pm: Slusser counter–tweets that Cust's camp says a decision has not been made and it may take a few more days.  She explains in an article that Cust is likely to accept the assignment, as he won't receive his $2.65MM if he doesn't.

FRIDAY, 10:42am: Cust has accepted the assignment to Triple A, reports CSNBayArea.com's Mychael Urban.

THURSDAY, 10:25pm: Cust cleared waivers, tweets Slusser, but it's not yet known whether he'll accept an assignment to Triple A.

SATURDAY, 7:11pm: The Athletics have designated Jack Cust for assignment, according to Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Slusser mentions that if he clears waivers, he would consider a minor league assignment to remain with the team.

Oakland non-tendered Cust back in December, then re-signed him to a one year, $2.65MM deal in January. The 31-year-old has seen his performance decline each year since his 2007 breakout campaign, bottoming out at .240/.356/.417 with 25 homers last year. He's led the American League in strikeouts each of the last three seasons, though the power and on-base numbers have continued to decline, and he's never had any defensive value.

With both Travis Buck and Jake Fox making the team, there was just no room for Cust and his limited skill set. Any team that were to claim him off waivers would assume the full $2.65MM on his deal, but would still have another year of team control.

Odds & Ends: Rule 5, Jones, Hechevarria, Brewers

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Links for Easter Sunday…

Odds & Ends: Beckett, Jones, Cust, Cubs

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A roundup of some news on this Thursday night…

  • In an interview on CSNNE's Sports Tonight show, Josh Beckett said he would "probably not" negotiate with the Red Sox about a new contract once the season begins.  WEEI's Rob Bradford reports on Beckett's appearance here.
  • Bobby Cox thinks Chipper Jones will play out the final three years on his contract, reports David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Jones was hinting at retirement last fall in the wake of his disappointing (for him) 2009 campaign, but thus far in spring training, O'Brien reports that Jones has been nothing but enthusiastic about Atlanta's chances this season. 
  • In an interview with Jane Lee of MLB.com, Jack Cust confirms what we all thought about this winter's crop of free agents at outfield and DH: "it just wasn't a very good market unless you're Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. Even for those guys, I don't think the interest level was as high as they may have thought it to be. Unless you're one of those big dudes, you take what you can get."
  • Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com says that the Cubs have some interest in Luke Gregerson and/or Jason Frasor.
  • Jon Paul Morosi tweets that there is "not much new" going on with the negotiations between Joe Mauer and the Twins.
  • MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reports that Alex Rodriguez offered Johnny Damon some free agency advice this winter.  Oh, so THAT's why it took so long for Damon to sign…
  • We had heard about Toronto's possible interest in Jose Julio Ruiz, and MLB.com's Jordan Bastian now reports that the Jays may be looking at another Cuban prospect: Adeiny Hechevarria.
  • Dick Kaegel of MLB.com reports that the Royals agreed to terms with Josh Fields and Kila Ka'aihue on one-year contracts.  Terms were not disclosed, but Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tweeted that neither deal is expected to exceed $500K.

Olney On Holliday, Valverde, Cust, Branyan

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ESPN.com's Buster Olney argues that baseball writers shouldn't decide who makes it into the Hall of Fame. After explaining why he'd prefer to see the Hall of Fame appoint its own panel, Olney turns up some rumors from around the league. Here they are:

  • One MLB official says the Matt Holliday deal may end up as "one of the worst deals in major league history" because the Cardinals were apparently bidding against themselves.
  • Olney hears from negotiators who believe the Cards should have lowered their offer considerably once the Mets signed Jason Bay.
  • Jose Valverde is asking for $8MM per season and wants to be a closer. As Olney points out, the Pirates and Marlins are not likely to match Valverde's asking price unless he lowers it. The Tigers have been cost-conscious this offseason, but they could use an accomplished reliever.
  • Olney says it's clear that Billy Beane and the A's value Jack Cust "in a way that many other teams do not."
  • Executives around the league are concerned about Russell Branyan's back. The 34-year-old slugged 31 homers last year, though he didn't play after August.

A’s Agree To Sign Jack Cust

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The A's will re-sign Jack Cust to a one-year deal worth 2.65MM plus $350K in incentives based on plate appearances. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported the agreement and Jon Heyman of SI.com and Slusser added the specifics. The A's non-tendered Cust last month, and after Cust attracted some interest from teams such as the Giants, the A's brought him back. 

Though he did play 51 games in the outfield last year, Cust has been consistently bad on defense in his career, according to UZR. But the A's aren't signing him for his defense. Cust, who turns 31 this month, has hit at least 25 homers each of the last three seasons for the A's. He has slugged .462 over the course of that three-year period, though his isolated power – the difference between his slugging and batting averages – dropped to .177 last year.

The A's, who added Jake Fox earlier in the offseason, seemed ready to move on without Cust when they non-tendered him. Cust made $2.8MM last year, so their new deal will keep him around for less guaranteed money than he was making in 2009 and, presumably, less than he would have made had the club offered arbitration. The A's will be able to retain Cust in 2011 as an arbitration-eligible player, since he won't have enough service time to file for free agency.

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