A's Offseason

[G-Dubb]

Omar Minaya (Mets) was persuing Barry Zito, but has been quoted as saying that Beane is "not moving him."

The A's are looking at Frank Thomas, we should know sometime tomorrow whether he's coming or not.

 

[AC Transit]

Article in todays SFgate is saying Beane is meeting with the Big Skirt Frank Thomas. Although i hate him, he is the ideal Beane hitter who is selective with pitches.

 

[G-Dubb]

^It will be a good deal if it's incentive-based... Make him stay healthy to stay paid.

 

[Hollywood]

Fo sho I think he can turn it around w/ incentive laden contract, There is also rumors of David Wells for Jim Du aint even going to attempt last name and that Milton Bradley deal aint dead looking at either Joe Kennedy or Kirk... Beane got the MLB at his attention once again

 

[G-Dubb]

I don't think Wells will come over... No reason to.

Beane wants to keep Zito... And no GM will give him an offer that's even close to what he wants for him... Zito wants to test the free agent market, that's already a known... So whoever gets him will have him for one season and won't be able to sign him to an extension.

That means we have the rotation set... I don't know that Wells would want to come over for a bullpen job... And Duke is too good to trade for Wells anyway. I don't think that deal is going anywhere.

Rincon was offered arbitration, which is a surprise... Maybe it's just to try and get draft picks when he walks... He's already been contacted by a few teams and I'm sure he can get a better deal elsewhere...

 

[djmo69]

Do you think the A's would really trade Barry Zito the Dodgers for Milton Bradley? I think he would be bad fit

 

[G-Dubb]

No they wouldn't.

The A's offered Kirk Saarloos and a AAA pitcher that would never be called up in the A's organization for Bradley.

I'll take Bradley in that deal... But not in any deal with Zito involved.

 

[mExIcaNox4]

I HEARD THEY ARE INTERSTEAD IN THE BIG HURT BUT I DONT THINK THEY CAN AFFORD HIM

 

[G-Dubb]

I HEARD THEY ARE INTERSTEAD IN THE BIG HURT BUT I DONT THINK THEY CAN AFFORD HIM

The A's dropped Durazo ($4M,) Dotel ($4.5M,) Hatteberg ($2M,) and Yabu ($1M) since last season... That's about $11.5M total off the books... They're paying Loaiza $6M for his first season... So that's another $5.5M they have left... That should be more than enough to sign Thomas... Plus Wolff will probably be open to bump payroll a little this year anyway.

 

[djmo69]

Frank Thomas would be a good fit, but he's been injury prone the last few years.

 

[Hollywood]

yea I heard today that the Wells deal is dead and still working on that INCENTIVE contract w/ the Big Hurt I think Bean will get that one done...

 

[herm96]

THEY OVERPAID FOR LORAIZA. FUCKED UP THE MARKET FOR PITCHERS. EVERYONE GETTING PAID. I WONDER HOW MUCH KEVIN MILLWOOD(ERA LAEADER) WILL GET

 

[G-Dubb]

THEY OVERPAID FOR LORAIZA. FUCKED UP THE MARKET FOR PITCHERS.

That was probably the point.

It's no coincidence that they have 8 MLB-ready starting pitchers with 3 that are available to trade.

 

[herm96]

THEY SHOULD TRADE FOR HITTERS IF WANT TO GET ANYWHERE IN PLAYOFFS OR MAKE THE PLAYOOFS.

PITCHING IS NEVER A PROBLEM FOR A'S.

 

[G-Dubb]

THEY SHOULD TRADE FOR HITTERS IF WANT TO GET ANYWHERE IN PLAYOFFS OR MAKE THE PLAYOOFS.

PITCHING IS NEVER A PROBLEM FOR A'S.

They would have won the West last year if it wasn't for injuries to Crosby, Swisher & Harden...

Picking up Thomas will be more than enough to put them over the top, unless they have a bunch of freak injuries again...

 

[herm96]

I DOUBT HARDEN WILL EVER PITCH A FULL SEASON WITH THAT PITCHING MOTION.

 

[G-Dubb]

I DOUBT HARDEN WILL EVER PITCH A FULL SEASON WITH THAT PITCHING MOTION.

The A's reporter for the Chronicle said he's way ahead of schedule on his rehab and will probably never have that same problem again... They know how it happened and have him doing different workouts to prevent it.

 

[herm96]

I HAVE TO SEE TO BELIEVE IT. WASNT HE INJURED THE YEAR BEFORE TOO. I THINK ITS GOING TO LIKE JASON SCHIMDT WERE HE HURT PART OF YEAR EVERY YEAR

 

[G-Dubb]

I HAVE TO SEE TO BELIEVE IT. WASNT HE INJURED THE YEAR BEFORE TOO. I THINK ITS GOING TO LIKE JASON SCHIMDT WERE HE HURT PART OF YEAR EVERY YEAR

His injury the year before was a blister... He said he could have pitched but the coaches wouldn't let him...

Hey AN,

Last week, in an Q&A with Blez, I answered a question about Rich Harden's health with a remark about Rich getting bulked up last offseason and how maybe that played a part in some of his problems.

That was unfair to Rich - he believes that old injury to his left shoulder (you'll all recall how it tended to pop out of joint on occasion) was throwing off his mechanics and contributing to some of the problems he had in 2005.

With that in mind, Rich had surgery immediately after the season ended and he has been doing rigorous rehab at home in Canada. With the non-throwing shoulder firmly in place and his mechanics all in order, he should be able to avoid those muscle-strain type injuries. His weight-lifting regimen is also to prevent injury and to stay strong throughout the season.

The shoulder sugery had slipped my mind when I was zipping off those answers, so I'd like to set the record straight and reanswer the question: Yes, I think Rich will be injury-free in 2006 now that the shoulder issue has been resolved. And as I mentioned to the first time around, no one works harder than Rich. He'll probably come into camp in better shape than just about anyone.

- Susan Slusser

She sent this in to Athleticsnation.com

 

[DubbC415]

Looks like Either and Antonio Perez for milton bradley...this one makes me think...i guess they feel they needed to get something for either, and perez wasnt bad either, he woulda been better than scutafag.