A's Re-Sign Mark Ellis

Great news for all A's fans. He is very under rated at 2b. The A's need him with their young pitchers knowing that anything hit toward 2b is going to be caught. Next up for Beane trading for a first baseman. Fielder anyone?

'Petterson, Weekes, Cardenas... why resign Ellis? I love the guy, but it seems more reasonable to let him go.'

I thought this too and came to this conclusion: Patterson (while being a small sample size) proved aboslutely nothing, Jemile Weeks has a severely torn hip flexor, and Cardenas only has 20 games past A ball...I bet the Ellis deal is for 2 years and an option year

Patterson is a non-prospect. He's more of a bench/pinch runner type guy. And, his defense is questionable at 2B. Having Ellis there is great with that young staff, especially with more young pitchers coming through the ranks. Weeks' development will probably be stunted due to that major injury, and Cardenas is probably 2 years away.

If the A's do resign Ellis, I HOPE it is NOT for more than 2 years. Ideally, one year with an option for a second, especially with the shoulder injury and the poor hitting season this year. He has the potential to turn into a defensively adept Luis Castillo, and that's bad news.

The A's number one target should be a young 3B prospect, not a 1B. Barton needs more time in AAA. I don't see Eric Chavez coming back and playing 3B. He will probably be playing 1B/DH upon return. And, hopefully in 2010, guys like Sean Doolittle and/or Chris Carter or even Barton will be ready to try out for the 1B slot.

Doolittle and Carter by 2010 are going to be BEASTS, as long as their combined strikeouts don't equal to what Prince Fielder weighs

This is being idealistic, but I've seen worse posted on MLBTR, but the guy I'd love to see the A's trade for is Daniel Murphy. He fills a need for the A's at 3B. From what I've seen of him, he looks great. Great approach at the plate. Even when he was struggling, he was battling. 4.3 P/PA. He wasn't making 1-2 pitch outs on a regular basis. He doesn't appear to fold in big situations. I don't think he will be a star, but he'll be a solid guy for years to come IMO.

Huston Street would probably be the centerpiece of such a deal; he gives the Mets a cheap, above average closer, with the A's adding more pitching into the deal to float it.

But then, if I were a Mets fan, I'd be against trading Murphy, for all the reasons stated above. It's a double edged sword.

I'm not trying to pidgeonhole Mark Ellis's offense. I'm just stating the WORST CASE SCENARIO. Ellis is inconsistent, you are right. In those cases, you hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. The A's aren't the Yankees, it's not "eat the losses and move on". And, who knows how he will be after his shoulder injury, since we haven't seen him play after this injury. Injuries depreciate value, so a 2 year deal is fair market value.

Which is why I don't give out a 3+ year contract. 2 with an option for a 3rd is the most I go for. And, its smart of Beane to negotiate with Ellis NOW, instead of when bidding begins on Orlando Hudson, who will be the only 2B FA on the market better than Ellis.

llis's defense will be outstanding for many years to come though, so even if he OPS+ 90-100 its not that big a deal.

As long as there isnt a NTC, Ellis deserves a 3 year deal.

Crosby is in the last year of his contract, defensively theres a lot worse going and Im pretty sure he will play out 09 as the team's starting SS. He might even turn some of those doubles into home runs and up his value. He's not very good but Pennington is the backup plan and a decent one.

green_and_gold- Moustakas and Escobar are pretty much untouchable. It would be interesting to see a Hardy trade package involving several pitchers (not named Anderson or Cahill please, especially not Cahill)

Street and Crosby should NOT be packaged together. Street has plenty of value. The value of a young, cheap closer is really high in this market. There are suitors. Street should net some nice prospects.

Crosby should be dumped. The "buy a prospect" approach could work well here.

Who thinks Huston Street is an above average closer? What an a$$. Brad Ziegler will get exposed this year, but even he is better than Street. I think Street would fit perfectly into what the Mets bullpen is now. Why don't the A's ask for Carlos Delgado while they're at it?

if ziegler puts up street type #'s over a 4 yr span, i'd be very surprised. i see him better as a top tier setup multi inning reliever. joey devine or whoever else A's have in the pipeline eventually will take over as closer.carignan/hrod/demel etc. A's have a wealth of riches in the BP.law recent chat also said bailey/gray will be in the A's 09 BP at some point. i'd trade casilla too...very much like dotel in his stuff and being a headcase.

"Good points from all but the one factor everyone is over looking is the A's are more concerned with the SS position. That is why they played Pennington there and you might see him as the starting ss if they trade Crosby"

Ellis signed means Crosby is as good as gone.

Cardenas is playing SS in the Arizona Fall League this year. Hopefully, he sticks at the position, he is much valuable at 2B.