Yesterday the Athletics agreed to sign Grant Balfour to a two-year deal and today we learned that they're making a push for Brian Fuentes. ESPN's Buster Olney brings us a pair of Oakland-related tidbits..
- Location could definitely work in the A's favor as they look to land Fuentes, Olney tweets. Fuentes, a "[California] guy", was raised in Merced – roughly two hours east of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The left-hander is arguably the best remaining free agent reliever available.
- Oakland's signing of Balfour likely won't be the club's last move of the offseason, Olney writes. The A's are now in search of bullpen depth and a right-handed bat. If Oakland decides not to spend on a lefty reliever like Fuentes they could go with less-expensive options such as Joe Beimel, Tim Byrdak, Dennys Reyes, and Mark Hendrickson. A few notable right-handed relievers remain as well including Chad Durbin and Manny Delcarmen.
Why a right-handed bat, I wonder? Willingham, Kouzmanoff, Suzuki and Ellis all bat from the right side, and Crisp and Pennington are switch-hitters. The bench projects to have two more right-handed bats (Rosales and Jackson), plus a third switch-hitter (Powell). And Chris Carter, Michael Taylor, Steve Tolleson and Josh Donaldson are right-handed, also.
I can see why they would be looking to add more depth to the infield, especially if they can get someone on a minor league deal. But I’m not sure why they would specifically be interested in a right-hander.
Agreed, McMurphyRP. If anything they need a LH bat to replace Cust
Matsui
This is going to be an interesting team when it’s all said and done.
It says right handed reliever. Come on, man.
Ummmm. You might want to re-read it. It very clearly says right-handed BAT both in the headline and in the article itself.
Great defense, great pitching and a few bats. Should be able to win 90 games.
I’m thinking they’ll need to add a big hitter at the break to reach 90 and the playoffs, but if they’re in contention, they’ll pull the trigger. Anyhow, makes me feel good about renewing my 22-game season ticket package.
It wouldn’t come as a surprise to see them add another piece before the deadline. But if they can just stay healthier this year, I see no reason to think they can’t win 90 games with who they already have. They managed to win 81 last year just on pitching and defense, and by being aggressive on the basepaths (and despite using the DL twenty-some odd times).
This year the offense is looking quite a bit better, the defense is still there, plus the pitching — which was already really good — may actually improve even more.