The A's agreed to extend GM Billy Beane through 2019 this week, but the offseason hasn't quite ended, so it's time to look ahead to Beane's next move. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and others have the details on the team's plans…
- Beane said he's looking to sign a DH for the middle of the lineup, Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group tweets. The GM added that it's not easy to find a cleanup hitter right now.
- A's scouts saw Ramirez work out recently and they're interested, ESPN.com's Buster Olney confirms (Twitter link). A final decision on whether to try to sign him is expected within the next week.
- The A's continue pursuing Manny Ramirez and they're much more interested in him than Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez's health is more of a concern, Slusser writes. Signing Ramirez would be the last thing the A's do before starting Spring Training, and a deal could be reached after camp opens.
- People in the A's organization are intrigued by Kila Ka'aihue's power and if the A's sign Ramirez, Ka'aihue would likely get the chance to DH while Ramirez sits out his 50-game suspension.
- The A's have some interest in free agent DH Hideki Matsui, but he's a "real long-shot," Slusser reports. They've had some talks about Johnny Damon, who might be out of the team's price range.
- The A's are considering Koji Uehara, Slusser confirms. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney says “nothing is close” regarding Uehara and that the Rangers are looking to obtain a good return in talks with Baltimore (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal reported Oakland's interest over the weekend.
50 games? I thought Ramirez had to serve 100 games suspension? Did something change?
Yes. When he decided to return from retirement, MLB lowered his suspension.
I don’t know why but I’ve always loved Kila. Most frustrating AAAA player I’ve seen, because I want so badly for him to do well
He’s a stiff. Been watching him all the way through the minors. It was amusing to watch the Royals fans in KC think that he was actually going to do something. They were ‘intrigued’ by his power too – unfortunately at the ML level he’s lost.
same situation with the A’s and Chris Carter
Orioles should trade Tommy Hunter, Chris Davis and Kevin Gregg to the A’s for Grant Balfour, Brian Fuentes and Kila Ka’aihue. Chris and Kila should be fair. Gregg might be better in a big ball park and Fuentes could use a change of scenery. Losing Tommy Hunter would hurt a little bit, but it would get the guy I would want Grant Balfour. Then maybe the Rangers and A’s could do a deal for Koji Uehara. It would work for me!
Gotta love a pitcher named balfour. If there is a big guy upstairs, he apparently has a sense of humor.
A’s refusal to give chances to taylor and carter are puzzling. Carter is younger than kila and they brought in 5 OF’s this offseason to bury taylor. They are better off as trade bait than wasting another yr as aging AAA prospects
How can the A’s could “continue pursuing Manny”? Is he on drugs again? No one in their right minds want him.
He’s a has-been and without drugs he’s nothing. And if you do sign him, he’s got to serve a 50-game suspension.
What is there to like here?
Been saying this for weeks or at least since this silliness has started!
What’s the downside exactly? He sits out 50 games.
When he comes back, you put him in AAA and see how he does. If he can’t hit, you cut him. If he can, you choose whether to pull him up or not. Am I missing something here…
What kind of message are the A’s sending their young, impressionable players should they sign Manny? PED’s are OK and if you get caught once, we’ll always bring you back, so ring up those numbers for us any way you can.
He got caught using PED twice. How many other times did he get away with it? Dollars to donuts he uses PED’s again if someone is foolish enough to sign him again.
Yeah, that seems logical.
That kind of logic is exactly why fans often miss the forest for the trees
nice rhetoric, doesnt make any sense without context though. I agree with GeorgeH, Manny is washed up. It sends a very weird message to pay for the publicity of having Manny back in MLB. I dont think it is worth it for the A’s, given their financial/stadium/rebuilding situation. Give the kids a shot, and forget about the dramatic storylines.
very much agree, no point in signing someone because “Oh my god! people know this guy!” (as i’ve said a bunch of times). he won’t bring back a prospect or draft pick, which is the whole point of signing veteran guys like this in down years
I think you don’t quite understand the context…
Manny has stated that he will sign a minor league deal and/or for the minimum. You put him in AAA after his suspension is over and then see what happens.
If he is an issue, you cut him. If he fails to play well, you cut him. If you don’t like the smell of his dreads, you cut him.
Please explain to me the “dramatic storyline” there…
what kind of message? that if you can hit the baseballl, there is an opportunity for you. I’m sure the A’s will stress to any and all of their ball players the importance of playing fair and staying off the PED’s but you cannot deny that Manny can hit the ball better than most. Ramirez used a fertility drug which raised his testosterone. Not the worst crime in the game.
People’s blind hatred for Manny blinds them on how much sense this makes as a baseball move.
well, manny may make the a’s better, and give them some offense which they lack. and that would be useful….if this was the pre-2011 offseason when they were intent on contending
thing is, the a’s don’t plan on contending this year, and manny won’t bring back a prospect or a draft pick. in a down year like this year, the a’s should just let carter and kila dh, and if they don’t hit well, fine, cut them or send them to AAA, if they do hit well, then great, that’s just an added bonus
Another part of baseball is the business side. Manny will or rather may bring fans into the stadium which carter or kila cannot. I went to see him in LA which is 3 hours from my home. If he werent playing, I probably wouldn’t have gone. Stars no matter how tarnished bring fans
probably not enough to justify the signing, even if it is a minor league one.
I’m not so sure. I’m sure you wouldn’t be intrigued but I believe Oakland hasn’t had anybody with the notoriety as Manny. No matter how good or bad one may perceive Manny you can’t deny the curiosity many may feel if he were in town.
sadly, that’s the same thing they said about hideki matsui, they thought he’d bring in a bigger crowd, and while yes he did bring in a crowd, it didn’t really affect attendance enough to justify his signing
manny may bring in a few more curious fans, but again, just not enough to justify signing him
edit: what i’m trying to get at is, the cost of him signing just to bring in a few extra people, and take a roster spot of someone who has a chance for a decent season given enough consistent at bats just may not be worth it, even if he is just at league minimum
There is a (albeit incredibly small) chance MAnny comes back and hits well. If he proves he can hit .280/.360/.440 (which is lower than he hit in 2010) then he might have trade value.
The positives overwhelmingly outweigh the negatives which seem to consist of “give the young guys a chance” or “not worth the headache”.
well, if we had him for longer than say, 30 or 40 games (which would probably be the longest amount of time he’d spend in the majors), then i’d agree about all the positives.
last year, when the a’s were planning on contending, i was all for signing manny, hoping they would in fact, and was especially disappointed when i saw he signed for less than matsui (obviously hindsight being 20/20 the matsui signing was better)
manny may have a ton of positives, but in a down year where the a’s aren’t going to contend, they become moot, especially considering there’s only a small chance that he picks up enough value for a trade
I just don’t see the downside. It’s not money. that’s for sure.
there’s not really a downside, but also not really an upside to bring in someone who MIGHT hit well and who MIGHT bring in someone, basically he’d be jonny gomes…just starting the season 50 games later, when the a’s will most likely be already looking to sell guys like mccarthy and suzuki and balfour
That makes more sense. I just find it silly that all these people trash Manny without providing a reason why he wouldn’t make sense for their team.
For the A’s, it maybe doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Ps – Thanks for indulging me in this good-natured debate.
Manny can hit and by the time his suspension is served Carter/Allen/Taylor/ and Ka’aihue will have all fizzled out and been sent back to AAA, proving once again they can’t hang in the MLB
No manny we want Chris Carter to be DH.
If Oakland wants a DH, why not just talk to Vlad over Ramirez who is going to be out 50 games and could spaz out in the mean time, or Ordonez who could fall down walking to the batters box and break another ankle?
Kila’s a frustrating player as a fan, hopefully he finds new life in Oakland, his time just ran out here in KC. (Gotta say that feels sort of good, having the talent to surpass waiting on Kila to breakthrough.)
come on a’s, just say no…give carter, or well, apparently kila, his chance, and after a while, if he doesn’t stick, hand the reigns over to carter. there’s absolutely no good reasons to sign manny, he won’t bring back a prospect, and he won’t bring back a draft pick. let the young’uns play!
also, i would love for the a’s to pick up someone like uehara or mcclellan. If Burnett had just one year left on his contract, i would’ve loved for them to pick him up, but since he has two years, no thanks
Carter’s had his chance…twice. Let it go. They need real hitters.
Give these youngsters a chance Billy!
Um, I’d say players who are 26 years old cannot be called youngsters any longer. So glad, the A’s are moving beyond the AAAA guys.
I’m all for having Manny as a backup option if Carter or Kaiahue don’t pan out.
thing is, if carter and ka’iahue don’t work out, they could move gomes to dh and bring up taylor to platoon with smith, no reason to sign a 4th DH, plus they could also use allen at DH if need be