The A's appear to be out of the Adrian Beltre sweepstakes altogether, reports Buster Olney of ESPN (via Twitter). The third baseman has previously indicated a desire to play elsewhere and Oakland seems to be focused on other targets.
A few weeks ago, Oakland reportedly offered Beltre a five-year, $64MM deal which is equivalent to what he signed with the Mariners prior to the 2005 season. However, the third baseman's camp was reportedly seeking something similar to the five-year, $90MM deal that Torii Hunter signed with the Angels prior to the 2008 season.
With Adrian Gonzalez no longer Boston bound, it would seem that the door is once again open to Beltre's return. Had the BoSox landed Gonzalez, they would have shifted Kevin Youkilis to third, filling his position. Of course, the Red Sox and Padres could still rekindle the trade talks, leaving the third baseman without a spot to fill in Beantown.
Oh my gosh come on…Seriously?
Was just about to make my own post and say SPAN will be upset LOL
Upset? more like devistated…but thanks for remembering about my man crush.
Span, I feel your pain. I thought we were going to be able to get Kouz as a temporary black hole replacement from you all.
Tell Beane I’m terribly disappointed in this news. Well, at least we signed Jack H. Goes from black hole to slate gray hole I guess.
lol..poor Spanny..knew you would post on here 😛
Well I’m here…I usually post on every post…But I was hoping that there would never be a thread of “Oakland appears out of the Beltre bidding.” I was hoping it would be “A’s agree to deal with Adrian Beltre”
wouldnt you like him on the blue jays?
Oakland gets no love.
HAHA, why would they not withdraw the offer when there’s no interest other than the Sox.
So A’s offer most money to beltre, offer most years to berkman. Yet nothing. Hey Selig, it comes all back to the stadium issue. Taking 21 months and still no word. Thats why A’s cant attract free agents. Beane back to scrap heap, old veterans or trades.
This always happens. Thanks Selig for helping us out with this.
Perhaps if you kill (figuratively) those annoying dudes with the drums out in left field, your stadium situation will improve.
Those guys are the most die hard fans that the A’s have. They are literally there 81 games a year every single year for a while now.
…or go back to the late 70’s early 80’s just before Billy Ball, and ALL YOU COULD hear from the 2,000 to 8,000 fans of some days was COWBELL (and no signs of “Don’t Fear the Reaper”)
Or go back to the early 70’s, when no one was banging on any instruments in the stands, and guys like Vida Blue and Catfish Hunter drew a packed house, as well as WS rings.
And don’t we know it. They drum non-stop to the point that I don’t even want to watch it on TV, much less follow the team out to Oakland for a visit. I love their dedication to their team, but can’t stand their choice of instruments.
that just made my day!
Kenny Williams make it happen…then trade brent morell or viecio for BP guys
Between this and the A-Gonz debacle I wonder if Theo is on the phone to Beltre yet?
Or maybe the Red Sox aren’t getting Beltre and they just missed a huge opportunity that will hurt there team for years to come.
I never said anything like “Beltre will be back with the Sox now”, I was merely (sarcastically) wondering if Theo was on the phone yet. As far as missing out on A-Gonz, we don’t know if the trade is off or not or how far they got in extension talks, all we know is that nothing was finalized. Assuming the A-Gonz trade doesn’t happen I don’t really see how it “hurts” the Red Sox it just doesn’t “help” the Red Sox either.
Would the A’s have enough to snag Upton or Greinke? Im a hardcore pirates fan and have extremely limited knowledge of your team, system, and division.
That’s so weird, everyone else has limited knowledge of the Pirates.
LOL…I can imagine man. Unfortunately I love my team and my city. After 18 years, we deserve a winner.
If you ever need bucco knowledge (assuming at some point we become relevant again) look me up.
A’s are on Upton’s no trade clause and no need to trade for Greinke because we already had the league’s best rotation ERA. They just need a 5th starter now.
Upton is on his no trade clause. Greinke would be a nice fit.
Here’s what I’m thinking…
Grant Green, Chris Carter, Max Stassi, and Ian Krol would get it done.
I wouldn’t do that trade from an A’s perspective. Greinke would make the A’s pitching undoubtedly the best in the AL, but the A’s still wouldn’t be able to hit. They would be in a similar situation as last year, no offense. Seeing as how they can not attract a free agent hitter if their life depended on it, trading away Green, Carter, and Stassi would be sacrificing their only chance they have at a decent offense in the near future, the farm.
Beltre to Jays?
More like the Angels. They’ve been pretty quiet.
And they usually strike when most quiet. Good point.
Please give him like, 100MM, Arte Moreno.
Please give him like, 100MM, Arte Moreno.
Does anyone want to go to Oakland? Right now their like the ugly chick at the school dance.
Unfortunately, this is so true. Can’t help but feel for the A’s fans
All they look at is the stadium. They don’t look at the team. The A’s are a good team. Best pitching in AL. All they need is a couple bats to finish the puzzle. But all these FA don’t see that. They can be real contenders if they just had some bats. Don’t know what’s going to happen now. Matsui? Who knows now…
of course if billy Beane would stop trading guys like Andre Eithier and CarGo for rentals, your offense wouldnt look so bad right now
He’d rather trade all his decent looking OF prospects, and then pay Coco Crisp 5 mil to play 90 games
Give the whole Either/CarGo thing a rest! Both Either and CarGo didn’t look like sure things while with the A’s. Every GM makes mistakes, and Beane hasn’t made many bad moves outside of trading these two. True it might have hurt to see Either traded away in the Milton Bradley deal, but at the time, it seemed as if Bradley had more potential and was going to make more of an impact in 2006, the year where the A’s won the AL West and made it to the ALCS. At the time of the trade, the A’s traded a 23 year old outfielder who had yet to even see extended time in Triple A for a 27 year-old who had shown if healthy could be the middle of the order type bat the A’s needed to win in their division while also getting Antonio Perez, a 25 year old who was solid for the Dodgers as a utility player the year before. While it doesn’t look that good for the A’s today, at the time it seemed as if the A’s were getting some value back for one of their top prospects. While C. Gonzo did look like a good prospect, he also had a lot of holes in his swing when he was up with the A’s in 2008. He also didn’t have much plate discipline as he didn’t walk much while striking out a bunch. Also, you have to realize that Car-Go playing in Coors Field has definitely boosted his numbers up a lot. No one could have predicted the amount of sucess both Either and CarGon are having now.
“Every GM makes mistakes, and Beane hasn’t made many bad moves outside of trading these two.”
Tim Hudson for Charles Thomas, Juan Cruz and Dan Meyer . . .
Can we kill the Ethier thing? If the Red Sox made that trade, everyone would still be extoling it. It got the A’s into the ALCS. Aren’t you supposed to make those trades.
And, re: Cargo. OK. Every GM makes mistakes like that. Someone call Atlanta about Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz and Adam Wainwright.
In retrospect the Ethier trade hurts but hindsight is 20/20, the deal made a lot of sense at the time. They went deep into the playoffs, almost any GM would have pulled the trigger on that one. I can’t defend the CarGo trade though. Sure he wasn’t quite a can’t-miss guy, but he was pretty damn close. Packaging a top prospect and one of the best closers in the league at the time, for a Matt Holliday rental? Holliday did not play well, his tenure with the A’s was short and ultimately inconsequential.
Can we kill the Ethier thing? If the Red Sox made that trade, everyone would still be extoling it. It got the A’s into the ALCS. Aren’t you supposed to make those trades.
And, re: Cargo. OK. Every GM makes mistakes like that. Someone call Atlanta about Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz and Adam Wainwright.
what does that make A’s fans?
All the A’s fans seemed so sure he was going to sign with Oakland.
No. We hoped, but knew it was highly unlikely.
No. After the Cardinals signed Berkman a lot of A’s fans were saying that they didn’t care about Berkman because they were going to sign Beltre anyway.
wishful thinking, then
Hate to say it, but I’ve been saying it all along. Free agents don’t want to come to Oakland. They don’t want to play in the Coliseum and play in front of only 8-15K fans per game, they know Beane’s history of trading their good players at the trade deadlines, and who will protect them in the lineup. It just doesn’t make sense for free agent hitters to sign here. These free agents are just using the A’s to drive up their contract. Time to move more of that young pitching and prospects if the A’s want to contend
If they move the pitching then won’t contend. The pitching alone is what made them finish .500 there was Alot of one run games they lost. Who knows what could’ve happened if they had just one decent hitter in there
That is a tough spot Beane is in if he can’t get hitters to get over there. How about the possibility of signing free agent pitching and deal one of their young pitchers for a bat? Why not go for a free agent DH type like Matsui or Guerrero?
Matsui is the best bet right now. Not sure if you remember back in September when they talked to matsui and asked him where he would like to play next year if the angels didn’t pick him up again. He actually said Oakland. He said he likes the bay area also. Plus his agent is good friends with the A’s front office. But assuming matsui does come play in Oakland. He isn’t enough. We need another bat besides him. There isn’t many options out there.
I agree. The situation in Oakland right now is eerily similar to where the Giants were a few years back. So much promise in young, emerging pitchers, but simply cannot sign any established hitters to take the team to the next level. Beane should just do what he can with this weak FA market (Matsui would be a solid signing) and wait until the pitching leads the team to a good enough standing to lure a big bat or two. Trading pitching and prospects is definitely not the answer, we’ve all seen how that has worked out for the A’s. Cannot afford to let another CarGo slip through the cracks for an inconsequential Matt Holliday rental.
I actually think the A’s dodged a bullet here. You don’t want a player that is too big-headed to play in Oakland. Especially when that player only seems to be motivated in contract years.
I wanted Beltre as bad as anyone just for the sake of getting a big namer though. it’s unfortunate they can’t lure anyone to Oak, but your right, they may have dodged a bullet with a long term deal with Beltre. Whom will be accepting much less money and years now that Oak’s deal is off the table.
It’s refreshing when the players seeking inflated cash on a contract year screw themselves with selfishness.
Wow I hate being an a’s fan..
I hope Beltre signs with the Orioles and enjoys losing
im glad we didnt sign Beltre
im glad we didnt sign Beltre
Maybe Beltre and Crawford to the Sox now considering Beltre is a righty. Then A-gon/Fielder/Pujols as DH signing next year…? Sigh.
i could see him hitting 22 homers with a 250 avg in oakland, thats what he does after he gets paid, let baltimore go thru the pain.
Who are these “other targets”.
Idk…I won’t be surprised if Beltre doesn’t sign with them. And yet this rumor seems to be little more than that: a rumor. All this writer said is that they “appear” to be looking elsewhere. It’s really no knew information. Just a writer saying what it looks like now that the AG deal fell through.
he has nothing to do with playing in front of small crowds its all about putting up big numbers for their next contract. Pitchers dont mind coming to Oakland because they know Oakland is very spacious and theyre usually is a good defense to back them up. Beltre just wanted to return to a good Boston team. Why not?
Because of what he adds to the lineup and the division the A’s play in, they could have a better shot at the playoffs than the Red Sox.
Tell that to Beltre! He put up big numbers last year in boston and could
do the same this year. Boston is always gonna be a competitive World
Series type team so you can’t blame him. I think anybody at this point
can be a impact in this lineup
Tell that to Beltre! He put up big numbers last year in Boston and could do the same this year. Boston is always gonna be a competitive World Series Squad, so you cant really blame him. I think anybody at this point can make a impact in this lineup
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Not cool.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Not cool.
My oh my, what a surprise.
Back to giving Iwakuma his $126 MM. Or was that 127 MM?
I’m a little relieved the A’s withdrew their offer. Was never a big fan of putting such a high % of the payroll toward a player with a history of only performing in walk years. Besides, what they really need is a lefty power bat.
Now I’m just waiting for the headline “Beltre, Angels Reach Agreement”
for 6/100.
All of the talk about the A’s this offseason.. beltre dejesus dunn Iwakuma Edwin … has resulted in.. just dejesus and an empty spot in the rotation