The Athletics completed their third major trade of the offseason this afternoon, sending Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney to Boston for Josh Reddick and prospects Miles Head and Raul Alcantara. Here’s the latest on the AL West, starting in Oakland…
- A’s assistant GM David Forst says no more moves are imminent though there are still players of interest for the A’s, according to MLB.com’s Jane Lee. Right-handers Fautino De Los Santos, Joey Devine and Grant Balfour and left-hander Brian Fuentes are now possible closers for the team, Lee writes.
- Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times explains why Prince Fielder will sign for more than three years and how the Mariners' TV deal impacts their ability to spend on free agents. Agent Scott Boras discussed Fielder’s value earlier today.
- The last four digits of the Rangers' $51.7MM bid for Yu Darvish were 3411, tweets Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun. Rangers president Nolan Ryan wore #34 as a player and Darvish wears #11.
if joey devine is healthy, he should close. he’s got some nasty stuff
Devine and FDLS will be a sick setup-closer combo if healthy, no matter who pitches what inning.
i think this year, balfour is set to be the 8th inning setup man, unless he’s traded before the season starts
he will be
Who cares who the A’s closer is next year? They’re going to win about 40 games so I’m guessing chances will be few and far between.
You never know what Billy will have up his sleeve, it’s the 10th anniversary of 2002.
Just kidding, they’re the Astros of 2012.
Arent the Astros in the same div now? The M’s always find a way to blow it too, the A’s could surprisingly be a .500 team next year no matter how much they tear down everything.
That goes into effect next year.
Road to the AL Pennant runs through Arlington. Going to be a fun season. Third time’s the charm for the Rangers. Best front office in baseball is going to keep this team in front for a long time. Go Rangers.
Uh the Angels got Pujols and the Rangers best SP. Don’t overrate your squad bro. Replace Wilson with Oswalt and get Fielder before making that statement.
I disagree. The Rangers are absolutely the team to beat still. Their lineup is better than LAA by quite a bit. The Angels have the edge in the rotation but the Rangers take the Bullpen.
Lol Since Pujols is likely actually closer to 40 and his stats are declining and Wilson is a head case who chokes in important games, I wouldn’t bet your house on the Angels being better than the Rangers in spite of investing that much in their free agent signings…
Pujols is actually a player who’s age I don’t question as highly. He attended HS in Indepedence, MO..and wasn’t entirely coveted after he graduated and then attended a local junior college. He wasn’t exactly on the Dominican expressway to the big leagues and having “advisors” change his birth records on the island. Not stating that I know for fact his age as recorded is correct..just stating that he seems like a less likely case than others have been.
Having played against him in high school, yes he is older than they say he is, and that is part of the reason he wasn’t coveted. He was 21 or 22 playing against 18 years olds in a non traditional baseball area. But he was still a USA Today All American.
Instead of graduating on time, he had to take another semester of high school graduating in December. Then even though his high school had got him an extra year of eligibility, he went to junior college to play against older competition.
He was a beast in high school/juco, but he also wanted an above slot deal. He actually was not going to sign with the Cardinals and go back into the draft the next year to get more money, but they jumped up the offer to him after he dominated a wood bat summer league.
I coached against him when he was with the Hays Larks in the Jayhawk League. He was really great, but I remember there were also some other really great players in that league at the time. Like I said, I really don’t know his age..it’s just that I think some people assume he was brought up from a Dominican program. I’m not sure anyone really knew what they had when he was drafted. From what I saw..having a wooden bat in his hand made him an even better hitter. He was playing 3B the times that I saw him. But he was like alot of other players in that league.
Your point? He’s the best hitter ever seen in the last 50 years. Now he’s an Angel. The Rangers look like an AAA team compared with the Angels now and thats WITH Vernon Wells.
I’m sorry, you’re just flat out ignorant if you think Texas looks like a AAA team to anyone. I shouldn’t even comment on such a pathetic post.
That was hyperbole, but it comes from people not thinking that Pujols can turn a lineup from ok to a powerhouse, which is also pretty ignorant.
I mean as a Rangers fan coming into the offseason you were indeed sitting pretty, but the Angels have made moves that have leapfrogged them over the Angels in terms of team to beat. The team Albert is always the team to beat. Plus losing your ace to a div rival swings a few wins back LAA’s way.
I don’t think anybody leapfrogged anybody else. The Angels got a lot better but there was still 188 runs scored that separated the two last year. Pujols will get his 100 plus but he won’t affect the guys around him so much that it makes up for the rest and the Rangers can flat hit. We also hit .301 against the Angels where as the Angels hit .252 against us so I don’t fear them straight up. The Angels starting pitching is sick but I don’t think CJ was in our long term plans. There was only a 26 run difference in earned runs last year as well. Likely that will widen a bit but that really depends on Darvish and how our young pitchers continue to mature. It is way too early to say one team is better yet but it is going to make for a hell of a season.
The Rangers heard all that talk about how one player makes everyone else better when they signed A-Rod back in the day. Pujols won’t turn that team around by himself. And losing the division by double digits does mean your team needs to be turned around.
Are you really saying a guy who says is 31 is 40?
Scared much? Im an A’s fan and hate both your teams, but cmon, adding Pujols = adding 10 wins. Plus subtracting Wilson from Tex and adding him to LAA = u delusional if you think TEX is still the team to beat in the west. Sign Oswalt and Fielder and I’ll change my view but as of now the Angels are utterly destroying the Rangers. I mean cmon, Weaver, Haren & Wilson? Texas’s rotation is pathetic compared to that, plus adding the biggest offensive force in the game? You are only kidding yourself. Texas wont even win 85+ unless they sign Prince, Darvish and Oswalt. Please join reality before posting here next time bro….
I guess since your an A’s fan the Angels offense looks powerful but after Puljos it gets really average. Pitching is superior to Rangers but not bye as much as Rangers offense is to Angels offense. It will be a good race neither team is that much stronger overall.
Pujols better hope Borgous and Trout can get on base cause nobody else is scared of your geriatric outfield of Abreu, Hunter and Wells. And don’t tell me Trumbo is the second coming. Eric Hinske was a rookie of the year and what happened to him? Be consistent and I’ll buy the hype.
The Angels overachieved last year. Should’ve win about 80-82 games. Texas may have lost their best pitcher, but their replacing him with a guy who’s twice as good as CJ could hope to be. Sure people seem to think hell continue the trend Japanese pitchers usually take, but he’s in a totally different league from those guys. Big build, natural mechanics that will transition greatly with a new mound and ball. Texas has improved since the end of last season. And while LAA has improved also, two players alone won’t add 10 wins unless they get lucky.
the angels overachieve every year, though
until the rangers sign darvish, they haven’t actually improved over last year’s club. the angels, in the meantime, are massively improved. 10 wins is actually a pretty reachable mark for pujols and wilson
once darvish signs, i think the rangers are the favorites for the division. but it’s close
I would add IF Morales is healthy, the Angels lineup gets much better. plus, Wells can’t be much worse, can he?
If he plays like he does in 2011, he needs to be benched, stat.
The Angels aren’t spending 200MM+ on 2 players to let sub-replacement players suck up playing time.
the angels also aren’t likely to be done. with boston out of the picture, a madson signing would not surprise me at all
they should also be trading somebody in the trumbo/morales/callaspo group, presumably for something useful to the 2012 club
Its not even close with Darvish. Darvish, Fielder & Oswalt make it close but the Angels are absurd right now, Texas looks like a AAA team compared with them. Their entire offense relies on two extremely injury-prone players. They dont stand a chance against Pujols, Weaver, Haren & Wilson.
You’re overrating the hell out of the Angels. The very same team that has log jammed itself at OF, 1B, and DH, blocked their best prospect, and traded a useful catcher with power for a crappy fielder and hitter. Not only that, but but Torri Hunter and Vernon Wells will be starting. With one of Morales or Trumbo DHing, Abreu will be forced to play right field.
This team isn’t as good as you think.
What are you talking about? What useful catcher with power did they trade? Surely you aren’t referring to Jeff Mathis, the joke of the major leagues. I assume you don’t mean Napoli, who was traded a year ago. Pujols will play 1B, Trumbo is going to see time at 3B, and Abreu will DH until morales is ready to return. Torii Hunter was playing hurt during the fist half of 2011 but quietly had a monster 2nd half. Trout will see plenty of time filling in, as 4th outfielders often do. Wells has a history of performing every other year, so he may be in line for a rebound, but even if he doesn’t he’s the only weak link in the lineup. And let me remind you that Morales finished 5th in the MVP voting in 2009 and was having a monster 2010 before the injury. If comes back and teams with Pujols, it’s over.
How have you forgot about Mike Napoli so quickly!?
Why are you dismissing that move even though it was a year ago? It still happened, and it’s still a setback.
Your exactly right hes just trying to push your buttons hold of on the talking until the games are played then you can back it up.
Wow, the back to back AL champs are a AAA team compared to the team that just added an ageing slugger and overpaid for a starter with a bad playoff record?
You usually don’t say such ignorant stuff. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that you were just overly worked up.
This is an absolutely silly post. A back to back world series contender lets one pitcher walk and replaces him with one that should be as good, if not significantly better, and now looks like a AAA team? Calling the Wilson/Darvish swap neutral is reasonable. Pujols is a nice pick up, sure, but their lineup still is not as offensively potent as the Rangers.
The Rangers lost many games in the first half of the season due to their bullpen, which was massively improved by the trade deadline. And that’s even with Uehara playing very poorly in comparison to how he has shown he is able to. It’s highly likely he will be closer to his O’s stats come the 2012 season. Lots of younger players in the Rangers have been playing better and better over the past few seasons, and there’s no reason to believe this trend won’t continue.
Overall, it’s just ludicrous to claim that a team that hasn’t clinched the division in the past two years suddenly makes the team that did look like a AAA offering based off of two player changes.
People were talking boatloads of trash before the 2011 season after Cliff Lee left. Saying that the Rangers wouldn’t win 85 games. Well. They took it to game 7 of the World Series, and were 1 strike away from winning it all. Twice. A team that wasn’t even supposed to play .500. Angels want the division? The al pennant? Come and take it.
My post was meant to be seen as silly as those who think Pujols doesnt make the Angels instantly the best team in the West. The flip of the Rangers best pitcher (in terms of WAR) to a rival is absolutely devastating as well to the Rangers chances. If their roster stays as is, its reasonable to think theyre an 85 win team. The Angels have the best rotation in the AL and Pujols, thats good for 85-90 wins.
I’m willing to change my opinion if Texas gets Fielder & Darvish, but if they dont only a homer would think that Texas is the team to beat. You Rangers fans are underrating both the swing of losing your ace to your div rival and just how devastating a player a 32 year old Albert Pujols is. All these knocks on his age and implying that he’s older (like the clown who said he’s 40) are just really obvious sour grapes and delusions from jealous Rangers fans, and heck, I’d be too if I spent all this time building a great team and a great farm only to have the rug pulled out from underneath them. Bummer to be a Rangers fan right now. They better get Prince to even things up.
I think if they are the best, it’s by a slim margin. I’m not in any way discounting the chance that the Angels win the West. They’ve put together a very good team. But I also don’t believe that the Rangers are in that poor of a position. We heard the same thing around this time last year when Cliff Lee departed. The Angels were going to beat us by 20 games. We might drop behind Seattle or Oakland. We didn’t stand a chance. And in the end, we went further than 28 other teams.
The Angels have a good team. So do the Rangers.
LOL Calling the Rangers fans homers!?!?!? Read what you wrote. CJ’s ground balls will find massive holes on the left side of an Aybar (who winning a gold glove was as silly as Young’s, neither have any range but make no errors) and Trumbo infield. Trumbo had a 0.3 dWar at first (offensively, I like him though). Third basemen that can no longer play third and move to first have a better dwar at first than that. Then CJ gets frustrated and starts throwing like crap. It is a recipe for disaster.
And an offense that relies on 2 players? we had 5 guys with 25+ hrs, 4 starters with over a .290 AVG, 6 guys with over 75 RBI’s and 5 guys with over a .340 OBP. You had 2 player with over 25 HR, 2 guys with over 75 RBI’s, no players that can hit over .290, and only 2 guys that get on at a clip better than .340. Pujols isn’t going to suddenly make you that much better by adding him to that.
After all of that, It will be a battle though and a lot of fun to watch. I think we are both over 90 wins (thank you Seattle and Oakland) and both make the playoffs. Fun to get a good rivalry finally. Just sucks living here when the games played in Anaheim don’t start until 9 our time.
Stop talking. You’re embarrassing yourself.
And the road to a World Series trophy is apparently an expressway.
If being in a constant state of rebuilding a crappy team is a sign of genius… then Billy Beane is the Eistein of baseball.
Not even true. The A’s would not be in this position if they didnt try and win it all in 09 with the Holliday deal. Add CarGonz and a nice return for Street on his own and the A’s arent in this position right now. They made one mistake (or a few if you count the Sheets, Giambi & Nomar 09 signings) that sunk them. They were doing a proper rebuild then for no reason got Holliday and broke up the rebuild. At least now Beane is doing it right, 2014/15 the A’s are going to be spectacular. Their farm has never been this good.
How long has he had the job and what is his playoff record?
The Cardinals won a WS with an 83-78 record. If you believe playoff record to be any kind of “point” you are mistaken.
If the goal of major league baseball is not to win the World Series, then what is the goal?
You’re gonna be sorely disappointed when the A’s keep trading their young talent away until they actually get a new stadium and are financially able to compete as a MLB team. Right now, the A’s are the farm team for all other teams the way the Astros are in the NL.
Except their pieces arent even that good. They have no centerpiece, no franchise player, they only time they did was when they had CarGo and they flipped him for Holliday.
Gio, Cahill & Bailey arent centerpiece franchise players. Beane is being smart here because Texas and LAA are so much better than them for the next 3 years its pointless to bother trying to go .500+. This farm might be the best one he’s built, 2014/15 is their time. LAA gets older and TEX loses their heart. This is the best move for the A’s no matter what the stadium situation.
And it claim Ranger fans overvalue our squad? A’s have an improved farm system now, but not great. They did iffy at best in today’s trade. The Gio and Cahill trades were solid but none of those prospects jump out as true superstar guys. A few have potential to be good starters though. But half of these guys or even more probably wont even pan out.
They traded an oft-injured reliever and a terrible OF for an everyday OF and 2 high ceiling 19 year olds. Next question…
The farm has never been this good and still isn’t as good as the Rangers’ farm system.
Beane is over rated
These days tv deals equal big money guys.
Especially for the Mariners, their TV broadcast territory stretches from Alaska to Oregon to Montana.
All 500K of those Montana residents. Hells yeah.
They might have the largest area for tv broadcast, but I still live within 50 miles of more people than that entire area covers! (Im in between Chicago and Milwaukee)
when is bob elliott going to shut up about Darvish???
When he gets his autograph maybe
Lol. Brian Fuentes as a closer…
oh god no, he’s the 7th inning man for sure, if that, maybe even just a LOOGY
“No more moves are imminent says the A’s” – Says David Frost
You mean to tell me that you can’t trade the players that you traded for to trade for other players so you can minimize super-two status on said players you traded for and therefore fitting within in your budget. WHaaaaa?????
Geoff Baker, do you realize you raise the price on Prince Fielder with every one of your ridiculous blog posts?
There’s a difference between “ridiculous” and reality with facts. If his rudimentary explanation of how things work in the baseball world isn’t common knowledge by the GM’s of this sport… they don’t deserve to be GM’s.
Simply stating: his article has no bearing on the ultimate sum Fielder will get.
Prince is waiting on new ownership for the Dodgers. bids on ownership are due mid-January…..
just let me dream guys >.<
“just let me dream guys >.<"
I hear ya man. I'm a Mariners fan and dreaming is all I've got.
There is truth to this IMO….borASS will work MLB to allow a payroll increase w/ the approval of the potential new owners….
There is truth to this IMO….borASS will work MLB to allow a payroll increase w/ the approval of the potential new owners….
next to go: Kurt Suzuki or Brandon McCarthy…there may be nothing “imminent” but i’m sure something is in the works
me 2
who would catch with powell and suzuki gone? recker or donaldson with barely any experience in the mlb? or norris who hasnt even played in AAA. we will have to wait at least until the july deadline before the a’s trade suzuki.
yes recker and donaldson, who would be stop gaps while the a’s aren’t contending, and while derek norris/ryan ortiz develop in the upper minors and max stassi/nick rickles/beau taylor develop in the lower minors
what recker and donaldson have going for them so far is decent pop and good patience at the plate
no way will they trade suzuki without giving recker more of a shot at catching.
of course, i’m pretty sure beane & co. view recker more highly than donaldson, i’m just saying they both have kind of the same strong suit offensively, i dunno what the story is for them defensively
i predict fielder will be a bad signing, just too fat and will only get bigger. pity the team who give him all that money.
The Red Sox gave the A’s Head?
I think I’m the only Mariners fan that see’s the ridiculous return that young pitching is getting on the market and immediately wonders what we could get for Pineda.
A lot of people have been suggesting this lately actually. At least in lieu of trading Felix
The only problem is that the team that matched up the best seemed to be the Reds, and now that they traded the very pieces we’d likely have received, I can’t see a very good fit for Pineda anymore.
I’ve always been pro-trade when it comes to Pineda. Too many red flags. Value is absurdly high, and he should have been dealt. But I’m not surprised in any way that he wasn’t.
mariners would get a crazy haul if they traded felix.
Why does Geoff Baker always troll on the Blue Jays? He seems to always reference them when he’s talking about perpetual rebuilding phases, as if the Jays aren’t going through a very successful one right now. I’m sure Geoff was on board for the Chone Figgins/Richie Sexson/Scott Spiezio/Kenji Johjima/Adrian Beltre signings which put them in the very same competitive lull the Jays experienced through the better part of the last decade, as well as the Guitierrez extension. And now he’s encouraging a hot pursuit of Prince Fielder to jumpstart their offensive woes, all the while blocking Justin Smoak from AB’s? How does he not see the risk in signing albatross deals to free agents, expecting them to change the whole dynamic of a team that looked down right terrible the last few years? I diametrically oppose to nearly everything Geoff Baker blogs, and I hope I’m not the only one. lol
I love an industry that can throw around $3,411 to humor a president and a potential employee.
Might have been 34.11
3411 , Sounds a little homo to me.