TUESDAY, 8:32pm: Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle reports (on Twitter) that the deal is worth $1MM with another $200K in incentives.
FRIDAY, 4:07pm: The deal is for approximately $1.1MM, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.
11:41am: The Athletics have agreed to sign Jonny Gomes, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that the A's were nearing a deal with the Petaluma, California native.
Gomes, 31, posted a .209/.325/.389 line with 14 homers in 372 plate appearances for the Reds and Nationals in 2011. The ACES client has a career .311/.407/.456 line against left-handed pitching, so his skillset should complement left-handed hitting outfielders such as Seth Smith and Josh Reddick.
Conor Jackson and Johnny Damon were also considerations for the A's, who were looking for an outfielder capable of hitting left-handers, according to Slusser. GM Billy Beane has traded for Smith and Reddick and re-signed Coco Crisp this offseason to build his 2012 outfield.
The latest in a series of moves by Beane to keep the team at least competative in the next few years as they rebuild for the move to San Jose. Pending further acquisitions, Gomes will likely replace Matsui as the primary DH and see some spot duty in the OF. Cowgill, Reddick, Smith and Crisp form a decent, if unspectacular, outfield.
The infield is set except at 1B and Suzuki will catch. I look for McCarthy, Colon, Milone, Parker and maybe Godfrey as the starters, pending the return of the oft-injured Anderson and Braden. Tyson Ross is a wild card in the mix.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Beane signs another starter and/or 1B’man to complete the roster.
Here is a crazy idea… Oakland signs Prince Fielder to a 10 year deal.
1) Solves 1st base
2) They actually have the salary room
3) Puts fans in the seats until the move
4) The length of the contract would have him around for SJ, which Beane is building toward.
(A guy’s gotta dream)
If I were an A’s fan I would think that would sound more like a nightmare. There is no way Prince stays productive for the next 10 years.
If I were an A’s fan I would think that would sound more like a nightmare. There is no way Prince stays productive for the next 10 years.
Make it eight years Titus and you have a deal! To have a player at first who can actually hit and anchor the lineup (not to mention be a leader) would be more happiness than than I could bear.
I truly believe this wouldn’t be so far-fetched if fielder wasn’t a boras client. We don’t have a great track record with his firm and I don’t think him and BB mesh well ie. the man who now plays third for the rangers
didn’t his son get drafted by the A’s?
Prince Fielder for 10 years? Go sign the free agents once you get to San Jose, so they’ll be in their primes when its competition time.
Prince Fielder for 10 years? Go sign the free agents once you get to San Jose, so they’ll be in their primes when its competition time.
basically same lineup like last yr except new corner OF’s and maybe carter/kila at DH
lets be honest matsui/dejesus were busts in 2011, shouldnt take much to replace them.
josh willingham outside of a power surge in hr/rbi, his defense, obp, avg were below career norms. he also was able to stay fairly healthy by dh’ing. probably a smith/gomes combo in lf can outproduce willingham’s production at 1/2 the price
i think A’s consider bringing in another vet pitcher to buy some time for peacock, parker, etc
I’d think they’d be in on Oswalt. He’d benefit from pitching in the Coliseum, and he seems like just the kind of low-risk high-reward signing that Beane covets.
Only downside is he’d have to face Texas and LAA eighteen times each.
that would be cool
This deal seals the “sorta, kinda rebuild” patch
why try to make this team better when 2012 and 2013 are washes where we have no chance of winning or competing?
stop signing guys like this unless he gets all the playing time at his spot so he can at least develop a little value to trade away.
the bartolo signing was perfect, as would another veteran starter on a 1 year deal be.
let smith platoon with a young rookie who bats right, doesn’t matter whether he’s ready or not, he’ll be benched or optioned down once green and choice are ready.
beane also needs to cut at least one of jeff fiorentino, brandon moss, cedric hunter (although he’s young enough to keep around) and jason pridie
jeff fiorentino, brandon moss,
cedric hunter jason
pridie
none are on 40 man roster, likely for AAA depth, though hunter is still young and could be interesting.
Add in mitchell, green, taylor/cowgill (one wont make the mlb team), looks like AAA OF will be crowded
AAA will be very crowded, also considering Jeremy Barfield is due for a promotion there, outfield and catcher are far and away the most backlogged positions in the a’s system, and the a’s have players at the upper levels they could cut that wouldn’t have any effect on the parent club and give younger guys more at bats
hence why i want at least 1 or 2 of those guys cut
i explained in the blogs post how it affects the a’s system going down through the lower levels, signing those guys didn’t do any good for the system
Youre right if they are not considered a long term answer whats the point?
i don’t think that’s quite the case, i don’t mind the crisp signing even though he isn’t in our long term plans because he could net us a good prospect (who would hopefully be in our long term plans) or seth smith, who i don’t think is either.
but jonny gomes? not only is he not in our long term plans, he doesn’t figure to net us a decent prospect, the most he’d be traded away for is a ptbnl. 2012 is a wash year, and he’s signed to make us better
I agree on Crisp because he can be flipped for prospects later on. I was talking about Gomes.
I think part of what’s happened is Beane committed to rebuilding, before he knew what his returns were going to be in the trades.
But, especially with the Washington deal, we actually got a lot of near-MLB pitching back (Milone, Peacock, Parker). Pitching could end up with just as many quality innings as the staff last year, despite losing Cahill and Gio. Just spread out a little more.
Colon, Braden, McCarthy, Milone, Parker, Peacock, Anderson…they can average, especially with smaller samples (say, the latter three each in for two months and putting up a sub-4), solid production.
So if the pitching has ended up only taking a slight ding, despite trading two starters…are the A’s even really rebuilding that much? At this point, Beane could be readjusting for A) the revenue sharing $ and B) being closer to a last-wild-card-spot team than expected. and C) Beane’s impatience
Beane’s an excellent GM, but i’ll take C on that
Let’s face it. Do we really have the pieces to compete with the likes of the Angels and Rangers? The A’s just don’t have as good of an offense to the one the Rangers or Angels have and both teams have more proven pitchers that we know can pitch very well on any given day. I just think that at this point, the A’s are just trying to fill their roster and try to stop the arby clocks for a lot of those prospects that you mentioned.
A and C. Certainly not “B”. But, that doesn’t means wants a 50-win team this year. Can Damon play first?
I remember Gomes with the Rays coming to play at the Coliseum. The crowd gave him a nice hand of applause since he is from the area.
I hope he has a good year.
Even if the results never played out on the field for the Nationals he seems like a good guy and a good clubhouse presence
Best of luck in Oakland, Jonny
The A’s are always exciting and fun to watch…but they need to get Barton off of 1B.
you put crisp down that far , might have him and barton switch spots , future looks bright in the outfield, but what about crisp , is he traded or will the a’s sit their highest paid player ?
Gomes was signed to be the primary DH, not play once every 4 or 5 games against lefties. Barton is not going to walk (I mean hit) second if he is even the starter at first—which is far from a certainty at this point. You’re right about this being a line-up of #6 (or7) hitters.
Try this:
Weeks
Crisp
Reddick
Gomes
Smith/Cowgill
Sizemore
Suzuki
IB
Pennington
Why do we want to make the team better for this year and next year though? kinda defeats the purpose of a rebuild. beane needs to stop signing these guys unless they’re gonna be getting all the at bats and not platooning, so at least they could have a little value to trade away at the deadline.
this deal seals the (as oaklandclubhouse put it) kinda, sorta rebuild phase
Your still sticking with Barton huh, I feel like art Howe/billy bean in moneyball. Give Allen a chance and let him prove himself. Barton has done nothing but ONE good year of defense.
100 percent on the barton thing, zero percent on the first part being always
2011= injury year.
The A’s aren’t a team that’s 1-2 wins away from the playoffs. Barton’s success in 2010 were built off awesome pitch recognition skills (which he replicated in a smaller sample size in 2009), which are generally learned skills and not easily fluke-able things.
Barton still has plenty of upside, and should have every chance to get the 1B job.
I highly doubt that Gomes was signed to play everyday. The A’s front office isn’t stupid, even all of us regular people on the internet know Gome’s splits are ridiculous, there is no benefit to batting him against right handers.
Combine that with Smith’s equally obvious complementary splits and it seems really obvious that they intend to platoon them.
i like your line up
The more I look at that lineup the more I want to barf or any lineup the A’s decide to run out there.
The more I look at that lineup the more I want to barf or any lineup the A’s decide to run out there.
Looks like fourth place -awful
Agree. Since 2007 I’ve had to stock up on anti-nausea meds just to get through the season. But, what are you gonna do?
Agree. Since 2007 I’ve had to stock up on anti-nausea meds just to get through the season. But, what are you gonna do?
The A’s are forced to spend all of the revenue sharing money
So I wouldn’t be surprised to see crisp there all year unless we get amazed by a deal.
Im barely even going to pay attention to the big league club this year im just going to keep track of minor league basball to see how the prospects are doing.
that’s what i planned on doing as well, stockton and sacramento are gonna be some fun games to attend this year
Eat salary to garner more value in a trade.
That’s how the A’s turned a broken down Mark Kotsay into Devine.
I could see a team like the Nats or the Cardinals (when Jon Jay meets regression) being interested.
Eat salary to garner more value in a trade.
That’s how the A’s turned a broken down Mark Kotsay into Devine.
I could see a team like the Nats or the Cardinals (when Jon Jay meets regression) being interested.
He does seem to have solid pitch recognition….but I’m not sure he has much upside…not if they can replace him. He’s going to need to develope mor ethan 10HR max power.—-EDIT——I’m corrected….I actually like Barton even though he’s not the prototypical 1B. He reminds me a little of a poor mans Mark Grace. The A’s will have to eventually find other sources for power if they are going to play him there for the future. Interesting.
They traded Kotsay for another player who can’t stay healthy.
On Crisp, they didn’t trade him last season so how can you say with such certainty that a player who signed a pretty expensive contract for TWO years (with an option for a third) is going to be traded?
And, if he is traded, who plays center field, Carter?
Because your logic and facts acts like barton is the next mark grace and kieth hernandez when he clearly is not. All he does is troll for walks. The only thing I like about him is his D thats it. I dont see how you sit there and defend a guy who has a lifetime .252 avg with a .740 ops and takes fastballs down the middle all the time. I just dont get. You have obviously been drinking too much of billy beanes moneyball kool aide.
Agree on Choice. Kids got some great ability.
Barton takes too many pitches for his own (and the team’s)good, though. If you don’t like Weeks/Crisp make it Crisp/Weeks. Barton needs to hit more, walk and strike out on close pitches less. (And, he’s not Mark Grace.)
just a thought , more speed up front, not that original,
His health is the biggest concern and will they even hold onto him if he stays healthy and has a big 3 year stretch. We are all fans and I will respect that as a Rangers fan I have had more than my share empty hope, but lets be realistic also.
It about both. Getting some quality arms and bats for the future/selling high on Gio/Cahill/Bailey, WHILE surviving the next three years.
Just my opinion, but Beane has moved past the last failed rebuild and guys like Allen, Carter, Taylor, Outman and Barton. Otherwise, there would be no need to plug holes in the outfield. I don’t think Beane has it in him to just give up in the interim and play guys who, outside of Barton who tanked last year, are busts.
I was hoping, though, that Taylor would make it; and he still might.
then why spend try to make the a’s better with a guy like gomes who’ll have 0 value?
let someone who “kind of mlb ready” and doesn’t figure into the a’s future plans like michael taylor play instead of signing a guy like gomes who’ll cause taylor to go back to AAA and in turn, cause a backlog going all the way down to low-A burlington, thus hindering the development of someguys who DO figure into the long term
Bobby crocker is the best example, and jeremy barfield is a sleeper example. Crocker, because of the backlog might start at low-A even though he’s more than suited enough to start at high-A, where he might be challenged.
Barfield, who should be bumped up to AAA, might not because of the backlog there, which would also hinder his development.
I agree about the pitchers, i thought the colon signing was perfect and would like to see one more signing like that.
beane is an excellent GM but sometimes his competitiveness gets in the way of building for the future
He has to basic tools to put the bat on good pitches. Any kind of added power would be incredibly valuable.
What I liked about Mark Grace was his sneaky power. He might hit 15-17 homers a year…but I’d like a dollar for every time he cleared the bases either putting one off the ivy or one hopping it. That kind of doubles power doesn’t stand out in basic statistics.
You didnt answer my question why do you support a guy with a lifetime .252 avg and .740 ops. Man those walks are so useful when there is nobody behind him to drive him in.
You act like since I dont like people who troll for walks because they cant hit, that i like people who swing at first pitch sliders in the dirt because I DONT. Teams like the giants and angels do that and its annoying. I like hitters who work the count get a good pitch to hit then hit it, not guys like barton who work the count then take fastballs down the middle hoping that they will draw a walk.
But he is a 1st baseman! He is out there to hack, not walk. He gets on base now what? Who drives him in? Carter? Who does hack but can’t hit the ball! Barton will be stranded at first every time. Come on Pete..
Well, in this case him being a “proven” major leaguer actually works against him. Because he’s “proven” he has a long track record that shows teams what they’re basically going to get. His career splits show that if they used him as a DH Vs. RHP it would not provide any value to them, so why do it?
Vs. LHP – AVG: .270 OBP: .352 SLG: .472
Vs. RHP – AVG: .225 OBP: .315 SLG: .439
Those are career numbers by the way in 2011 his splits were even more dramatic, which shows that, if anything, he’s becoming even more of a platoon player.
taylor is average at best
Good plate disciple is one thing, (see the NY Yankees) but you also have to swing the bat on occasion. See the distinction, Pete?
As for switching my alligence to the Halos…no thanks. Though, I have to admit they and the Rangers know how to hit the ball and the A’s don’t.
The A’s can’t seem to develop a major league hitter to save their life the last decade. Could that be because of an over-emphasis on OPS?
Historically, the A’s have had some great offenses going back to the days of Connie Mack through the Finley and Haas family years and up until Tejeda was dumped for Chavez.
The Yankees manage to exhibit plate discipline without resorting to the extremes exhibitied by Barton and Cust.
They didnt trade them because of the lack of options to trade with. The only team they were linked to was the Braves and look how active they have been. BB probably asked for a top 10 pitching prospect they have and the Braves said no, that has no relevance on this years potential targets for Crisp. A team with a lack of outfield depth can certainly employ Crisp for a 2 season span. I believe Green will be available next year and Reddick is a CF by trade. Thats an easy obstacle to overcome especially if we can get a decent turn around.
So once they move to San Jose all the other clubs will say why even try and sign anyone the A’s are in San Jose now you know what that means!! I am not an A’s fan but hope they turn it around and can actually keep some players instead of the Monty Hall with every prospect like it is now.
”
. Runners left in scoring position, especially with the game on the line by both happended with alarming regular regularity.”
You are talking about a sample of less than 150 plate appearances. That isn’t a large enough sample to make the kind of conclusions you are making.
“The called third stikes on Barton, by 2010, began to have a negative effect on the team.”
With runners in scoring position in 2010 Barton’s strike out rate was in line with his rates with nobody on base.
K rate RISP- 15.4%
K rate runners on- 15.0%
K rate bases empty- 14.8%
All of this information is readily available online. It shows that you have some kind of perception bias against Daric Barton.
Also the phrase “trolling for walks” is absolutely ridiculous. Just stop.
0 percent on your whole comment.
you forgot the mariners are in the same division
if you’re going to be 10+ games back in the standings anyway, why not go for that elite #1 overall talent while at it.
stop talking about stealing bases, extremely over valued
Barton is a very valuable player, the problem with him is that he doesn’t fit the hold of a first basemen, the typical first basemen hits bombs and drives in runs, if barton played SS then his offensive numbers would be fantastic, the fact is he is stuck at first base, he gets on base and there is know one to drive him in, thats not his problem its the guys hitting behind him
Harden may not be a bad option.. he proved last year that when he’s healthy he has value
Bobby Crocker is legit, he is an all around complete player. Just slightly lacking in the home run department, and even then, he hit 3 in 129 PA’s in the pitcher friendly vermont league. he also stole 6 bases in 7 attempts, hit for an .808 ops
next year if he’s sent to the cal league, i could bet he rakes there
The next kevin youkilis? Even though in theory barton is kind of the same hitter youk was at 25 that is very wishful thinking. Youk used to be the so called greek good of walks but since he stopped trolling for walks what do you know his power numbers went up maybe barton should take note. Youk still walks but not at the pace he was in the minors when he walked more then everybody besides barry bonds.
Daric barton is scott hatteberg 2.0. I hope Im wrong and barton turns into a stud like you say he. I get where your coming from in your views about barton but to me he is just scott hatteberg with a better glove.
right back at you , oblivious to the other side of the bay guy
There were buffoons on this board who liked Barton over Lance Berkman at the start of last year.
Ha!
I never said I was a SF guy..
so your not really a giants fan
What about my not really a Giants fan?
You can’t have a guy with that injury history as a guy throwing max effort on back to back days Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry
what your saying makes sense , but what if you ask crisp to bunt more now that he’s in the number two hole and weeks is on base , maybe two speedy guys upfront puts extra pressure on the defense , and then have barton hit with people on base , although i have absolutely no faith in barton except on defense , really if i had a choice he wouldnt hit at all