Some items out of Oakland….
- The A’s aren’t expected to revisit extension negotiations with Khris Davis until later in the offseason, though the two sides will surely talk prior to the January 11 deadline for exchanging arbitration figures. Davis is projected to earn $18.1MM in 2019, his final year before free agency, though Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle points out that Oakland stands a decent chance of retaining Davis for 2020 via the qualifying offer. A longer-term deal still could be attractive for the Athletics, however, as a way of saving themselves some money in overall average annual value. A source tells Slusser that the length of an extension “is far more important to Davis than the annual value of the contract,” as Davis surely would like some long-term security given how the free agent market has somewhat harshly treated bat-first players over the last two years.
- Heisman Trophy winner and A’s draft pick Kyler Murray pointed towards the Athletics as his future destination, telling reporters (including KFOR.com’s Dylan Buckingham) Wednesday that, “As of right now, I’m going to play baseball. That’s about it.” Murray had given some recent indications that he could reconsider an NFL career in the wake of his star performance as Oklahoma’s quarterback this season, though yesterday’s statement would seem to indicate that he is ultimately preparing to join the Athletics’ farm system once his collegiate career is over. Scott Boras, Murray’s agent, also more or less said as much when speaking to MLB.com’s Jane Lee and other media members Wednesday at the Winter Meetings. “When you win the Heisman Trophy, you are going to have a lot of information come to you and be looked at,” Boras said. “All I know is Kyler has a tremendous opportunity to be a great baseball player. He knows that, and I think that opportunity is already in place. He has every intention to be in Spring Training and advance that interest.” Murray was the ninth overall pick of the 2018 draft, and his A’s contract (which included a $4.66MM bonus) allowed him to play football for Oklahoma this season.
- In a preview of today’s Rule 5 Draft, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America writes that A’s shortstop prospect Richie Martin is rumored as the Orioles’ choice as the draft’s first overall pick. Oakland picked Martin 20th overall in the 2015 amateur draft, and after dealing with knee problems during his first three pro seasons, Martin broke out to hit .300/.368/.439 over 509 plate appearances for Double-A Midland in 2018. The Athletics couldn’t find room for him on the 40-man roster, however, and now the team stands a good chance of losing Martin in the Rule 5 Draft, be it the Orioles or another interested club. Any team that takes Murray must keep him on their Major League roster for the entire 2019 season, or else offer him back to the A’s for $50K. Cooper’s piece is well worth a full read for a look at some of the intriguing young players who could be Rule 5 picks today at 11am CT.
The Orioles may as well take about 6 guys and carry them all year. Another path to rebuilding the farm.
Blue Jays decided not to 40-man a lefty reliever with about 10 K’s per 9 innings, and ERA at 0.95 and a WHIP at 0.98 between A and AA last season. His name is Travis Bergen. But hey, they re-acquired Oliver Drake. They have that going for them.
Considering the team’s lack of quality lefties, keeping Bergen should have been a no-brainer. But this is the Toronto Blue Jays. Arrogant without with game to back it up.
Not keeping a relief pitcher on their 40-man roster who for the first time in a season pitched more than 20 innings is the definition of arrogance.
Nice try OBP. Jays brought back Oliver Drake. Your comeback holds no weight. Take that walk…
I don’t see what Drake has to do with any of this but at least they know for a fact he can pitch for more than 10 percent of the season.
^Dipoto it’s called a roster spot. Drake has one, and he’s been awful. Does not deserve one nor should he be on a rebuilding team that has plenty of bullpen arms in the system.
Bergen is already 25 and hasn’t gotten past AA, and he’s barely pitched at all over his four seasons in the low minors. His college numbers weren’t particularly impressive at a small school either. He’s mentioned as a finesse lefty, with a low 90s fastball, and those guys often have success in the low minors because a lot of less-advanced hitters haven’t seen that kind of pitcher as much. I doubt it’s much of a loss for anyone involved. Most teams can find a soft-tossing LOOGY anywhere, and there’s tons of pitchers with eye-popping low-A and single-A stats that never make the majors.
It is a luxury to have a LOOGY in the system, or did.
Unlike you, Starbucks, I’m of the belief of rewarding success rather than failure. I’m part of the minority in that thinking but nice attempt at making no real point to my initial comment.
Huh. All 30 MLB GMs disagree with you.
“any team that takes Martin…”
Khris Davis – 4 for 65, starting after this season. . . ???
Too Light. ? Maybe 80, Don’t know if the A’s will pay that much. . . . .
Don’t see him exceeding Cruz’s contract with Seattle honestly.
I bet 4/60 would get it done.
The A’s won’t pay that much, and if he has another season like the last few that would be too light anyway. But he may love Oakland; he’s exactly the kind of buy-low guy Beane will hang onto until he gets expensive, extracting maximum value of him while he’s still cost-controlled.
Richie Martin is living la vida loca
The A’s only have 37 players on the 40 Man Roster. Unsure why Martin would not fit.
They draft well at short. It’s been awhile since I looked through Oakland’s farm but the last time I did they had tons of prime short stops
If they added him then had to DFA him later, teams could have got him without the Rule 5 rules attached.
Martin has not played above AA. His bat until this year was terrible. His glove work has taken a down ward spiral. If he is selected he is still along shot for a team to carry him all year long. That is why the A’s didn’t protect him because it will be a carry by a team not a productive player..
His defense was supposed to be his calling card too. What a waste of a 1st round pick.
Yeah his fielding has been poor and he hasn’t been able to stay healthy.
How did last years rule 5s do?
A few stuck and Brad Keller was pretty decent
Something of an understatement here. Has any Rule V pick been more productive in the modern era in their first season than Keller was last year? Maybe Odubel Herrera, but it’s a short list.
A’s picked up Mark Canha via Rule V but yeah, bench player so…
Shane Victorino, Dan Uggla, Johan Santana…
Dan Uggla was an All-Star and ROY candidate in 2006.
Santana obviously had a great career, but was definitely not good in his first year.
Victor Reyes, the first pick, was hopelessly overmatched for Detroit but did pick up 220 PAs and showed some speed and defensive ability, but no strike zone judgment at all. Carlos Tocci had a similar season for Texas, with even less value though. Brad Keller had a great year for a rule 5 guy, putting up 3.6 WAR for KC although his peripherals, especially his BB/K stuff, aren’t terribly impressive, but he held his own with a 3.06 ERA over 140 innings and 20 starts/21 relief appearances. Burch Smith had been in the majors before and still throws really hard, but was brutal for KC, allowing 60 runs in 78 innings. with a 1.7 WHIP and ERA near 7. He supposedly has touched triple digits with the FB so he might continue getting looks.
Elieser Hernandez showed some decent stuff with the Marlins but not good results; he was terribly overmatched but could turn into a useful piece. Luke Bard pitched a few good innings for the Angels before they put him on the DL; he”s probably a middle reliever. He was a first-round draft pick out of college. Anthony Gose spent the season trying to convert to a two-way player; he’s obviously seen tons of major-league time as a part-time outfielder/pinch-runner/defensive replacement.
Everyone else was returned to their original teams. Keller’s success makes it a fairly productive rule 5 draft, though; usually none of these guys put up anything like a 3.6 WAR season combined.
Thanks for the rule 5 recaps!
Gose also ended up being returned to his original team I believe.
Going into the Rule V my top 6
1. Brandon Waddell
2. Drew Jackson
3. Donie Dewees
4. Thomas Eshelman
5. Richie Martin
6. Josh Ockimey
Richie Martin has yet to play a full season at any level of baseball, his range is severely limited due to all of his knee injuries, and he was passed up on his own AA team last year, leading him to play 2B toward the end of last year.
So Kyler Murray got 4.66 up front, can he bail on mlb and keep the money?
Pretty sure he’d be the first or 2nd QB taken meaning he’d make way more than 4.66 playing football.
He got a very small portion up front, the rest he gets when he reports to Spring Training.
Hard to know what sport would make him the most money. Football careers can be short due to concussions. But he has options. I wish I had one.
He has to pay back the money if he goes to the NFL. My bet is Boras will monitor the market to see where he will be drafted before having him go to the NFL. His size doesn’t give him a lock as a high draft pick.
The signing bonus is spread out a bit, but he’d keep the money. NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed in full and Murray is incredibly short to be a successful NFL quarterback. He’s probably better off sticking to baseball, because of the much lesser injury risk and the guaranteed money. He’s projected, I believe, to be a second-round pick in the NFL and those guys generally don’t make huge money, even if they are Heisman winners. Even though the NFL has begun embracing option-style QBs a bit more, it’s still a position mostly manned by big dudes with strong arms. That isn’t Murray. Maybe he’s some kind of once-in-a-lifetime outlier, but nobody has really ever been able to do both except Bo Jackson, and he was an unbelievable athlete. And even Bo broke down relatively quickly.
(I know Deion Sanders had some seasons where he did both but he wasn’t much of a baseball player; fast but really raw, a career 80 OPS+ and no power at all. )
And by the way, for an awesome baseball moment, look up Deion’s inside-the-park homer where Bo missed the catch. It’s amazing.
Murray received a small percentage of the 4.66 million signing bonus. The remainder sits in an escrow account. Murray must report to spring training to receive the rest of the money.
The Orioles have the first pick and are rumored to have an interest in A’s SS Richie Martin. The White Sox pick third and may consider former University of Illinois standout Tyler Jay who was the Twins 2015 first round June Draft pick, selected two spots ahead of Carson Fulmer and three ahead of Ian Happ. Jay is a southpaw reliever, an area the White Sox look to fortify this offseason, as do the Cubs who have a much later chance of selecting him.