Official Oakland Athletics 2012 Season Thread (94-68) AL WEST CHAMPIONS

[captain charisma]

Sad to see McCarthy go, mad to see him go for relatively cheap.

Do you know how much the A's were willing to give him, or what would have been considered to breaking the bank?

Just read that McCarthy's contract is a 2.5 m signing bonus with 4m the first year, and 9 m the second.

 

[GreenNGold89]

If McCarthy is healthy, he will definitely be worth that deal. But he is injury prone, and I don't think Beane wanted to take the risk. We had him for two years, first year at $1 mil and 2nd year at $4.5 mil right? That's a decent raise he got, but with what some of these pitchers are getting, I think it's a risk worth taking for the DBacks. I wish we could have retained him but we all knew it wasn't likely.

 

[wearinthefourfive]

I just remember at the beginning of the offseason, ESPN said he was projected to get 2/$20 mil. Arizona got a $6 mil discount from that, and the way pitchers are demanding more and more money, I think its a bargain.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

I just remember at the beginning of the offseason, ESPN said he was projected to get 2/$20 mil. Arizona got a $6 mil discount from that, and the way pitchers are demanding more and more money, I think its a bargain.

Wow, really? There was no way he was getting 10M per, in my opinion. What he's agreed to with Arizona is at the height of what I thought he'd be offered.

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

Drew signed with Red Sox 1 Yr/9 Mill

 

[johnson1]

^ damn...

really liked Drew, hopefully we can get someone decent

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Doesn't bother me so much that Drew is gone. Would rather sign Nakajima or even trade for Asdrubal Cabrera.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

BOO-YA! Nakajima to A's

Ken_Rosenthal #Athletics close on a new shortstop. It's Hiroyuki Nakajima, sources tell me and @jonmorosi. Career .310 hitter with Seibu Lions in Japan.

 

[eagle 0n]

Good call.

I liked Drew but I never really got the impression that he wanted to be with the A's in the first place.

 

[albooboo]

BOO-YA! Nakajima to A's
Ken_Rosenthal #Athletics close on a new shortstop. It's Hiroyuki Nakajima, sources tell me and @jonmorosi. Career .310 hitter with Seibu Lions in Japan.

Good pick up for Oakland.

 

[dland24]

Doesn't bother me so much that Drew is gone. Would rather sign Nakajima or even trade for Asdrubal Cabrera.

I think I would have been happier with the latter if I was an A's fan. But I hope this works out for you. I'm not Japanese, but I always end up liking/rooting for Japanese imports for some reason.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Doesn't bother me so much that Drew is gone. Would rather sign Nakajima or even trade for Asdrubal Cabrera.

I think I would have been happier with the latter if I was an A's fan. But I hope this works out for you. I'm not Japanese, but I always end up liking/rooting for Japanese imports for some reason.

Would depend on what Cleveland is asking for Cabrera, which I'm sure Billy looked into before pulling the trigger on Nakajima. Cabrera's making ~1M more than Nakajima will be and Nakajima's deal will be the same length as the remainder of Cabrera's, though there is a third year option in Nakajima's contract for $5.5M. Not sure who owns the option.

Nakajima has power and was batting for average as well in Japan, though I know there are questions concerning his defense and his bat speed (particularly with that leg kick before he brings his bat across).

 

[albooboo]

Mets Acquire Collin Cowgill
By Mike Axisa [December 18 at 11:47am CST]
The Athletics have traded outfielder Collin Cowgill to the Mets for minor league infielder Jefry Marte, the team announced. The trade frees up a 40-man roster spot for Oakland, who officially announced the Hiroyuki Nakajima signing as well.

Cowgill, 26, was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks before being sent to the A's in the Trevor Cahill trade. He's a .255/.319/.311 hitter in 219 career big league plate appearances and a .315/.384/.482 hitter in 741 career Triple-A plate appearances. As a right-handed hitter with plenty of experience in all three outfield spots, Cowgill has a strong chance to open the season with New York.

Marte, 21, hit .251/.322/.366 in 513 plate appearances at the Double-A level in 2013, his first season above Single-A ball. Baseball America did not rank him as one of the Mets' top 30 prospects in their Prospect Handbook before the season, though he did rank 26th one year ago. Marte has spent the majority of his career at third base.


Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/pagetwo.html#AsZLW335cCTzJfFd.99

 

[GreenNGold89]

I think the trade works for both teams.

Man, March can't come soon enough. Got my flight booked to AZ for ST already. 5 nights, 5 days this year.

 

[johnson1]

this man Nakajima is hilarious, looks like he's really making an effort to fit in.

I'm just glad we got someone new, I don't know if I could handle another year of the Rosales/Sogard re-tread.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Looking over the positions now, the spots I have concerns about now are 1st/2nd/catcher. And that's assuming there's no regression among the rookies and Reddick's late season slide was because of that crushing hit he took against the wall in Baltimore and not for other reasons.

But, as a whole, I feel pretty confident in this team. If Weeks could screw his head on right and play to his strengths and take criticism well, his addition would be even better.

 

[johnson1]

Next year's lineup as of now:


Coco Crisp CF
Jemile Weeks 2B ... I still have faith ... Can be interchanged with Nakajima
Yoenis Cespedes LF
Chris Young DH
Josh Reddick RF
Chris Carter/Brandon Moss 1B
Josh Donaldson 3B
Hiro Nakajima SS
Derek Norris C


Bench

Sizemore 3B/2B
Rosales SS/2B
Smith OF/DH
Kottaras C


Rotation

Brett Anderson
Jarrod Parker
Tommy Milone
Bartolo Colon
AJ Griffin


I don't think this crew can re-create the magic of last year, it was simply magical. But this is still a good team.

 

[GreenNGold89]

I would put Sizemore at 3b and Donalandson behind the plate. If Norris plays like **** again, we better upgrade because I don't see us making another run without better production from that position.

I'm praying Weeks has got his head straight and can return to his rookie form because that would be HUGE but I don't have much hope.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Donaldson was a godsend last year at 3rd, I'm a little anxious about moving him around the diamond if it impacts his bat at all. That's probably not going to be the case, but I'm a little superstitious I guess.

 

[johnson1]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8843482/bob-melvin-contract-extended-oakland-athletics


Bo Mel

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Well deserved.

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

Chris Young wearing the #25



Man those Gold Jerseys are so nice

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Missed seeing #25

And yeah, our jerseys > ________

 

[wearinthefourfive]

CF Crisp
C Jaso
DH Young
LF Cespedes
1B Moss/Carter
RF Reddick
3B Donaldson
SS Nakajima
2B Weeks/Sizemore

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

CF Crisp
C Jaso
DH Young
LF Cespedes
1B Moss/Carter
RF Reddick
3B Donaldson
SS Nakajima
2B Weeks/Sizemore

Love it. Would like it even more if Weeks could seize the job outright and return to his hitting from his rookie year.