Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

Billy Beane's winter-to-date (Oakland Athletics)
 
The notable moves made by the Oakland Athletics under Billy Beane since the end of the 2003 season. Please send any comments/omissions/questions/feedback here.

10/09/03 -
Claimed Marco Scutaro off waivers from the New York Mets.
Claimed Matt Watson off waivers from the New York Mets.
Designated John Halama for assignment.
Designated Mark Johnson for assignment.

A couple of astute waiver wire pickups. Scutaro has been a major league ready player for awhile, and never got much of an opportunity in Queens, amassing just 111 at bats over two seasons. It's a shame, since the Mets continued to trot out the likes of Joe McEwing, who while a little more versatile defensively, is not the hitter Scutaro is. He should get a shot as the backup middle infielder in Oakland. Watson's a 25-year old minor league outfielder with a little pop, not a bad guy to have around just in case.

10/21/03 -
Declined option on Chris Singleton ($1.8 million for 2004, $200K buyout).

A pretty obvious move. While the team had yet to address its outfield deficiencies, Singleton clearly wasn't the answer. He since signed on with the Pirates for awhile and then was just recently released for not passing his physical. I still can't believe he's not Ken Singleton's son.

11/18/03 -
Acquired Bobby Kielty from the Toronto Blue Jays. (with a player to be named later or cash for Ted Lilly)
Acquired a player to be named later (or cash) from the Toronto Blue Jays. (with Bobby Kielty for Ted Lilly)
Signed Eric Cammack to a minor league contract.
Traded Ted Lilly to the Toronto Blue Jays. (for Bobby Kielty and a player to be named later or cash)

The first step in addressing the team's offensive woes and their getting worse with the impending departure of Miguel Tejada. Lilly's a real nice pitcher and a guy who is probably going to have pretty good success in Toronto behind Roy Halladay and bolstered by an excellent lineup. In Oakland however, he was clearly a back-of-the-rotation guy, and with the likes of Rich Harden, Justin Duchscherer and Joe Blanton coming along, very expendable. Kielty's the kind of guy the A's look for (good power, good eye) - we'll have to see just what he's able to accomplish in a full time role (his career high in at bats is 427). He'll be the team's starting left fielder. I don't think the player to be named (or cash) has been determined, but if I'm wrong on that, let me know.

11/19/03 -
Claimed Mario Ramos off waivers from the Texas Rangers.

Ramos did some more bouncing around after being claimed by the A's - ultimately settling at AAA Sacramento and, for the moment, in the A's camp - the comment on him is at 02/07/04.

11/26/03 -
Acquired Mark Kotsay from the San Diego Padres. (for Ramon Hernandez and Terrence Long)
Traded Ramon Hernandez to the San Diego Padres. (with Terrence Long for Mark Kotsay)
Traded Terrence Long to the San Diego Padres. (with Ramon Hernandez for Mark Kotsay).

Conceivably a win-win for both sides. The A's continued here to try to rebuild the outfield, and Kotsay's a step up from the likes of Terrence Long who they had out there in 2003. He's also suffered some debilitating injuries, and while I don't know much about them specifically, it doesn't sound as if he's out of the water in terms of dealing with them in the future. Either way, he's a very good centerfielder right now and can get on base...the question is really whether a) he can stay in the lineup and b) whether his power will return (he slugged just .384 in 2003). While moving Long is a straight dump of a pretty worthless and overpaid player, losing Ramon Hernandez is significant, particularly now that we know who he's being replaced by.

12/08/03 -
Declined to offer arbitration to Jose Guillen.
Declined to offer arbitration to Steve Sparks.
Offered arbitration to Keith Foulke.
Offered arbitration to Ricardo Rincon.
Offered arbitration to Miguel Tejada.

Offering arbitration to Foulke (who they attempted to resign), Rincon (who they did) and Tejada (who left without much of a fight) was pretty straightforward. Guillen would almost certainly have made more than he's worth in arbitration, coming off what was easily the best season of his career thus far.

12/15/03 -
Acquired Michael Barrett from the Montreal Expos. (for a player to be named later)
Acquired Frank Brooks from the New York Mets. (for a player to be named later)
Traded Brett Price to the Montreal Expos. (for Michael Barrett)
Traded a player to be named later to the New York Mets. (for Frank Brooks)

Brooks is a Rule V pick out of the Pirates' organization, and will have to stick in the majors all season for him to stick. Since the A's pulled this trick with Mike Neu a year ago, it seems possible that they can keep him on the roster, spot him in low-leverage situations, and keep him around. Michael Barrett would be an Athletic for just one day, moving along to the Cubs for Damian Miller on the 16th. Price is a 24-year old reliever with a nice strikeout rate who has pitched in the California League the past two seasons.

12/16/03 -
Acquired Damian Miller from the Chicago Cubs. (with $800,000 for Michael Barrett and a player to be named later)
Acquired Mark Redman from the Florida Marlins. (for Bill Murphy and Mike Neu)
Signed Ricardo Rincon to a two year, $3.65 million contract. (avoided arbitration)
Traded Michael Barrett to the Chicago Cubs. (with a player to be named later for Damian Miller and $800,000)
Traded Bill Murphy to the Florida Marlins. (with Mike Neu for Mark Redman)
Traded Mike Neu to the Florida Marlins. (with Bill Murphy for Mark Redman)

So the catcher in Oakland won't be Ramon Hernandez, won't be Michael Barrett, it'll be...Damian Miller. At his peak, Miller was a passable starting catcher, but if his 2003 numbers (.233/.310/.369) are any indication, those days may have passed.

12/18/03 -
Acquired Chris Hammond from the New York Yankees. (with cash for Edwardo Sierra and J.T. Stotts)
Traded Edwardo Sierra to the New York Yankees. (with J.T. Stotts for Chris Hammond and cash)
Traded J.T. Stotts to the New York Yankees. (with Edwardo Sierra for Chris Hammond and cash)

At this point, Arthur Rhodes wasn't yet signed, and Ricardo Rincon was the only lefty in the bullpen. I read in more than a few places that if Foulke left, Beane would make Rincon the "closer", let him rack up some nice save totals, and move him along. Of course, with the addition of Rhodes, Hammond slides in as just a valuable member of a good bullpen - he was pretty much useless in New York with the additions of Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill.

12/20/03 -
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Jeremy Fikac.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Frank Menechino.
Declined to offer a 2004 contract to Mark Redman.
Signed Erubiel Durazo to a one year, $2.1 million contract. (avoided arbitration)

Very reasonable contract for a player like Durazo. Menechino and Redman would both be resigned.

12/21/03 -
Signed Billy McMillon to a one year contract.
Signed Mark Redman to a three year, $11 million contract.

I'm an unabashed Mark Redman lover, but this seems like a lot. Considering the way the A's have been able to churn out pitchers in recent years, you'd have to believe you'd be able to fill the #5 hole in the rotation (with Harden sliding up to #4) more cheaply than this without sacrificing much effectiveness. That said, Redman should be adequate rotation filler for the life of this contract, whether he's in Oakland or moved elsewhere. McMillon's a nice reserve and bat off the bench.

12/22/03 -
Signed Arthur Rhodes to a three year, $9.2 million contract.

He's getting up there in years (34 in 2004, 36 by the time this contract expires), but it seems short relievers don't have quite the same decline automatically associated with aging as some of their starting counterparts. Rhodes is coming off a down year, but he's been pretty reliable and effective over the last eight years or so, and especially in two of the last three. I wonder if he'll play all three years in Oakland. He's the nominal closer heading into the season.

01/06/04 -
Designated Jose Flores for assignment.
Invited Joe Blanton to spring training.
Invited Jose Flores to spring training.
Invited Mike Rose to spring training.
Invited Brian Sellier to spring training.
Invited Nick Swisher to spring training.
Outrighted Jose Flores to AAA Sacramento.
Signed Eric Cammack to a minor league contract.
Signed Ramon Castro to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Wayne Gomes to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
Signed Frank Menechino to a one year, $400,000 contract.

Blanton and Swisher are both relatively famous, prominent characters in Michael Lewis's Moneyball. None of these guys (with the exception of Menechino, who's got a guaranteed contract) has much of a shot of breaking camp with the team, but Blanton could conceivably be with the team before long. Wayne Gomes is a really nice guy.

01/08/04 -
Invited Brad Sullivan to spring training.
Signed Lou Pote to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Sullivan was a 2003 first round pick, a good looking pitcher out of the University of Houston. There are a few guys waiting for cracks at the rotation ahead of him, but it'll be fun to watch him in camp. Pote was out of the major leagues in 2003, but has had success over the course of his four year career. He'll compete for a spot in the bullpen.

01/12/04 -
Signed Britt Reames to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

That 2000 season in St. Louis seems like a long time ago. He'll be 31 later this season and has done nothing during his time in Montreal to convince anyone he's worth anything more than this. Not a good bet to see much time in Oakland.

02/02/04 -
Designated Mario Ramos for assignment.
Signed Eric Karros to a one year, $1.05 million contract with a club option for 2005 ($1.5 million, $500K buyout).

Karros at this price will help the A's, as his role will almost certainly be confined to crushing left-handed pitching, which he does awfully well. He'll fill the first base and DH spots with Scott Hatteberg and Erubiel Durazo in 2004. Graham Koonce will continue to sit around in the minors.

02/07/04 -
Invited Mario Ramos to spring training.
Outrighted Mario Ramos to AAA Sacramento.

Ramos's time may well have come and gone...there are younger pitchers on the horizon in the organization now with higher ceilings, so Oakland may not be the place for him to succeed. All he took to acquire was a waiver claim though, and there's nothing wrong (from an organizational standpoint) in stockpiling talent. Ramos could probably start some places around the majors, but certainly not in Oakland.

02/09/04 -
Signed Steve Woodard to a minor league contract.

At one time a pretty reasonable innings eater, it's hard to see Woodard doing much in this organization with the pitching depth on hand.

02/13/04 -
Signed Chad Bradford to a one year, $965,000 contract. (avoided arbitration)

A favorite of many due to his insane-looking, dirt-scraping motion, Bradford's a an absolute steal at under a million bucks. If he continues to pitch as effectively as he has - well, his entire career - he's going to make a lot more before too long.

02/20/04 -
Named David Forst assistant general manager.
Named Billy Owens director of player personnel.

Forst and Owens are the two guys who were promoted when assistant GM Paul DePodesta jumped ship to become GM with the Dodgers.

Beane and company (the entire front office was intact for most of the offseason) made some interesting moves and have changed the look of the team heading into 2004. Obviously, success or failure relies largely on the health and effectiveness of the awesome rotation, which now consists of Hudson, Zito, Mulder, Redman and Harden. While they don't have Miguel Tejada any more, the outfield should be improved, though a lot will rely on a return to form by both Mark Kotsay and Jermaine Dye. As with most teams these days, there are a number of committed and knowledgable A's-focused bloggers out there, including Elephants in Oakland and Athletics Nation. They know an awful lot more about the team than we do, and we encourage you to seek more information at their sites.
posted by VZW Watcher at 2:47 PM -