Athletics Nation

McCutchenIsTheTruth - February 13, 2012 reply

LOL

totally made me spit out my apple, all over the keyboard. That’s awesome.

Dub_TC - February 13, 2012 reply

+1

YES!!!

I am exceedingly excited!
When was the last time we signed anyone with this much buzz? Frank Thomas in early 2006? Seriously, this is something fun and exciting.
I have watched both of Cespedes’ videos over and over. This man is a near super hero.

I love uncontrolled baseball happiness

YESSSSS!!!!

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

ITs been awhile since I felt that with an A's transaction.

I dare say that this might have been the best moment of my day. It was a Monday, afterall.

Note, fun game:

Hit “esc” at random times and see what pose Kermie freezes in. It’s almost always amusing.

Slusser and Jane also confirmed it on twitter

Slusser tweeted that A’s won’t make it official until he passes his physical and gets his visa.

What's a credit card have to do with this?

RudiFan - February 13, 2012 reply

We pay with pre-paid Visas

It's the only interest we can generate!

Can you tell I'm excited? (first offseason news that has done that)

I got excited when we signed Colon!

MMunoz33 - February 13, 2012 reply

different strokes

Jeff in Seattle - February 13, 2012 reply

Well, this just made my day!

Happy Monday A’s fans!

HRH - February 13, 2012 reply

I might need to make spring training plans now

A much more positive twist on the 2012 season

So we go from an outfield depth chart of “Ryan Sweeney” to a outfield that looks better than last year, add someone to bat cleanup and don’t have to sign Manny or Magglio? Yes, please

Chief Bender - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Let's just take a moment and enjoy this one, A's fans....

we needed good news, and we got it…now let’s hope he’s as good and performs as well as advertised….

mills16 - February 13, 2012 reply

his stats in cuba remind me

of Tejada. good avg and power numbers.

JJ209 - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

Apparently his favorite player was Miguel Tejada.Ironic

I hope he can play like him, and if he can then we really did get a good player.

JJ209 - February 13, 2012 reply

what does this mean for taylor? not good

might as well trade him at this point or let him become a knbr full time employeed

If Cespedes is as good as people think

Then forget Taylor

Cespedes is not Taylor's problem.

Taylor is Taylor’s problem.

If Taylor is good, the team will find a place for him. But he’s not.

FIRE GEREEN NOW!!!111

wrong place for this comment?

The "111"s?

It's not easy being Gereen.

you complete me

who is Taylor?

He is a soldier. Or, maybe a spy

Tinker. Definitely a tinker.

I thought Tinker was his first name

You might be right.

I don't like the seth smith move now

if we didn’t have him, Taylor might have had a chance, but now im not sure what happens to him. ive been thinking about our interest in a reliever, and that fact Taylor doesn’t have a spot as a trade possibility

JJ209 - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

frankly, I haven't been happy with several of the trades this offseason

primarily because of the quality of the OFers. I won’t go into my opinion of the A’s FA moves since that’s old news already.

Did you like the Smith trade at the time? Then you should still think it's a good move.

These moves were made independent of each other. They traded for Smith, and two weeks later still viewed Cespedes as a great opportunity (whether he is or not is debatable). There will definitely be corresponding moves. There are almost too many OF and first baseman on the roster for Oakland and Sacramento combined.

I thought trading for smith was ok but

I assumed they might try and move him, or Coco and then Taylor would get his shot. Was rooting for Taylor but thats all in the past. This move makes all that not important.

JJ209 - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

Cool but...

This would have been really cool last year with the pitching staff. Has someone explained to Cuba that he’s going to hit after Seth Smith and before Suzuki everyday? Has someone also mentioned to him that he will be playing on the worst team in baseball and that he’s (hopefully not) twice the age of most of his pitching staff? Glad Billy and Lew can get a few more bodies into seats this season… It is a bummer though, I was sort of hoping they were going to continue this off-season demolition party long enough to where they’d actually have to “pay us” to go to games.

Really?

The worst team in baseball? huh.

Signed,
The Astros

Degolas - February 13, 2012 reply

Thank you...

For your clarification Degolas. I’d be really interested to hear your side by side comparison of why it is that the A’s are better than the Astros. Who are you ‘pumped’ to go pay your money to go see? Don’t tell me it’s Cuba… because he’s done nothing so far. At least Houston has a choo choo train and an incline in center field…. Woooooooo Woooooooo!!!

I believe he set the record for HR's in the Cuban league

That’s doing something. And it’s not his fault he was born in Cuba and had difficulty leaving to come to the promised land. He mashed there in the opportunity he had, and he’ll do the same here.

A'sFanDFW - February 13, 2012 reply

he set the single season HR record last year, hitting 33 HRs

Great comment A'sFanDFW

yes that means something for sure

Cuban baseball is no joke

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

Yes, great comment

Love the optimism… I wish I could share it. I just don’t get it guys. Trade most of your pitching, have no direction as far as stadium or general future plans, then spend $36 mil on a guy who we (really) know nothing about. Ugh.

Identifying The 19th-Best Team In Baseball

The Astros had the worst record in MLB last year

Hence, the worst team in baseball. Obviously, yes, that was 2011, not 2012. And although making projections is fun and all, I don’t put too much stock in them since there are just so many damn variables in play ( I doubt many pre-2011 projections had much Conor Jackson at first base). Even so, several projections have the A’s at 80 something wins this year.

If you want to call the A’s the most frustrating team in baseball, be my guest (though a Cubs or Pirates fan would strongly disagree). It’s simply silly, though, to refer to the Green ’n Gold as the worst team in baseball.

And I’m pumped to pay my money to see the A’s play, because I’m an A’s fan and I watch the A’s win (and lose) every year, regardless of who wears the uniform.

Degolas - February 13, 2012 reply

Well, speaking of projections

I’ll just leave these SBN articles to add to the discussion here:

The Worst Team Ever Projected?

I think you can guess which is which. Although it’s actually the Padres who get the early nod for 19th best team. The A’s, however, are right in the mix.

Ciderbeck - February 13, 2012 reply

Okay.

You could make a case to take Carlos Lee over Barton/Ka’Aihue/Carter right now, but he’s 35, owed $18.5M this season, and has an upside that’s roughly league average. You could also make a case for Lowrie over Pennington, though it’s a wash, IMO. Every position aside from those currently fall clearly in Oakland’s favor.

As far as pitching goes, the top three Astro’s starters combined for 4.8 fWAR over 593 combined innings, which is atrocious. Plus, Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers are owed $21M between the both of them ($29.5M if they exercise the club buyouts, which they should). That’s just a few million less than the entire A’s pitching staff.

Also, Houston’s record was 18 games worse than Oakland last year. I doubt the A’s are going to pull any pennants out of their asses this year, but they are streets ahead of Houston.

Pun intended? (Streets ahead of Houston)

You are clearly streets behind.

Taylor has to prove himself

He may yet see an opportunity via injury or some other circumstance. In a way, I hope he does and that he takes advantage of it when it happens – I’ve met him now in passing a couple of times at my gym and he seems like a really nice guy. I know it is cliche, but it also looks like he is going to show up at Spring Training in the “best shape of his life…”

Really selfish of me but

can I get some Soler on the side? I would eat my hat if Billy pulled that off.

JJ209 - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

yes!

that would be unreal amazing.

I like this move. My only issue is that it seems, if he’s any good, he’ll be a free agent/Yankees bound just in time for us to move into our new stadium.

assuming that there's a new stadium in 4 years

doesn’t matter – he’s all Oakland’s regardless, and I couldn’t be happier…

The A's still get 6 years of control with Cespedes

Even though his contract will be up in 4 years, he will then have to go through arbitration the next two years before he will be eligible for free agency. A’s might even get an extra year if he spends most of this year in the minors.

Pretty sure he is a free agent after the deal

yeah -

he’s a major league free agent, signing a major league contract. He’s a free agent after 4 years, of course, the A’s can still offer him arbitration after his fourth year, though it’s unlikely he’d take it if he turns out to be as good as some people think he will.

Is that true?

Dang I guess I was confused. I just assumed the 6 years of control applied to all players who entered the major leagues.

Amazingly the contract supersedes the CBA, which I don't really understand.

I think you should be right if things worked like they’re supposed to.

I don't think it's a matter of superceding the CBA

any more than did the past contracts in which the A’s agreed not to offer arbitration so that a player wouldn’t have a comp pic issue when negotiating with other teams.

The CBA assigns a player’s rights to his team for 6 major league seasons. If the team agrees in a contract to waive those last 2 years and make the player a FA after 4 seasons, that doesn’t contradict the CBA, any more than paying a player above the minimum salary does.

Ya, I guess it's only players that can't waive their rights. Teams can.

Players can absolutely waive their rights

Every time a player signs a deal covering his arbitration years, he’s waiving his right to have his salary arbitrated or be a free agent.

Ok, that makes sense

I didn’t realize the A’s had contractually agreed to waive the final two years of team control.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/
http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2012/02/13/breaking-athletics-land-yoenis-cespedes/

There's a clause in his contract that allows him to hit free agency after his contract is up.

Good news is we get him for four year’s and if we have a stadium we can resign him and if a new is not on the horizon we can trade him for prospects. Given the way Beane’s been dealing lately I’d think the “big get” of any Cespedes deal be would an elite prospect with middle of the order potential. Kinda like how he got a haul of pitching prospect’s for Cahil and Gonzalez.

Here’s hoping SJ is a go and Cespedes ends up living up to the hype, allowing Beane to sign him locking him up for another 4-6 years. Terrific signing!!! GO A’S!!!

i

Wow this is absolutely unbelievably amazing

Just one quick q tho: even tho we signed him to a 4 year deal, do we still get 6 years of control? Please help if u know

HarbirD - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

no free agent after

marlins offered 6/36

same money, less years. risky deal, but agrressive move by A’s

Damn but still good

HarbirD - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

So only four years? That's it?

If so, what’s the point of signing this guy for four years if we just had Cahill and Gonzalez signed for that time and traded them? We’re not even supposed to compete in this window, so I can’t help but to think Cespedas won’t see San Jose in the Green & Gold. Please tell me we get more than four years of club control.

RyanFromBonas - February 13, 2012 reply

If we tender a high enough offer in the 5th year

We should get type A compensation though…

DrDoom - February 13, 2012 reply

Couple things here

We probably would deal him before that time but if we get confirmation on a move to San Jose in a couple years we could sign him to an eztension

HarbirD - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

He's already 26

we don’t need to be signing guys into their 30s.

you mean you're asking for this offseason to make sense?

Completely Agree

So, I know we’re all mystified by the ‘genius’ that is Billy Beane and all… but at this point I’d pay to hear his “state of the A’s” address. What the hell is the plan? Stadium/San Jose: Yes, or No… Simple. I’m not sure how much Gio really wanted to be in Oakland long term, but if he did want to stay, this move would fire me up a little bit. After the season he just had, the A’s go spend $36 mil on some dude from Cuba who has proven nothing. Don’t worry though A’s fans… Cuba is only under team control for 4 more years, so we’ll still be (at least) two years away from a move to a new stadium… we can absolutely trade him for 3 seventeen year old pitching prospects in 2016.

That's actually some pretty good context

I believe the Gio extension with the Nationals was 5 yrs / $42 million? Which is almost exactly the same annual total as Cespy’s 4 yrs / $36 mil.

Now, I’m definitely in favor of spending on hitting rather than pitching, but if you isolate out everything else it’s hard to cry poor here.

Ciderbeck - February 13, 2012 reply

we got have 5 players now for the money Gio got. Thats why

bbower - February 14, 2012 reply

we can only go by what Gio said

such as that he wanted a long term contract with the A’s. There was certainly nothing he said that would indicate that he didn’t want to sign long term.

He was quite involved in the community too, by the way, and also lived in Oakland during the season.

Doesn't really make sense with the A's timetable and 3M AAV less on the table

If so

That takes this deal from amazing to mind blowingly awesome and brilliant

HarbirD - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

I think they still sign manny

What? Why? I imagine there's going to be a platoon in RF or LF with Reddick and Cowgill,

the same at DH with Smith and Gomes, and Cespedes takes over a full-time, non-CF spot when he gets promoted to Oakland, which will be sooner than later. There are also going to be moves, probably for relievers. There are way too many outfielders and first baseman.

Because just days ago Beane said

He’s in the market for a middle order DH, i dont think this signing today changes anything

Then who gets playing time?

They targeted Reddick, Cowgill, and Smith in trades, signed Crisp and Gomes. There’s a simple way to fit them all in the lineup, at least in a platoon role, but it involves moving the terrible-at-defense players Smith and Gomes to DH. It makes sense. Plus it’s just another player they’ll have to DFA.

Manny cant play till around june or so, that wont be an issue

Those players will get chances

eastcoasta'sfan - February 13, 2012 reply

manny is low risk / hi ceiling / hi revenue

I expect he’ll suck, but he won’t cost much. Three outcomes:

1) If he’s good and the A’s aren’t, trade him

2) If he’s good and the A’s are OK, keep him.

3) If he sucks, cut him, he won’t cost much and might bring in more fan revenue than he costs anyway.

is the most likely scenario, followed by #1.

fail. I meant to say #3 is the most likely scenario.

eastcoasta'sfan - February 13, 2012 reply

And I think it's good that they would be bringing talent to the team via money and not prospects.

Because that could easily turn into prospects later.

Nobody will trade value for him just because he hits for a couple weeks

Depends on when he's hitting, who else is available and how desperate the other team is for a bat.

Last year was no interest in Matsui even though he was red hot at the right time

We'll just have to see how it goes, won't we?

I wouldn't worry about it

Gomes signed for a whopping $1.1 million, so even if they eat all of that, who cares. Cowgill was never going to play anyway in anything more than a 4th outfielder, we-have-no-one-better-so-what-the-hell mode, and Taylor and Carter look like busts. Cespedes, Crisp, and Smith/Reddick will start until Crisp gets injured, then Reddick will play right and Smith will play left or DH. Whoever of Smith/Reddick, Manny, Taylor, Carter, Gomes shakes out will DH. Gomes will lefty-mash off the bench. Cowgill will wear out Highway 80 between Oakland and Sacto and/or be the 4th outfielder when various people are hurt or striking out in AAA.

jdr - February 13, 2012 reply

Maybe Beane just said middle-of-the-order hitter

and folks assumed he meant DH

branch rickey - February 13, 2012 reply

Where does Crisp fit in?

MMunoz33 - February 13, 2012 reply

hopefully he doesn't

.

HA

My thoughts exactly.

this news has totally distracted me from my job...

His wiki page

Is already in green and gold. Bravo to whoever edited that (surely someone from AN)

Chief Bender - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

So who plays CF?

Cespedes? Coco Crisp?

This is absolutely Bizarro, but Crisp Cespedes and Seth Smith not a bad OF? Can they do something about 3B and possibly catcher? Hope someone comes out of the pack at 1B?

closetasfan - February 13, 2012 reply

Seth Smith can go DH.

Sizemore played above average at 3B last year, he's not much of a problem.

Pennington, Suzuki, and the 1B mess may be more of a problem.

defensive metrics think sizemore was horrible at 3b last year

I think he was horrible too

he’s a stop gap – that’s all.

Oaktown Shutout - February 13, 2012 reply

All indications are that they are going to roll with im in 2012

Keep in mind that he transitioned to 3B in the middle of last year. I think they’re hoping with the proper preparation at spring training he will improve at 3B.

Also, who would you try to get? I don’t think there are any better avaliable alternatives

in fairness, he had never played 3B before

Who is on the other end of the stop gap?

Sizemore’s very useful, if not above average. His 1.9 fWAR in 430 AB, while learning 3B on the fly was pretty impressive, in my opinion. I have no problem with that, especially since he only costs the league minimum.

plus there doesn't appear to be any heir apparent in the system

I love Sizemore

he was solid last year as a rookie. I expect improvement. def best 3b since chavy (not saying much I know)

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

+1

Sizemore wasnt a rookie last year

He was a first year Athletic but he split a couple seasons between MLB/AAA with the Tigers and was never able to nail down the second base job

He was basically a spot backup INF...I think last year was the first year he was given a real chance to play

Well, after Polanco left...

they had a revolving door at 2nd between Sizemore, Will Rhymes, and Ramon Santiago. None of them really nailed down the job so I guess they thought Sizemore was expendable

yeah, you're right in that he wasn't a rookie...

I guess my point is he basically was a rookie last year, just that you can’t be that down on him in his first full year in the bigs.

o, I wasnt down on him

Compared to Kouzmanoff, I loved him. I was just making the point that he’s not a rookie so he’s not gonna get exceptionally better. He’ll probably get used to playing 3rd enough to improve his defense and his hitting might improve, but he’s not gonna be a superstar, or even one of the best players o the team

I meant offensively, I shouldn't have said "at 3B" but yeah defensively there needs some work.

I still believe that JJ Reddick plays every day

If Smith DHs then that could still be possible. Your final starting hitter option will be probably be between Reddick, Kila, Barton, Carter and Allen.

echerrst - February 13, 2012 reply

Indeed, JJ Reddick does play every day

for the Orlando Magic.

That’s gonna be fun to correct people on all year.

My guess: Crisp-Cespedes-Reddick in the OF, Smith/Gomes at DH primarily.

damn...

NBA is only 82 games though… he plays every other day in baseball terms

echerrst - February 13, 2012 reply

66 games this season

That lovely lockout

Crisp stays in center

Cespedes in right, Smith in left.. I guess

Chief Bender - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Crisp doesn't have the arm for CF

I bet he moves to LF.

Good point

So if Reddick stays in right, we can assume Smith and Gomes split time at DH, and Carter is banished to AAA?

Chief Bender - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Cespedes is as much a CF as Sweeney or DeJesus was

He is big bodied and will have not enough range for fulltime center field

Was Willie Mays "big bodied"? Bo Jackson? Mickey Mantle? WTF does that even mean?

totally agreed.

klaw talking out his ass

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

+1245

he is listed as 6'0" and 215 lbs. that's not actually that big

There's no way Cespedes comes in without MLB experience and takes CF from Coco

Nobody even knows if Cespedes could handle CF well. Crisp’s range is more important than his arm in center. I highly doubt anyone with 30HR power could out-range Crisp. If Cespedes somehow displaces Crisp in center, he wouldn’t move to left; he wouldn’t play at all. I would have to imagine that Cespedes ends up in left with Reddick in right and Smith/Gomes backing up OF and splitting some DH time.

Except Andruw Jones in his prime

And Jacoby Ellsbury’s fluke 2011 self. So maybe there are, but we shouldn’t count on it.

Jones: ~30+ HR, ~20 UZR for 10 seasons. Can we get some of that??

Let's get Soler too.

Cha cha cha.

Wow

Beane is restless. Anyone (such as myself) who thought he would stand idly by and put out a boring team doesn’t know Beane well enough.

We’re still not much better than .500 at best but this is fun and exciting and hopefully we’ll be competitive and fun to watch.

Guess this makes up for not getting Iwakuma/Chapman

Does this move reflect on the San Jose stadium situation at all?

Glomar - February 13, 2012 reply

I can't think of any angles that reliably have him on the team in 2015/16

and make sense this far in advance.

I don't know if Beane would have made this large of a splash without knowing about a stadium resolution.

I disagree

Beane has to account for the fact that Parker, Milone and Peacock will be in their prime in three years, and he needs to have a decent team behind them.

The moment Wolff said the stadium wouldn’t open until 2016, it freed Beane to move the timetable up a couple of years. 2016 is too many years in the future to deal with today.

Nah he doesn't care or so I've been told.

Then that's new

Beane himself talked about it at the end of last season.

2016?

When did this happen? What did I miss? It used to be 2.5 years for almost everything to be bought/built/etc. from an SJ vote.

yes unfortunately that seems to be the new timeline

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

sort of like Lucy's football and Charley Brown

A few questions

He’s 26 but is he mlb ready? Spend some time in AAA?
If he’s a legit cf, what happens to crisp?
Like I mentioned earlier, this doesnt help taylor’s situation at all.
How about their grant green conversion to cf?

I think he needs some time in AAA to adjust

His winter league performance wasn’t good. I see him as a Sweeney/DeJesus type defender. He will move to a corner pretty soon. I have no idea how they will find space for all the outfielder and 1B guys.

He'll probably need some time in the minors

The Cuban league is considered to be about equal to high A ball.

I just peed my pants.

Twice.

Dan Bowen - February 13, 2012 reply

Me too. And then I heard THIS news!

I was busy cleaning myself up. What news?

Dan Bowen - February 13, 2012 reply

News that

The A’s are an absolute mess. Good news though… there will be a Cespedes bobblehead day, as well as a Cuban heritage day at the park this summer! All that really matters…

Wrong side of cot?

Your vitriol over Cespedes move is curious. Too many OF/1B/DH candidates? That’s a bad thing?

The team has moved from projected outfield of 3 Sweeneys to current crop. That’s a holy sh*t makeover.

Slip n Slide - February 13, 2012 reply

Agreed.

The A’s are not an absolute mess. They are not even a partial mess. They are a righted ship going the right direction. We just retooled overnight.

That's going a bit far. Theyve gone from zero good players to zero good players

plus one maybe good player. That’s not “retooling”, but it’s a tiny step in the right direction, unless signing Cespedes really means signing Manny instead of Soler.

Of course that's retooling

We have plenty of potentially good players, but it will take a season or two for that to become apparent. You may prefer the term “reloaded,” but there’s nothing wrong with saying retooling. Is retooling in your mind something like a +20 win turnover over in an off-season?

I don't prefer the term "reloaded" or "retooling" when it's just one player

The rest of the moves were all just running in place — trading players for younger, cheaper versions of themselves plus some spare parts. The one exception to that may be Gio for Cole plus getting Peacock, who could amount to something.

Either term implies a wholesale influx of talent, and we haven’t seen that.

we retooled the system, aka building up the farm system

OptimistPrime - February 14, 2012 reply

Yessir Mr. Optimist Prime

Yes indeed. Retooled. Yes indeed.

Mantle

Do you have a picture of Billy Beane on your mantle? Is Lew your Uncle? What exactly is the A’s “direction” optimistprime? I’m not sure the ownership even knows the answer to that. Ever heard of a successful business (of any kind) without a mission statement? Nope.

WTF is the deal with this guy?

Ad hominem arguments abound

At which point I just ignore that poster.

I do wonder where the extra V in Chavy comes from though.

Mis-read

Wasn’t a direct comment at that poster… Just a general observation. At what point is a lifetime A’s fan allowed to be super frustrated at what’s going on? “In Billy we Trust” has been the mantra here for how long? When are we fed up of the Wizard of Oz treatment? Is it not easy to just keep saying “build for the future” and bring in a new generation of prospects (again). Again, no direct fallacies here, just tired of the same old thing again… ready to watch our team play like the rest of the league

Athletics fan and runner - February 14, 2012 reply

I understand you a bit better now.

I don’t exactly agree with you but I understand more of where you’re coming from.
I do think there is a plan and frankly, the run of success that we did have from 99 through 2006 given that we were under the “50 feet of crap” of having one of the lowest payrolls in the league is historical in terms of what Beane pulled off. So, if there is one GM to give the benefit of the doubt it would be Beane.

I think that your arguments come off a lot better when you take a step back before you post. Your reply to me seemed rather level headed though some of the earlier ones seemed to be coming from a place of knee jerk frustration. In your last post you conveyed more of a sense of what you’re thinking.

Fair Enough

Appreciate the feedback… looking forward to seeing where this team goes. Hoping for the best!

Do the Yankees have a mission statement?

TwoAway - February 13, 2012 reply

Yea, they do...

I know it’s a different deal in NY… Just a very frustrated A’s fan here guys. I’m so tired of their garbage. I feel like we’re all being duped. Sorry for the rant.

What I meant by "re-tooled"

They just went out and rebuilt their farm system from bad to much better, that is the direction. When the team you build under-performs AND you have no one to bring up, that is dismal. The “direction” is up. By moving their only marketable pieces, the A’s were able to add position players, who they cannot get through free-agency because none want to play here, and restock their farm system with arms. Now, instead of hurt, aging hitters and a good pitching staff, we have an emerging pitching staff that borders on good, some great remaining pieces in Braden, McCarthy and Anderson (fingers crossed they come back to form) some potentially great arms, and some better potential in the outfield. I like the direction.

OptimistPrime - February 14, 2012 reply

And no, I don't have a Billy on the mantle, I just played him in an Academy Award nominated movie

OptimistPrime - February 14, 2012 reply

tell the truth

you didn’t play Beane, you played Pitt playing Beane…

OaklandSi - February 14, 2012 reply

...walking away.☺

Tutu-late - February 14, 2012 reply

Wow

A day after learning that the Cubs were going to offer Soler close to $30 million and having given up all hope of getting him, this. Out of nowhere. Go Billy.

http://blog.sfgate.com/athletics/2012/02/13/oakland-as-land-cuban-star-yoenis-cespedes/

Even better

There would actually be 8 A’s in Kevin Goldstein’s Top 101. (Presuming Grant Green, currently at #100, doesn’t get bumped off by Cespedes and Soler.)

Very exciting. Let’s assume this works out better than Ariel Prieto.

A'sFan36Yrs - February 13, 2012 reply

I think Beane is going after Soler too

That would be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

ryanmoser - February 13, 2012 reply

Apparently not according to Susan

The A’s also had interest in another Cuban outfielder, Jorge Soler, but this signing ends that pursuit. The team is still likely to sign Manny Ramirez, however. "Manny is still on the board," one source told me

Trainman - February 13, 2012 reply

Get greedy, go after Soler now

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/marlins-in-lead-for-cespedes-cubs-focused-on-soler.html

before this...meh this team again?

Now…. wowomfgwtfbbq

Wreckonized - February 13, 2012 reply

Here's the link on Soler and the Cubs

The bidding could get crazy on him. I initially wanted Soler more because it seemed like he’d be cheaper and have a higher ceiling, but if the money is in the same ballpark I’d rather have Cespedes. I’m shocked and delighted by this move.

http://joefrisaro.mlblogs.com/2012/02/12/marlins-clear-cespedes-frontrunner/

Original link

This is why Beane probably went for Cepedes.

Big payroll teams will feel better about taking a big money shot on Soler than Cespedes. When they originally projected $60MM that was crazy for the A’s to risk.

Cespedes is a risk too, but at $36MM / 4 yr. it’s a risk that won’t affect the San Jose window. When the big teams started falling away on him, Beane saw his opportunity and took it.

other part

Beane can’t afford/get MLB FA power bats to play in Oakland – even with an overpay. I think he’s done well to fill the cleanup slot.

I don't care that there is no subject line.

Awesome

drink409 - February 13, 2012 reply

what is that from????

hilarious!

It's Ron Swanson!

how do you not know Ron Swanson!?!

Kidding … kinda. It’s from Parks and Rec.

See, I thought that

but the way his hair is all mussed and the set lighting made me wonder if it weren’t just some fat drunk guy at a bar.

yeah it was from last season

when he gets drunk he gets happy drunk

We need a new club manager

That man is Ron Swanson

Chief Bender - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

I think you meant to say

Ron Fuck*ng Swonson

Toast4 - February 13, 2012 reply

that's an interesting use of the *

Yeah it is.

drink409 - February 13, 2012 reply

The man must not love breakfast.

kenntoe - February 13, 2012 reply

crud sorry

sorry everyone

forgot the rule

I do.

But since I’m not a hall monitor anymore, I’ll leave it to the new mods to deal with.

Oh, just saw Wally's note above.

Nevermind then.

and totally get if the hall monitor's just want to up and delete it

zero problem with it, I just up and forgot (I knew the rule but haven’t ever posted a gif or pic here before and somehow just brain farted on the delivery)

*monitors

johnjahafanclub - February 13, 2012 reply

Haha yes! Party time!

hell yes!

malikot - February 13, 2012 reply

I'd respond, but I'm too busy lying in a puddle of vomit, swallowing my tongue and shaking uncontrollably.

Ah, Wally

Bringing the Sactown Royalty dance thread flair with ya to AN. Glad to see you on the green and gold side

believe it or not

been lurking and reading at AN a lot longer than at StR

Not bad (Obama Face)

2B Weeks
LF Crisp
CF Cespedes
DH M. Ramirez (assuming)
RF Reddick
1B Allen
3B Sizemore
C Suzuki
SS Pennington

Smith/Gomes/Cowgill/Barton/Carter all have limited jobs now. We’re not done yet, we have a bit of a mess here.

MudkipzGetHYPHY - February 13, 2012 reply

.

Wouldn't surprise me...

…it the A’s worked with Smith at 1B during spring training.

johnjahafanclub - February 13, 2012 reply

(obama brushes dirt off his shoulders)

Flip weeks for Allen and make him Barton

err Coco

Weeks I can live with leading off

A's interest in lefty mike gonzalez

Gonzalez Uehara Manny Soler

seem like all possible options at the moment. Everything seems to point to the fact that we will sign manny, we’ll go after a reliver, and if my dream come comes true, we might go after Soler.

JJ209 - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

Maybe the A's can convince Texas to take some of this OF/1B fluff for Uehara.

That's what I was thinking

Carter, Allen, and Taylor may have some value. Maybe even Reddick (we hardly knew ye).

I'd rather keep Reddick as he's younger and has real defensive value.

I was thinking something along the lines of last year’s Ziegler-Allen trade—a blocked AAA guy with limited time and success in the majors for a reliever. Maybe they’re not all that confident in Moreland, and want to platoon him with Carter or something.

Although, Ziegler came with a couple years of control, and Uehara only has one.

Upon thinking about it, Seth Smith is the most likely trade candidate.

There was a mountain of interest in him this offseason, and we got him for cheap. The Yankees and Tigers both wanted him, and they have relievers to spare. I’d really prefer to keep Reddick and have him start in RF.

I'd want more than a reliever for Smith (or Reddick or Carter or Allen),

considering they gave up two viable fifth starters/reliever types to get him.

+475465

Could the A's use some of these spare parts for AJ Burnett?

Perhaps take on more salary because they would send back a player < Garret Jones? (Though Jones is a 1 WAR player).

echerrst - February 13, 2012 reply

smith would cheaply solve their DH problem and presumably allow them to pick up more of the tab

Yeah, but then we have AJ Burnett on our team.

touche

oswalt would be nice but that doesnt seem to be his preference

no thanks. Let the Pirates have him.

Holy CRAP.

Mystery teams rock. It’s even better when your favorite team IS the mystery team!WOOOOOOOOOO.

Okay! Back to work and only posting never :(

Cool. In 2-3 years this team might be really good. A pitching staff of Anderson, Parker, Cole, Peacock & Gray with an offense anchored by Weeks, Choice and Cespedes would nice.

d-jackfan10 - February 13, 2012 reply

Choice and Cespedes could be really fantastic

Another side benefit is that it’ll keep the spotlight off Choice. He’ll have a little less attention on him as he adjusts to AA this year. That’s a big jump from Stockton.

rhymeswithelephant - February 13, 2012 reply

it feels like the A's are eyeing an earlier contention date

like 2014

the Rangers core is going to dissolve in 2014 when Young, Kinsler, Cruz, Feldman become free agents. Hamilton is also a free agent at the end of this year.

then it feels like the Angels are going to be bogged down by their payroll (Vernon Wells until 2014!!! Yikes). Haren and Santana are free agents after 2013.

This isn’t to say the Angels don’t have good pieces, but the A’s front office is aware of our rivals contract situations and is putting the pieces together for an earlier contention then we, or at least me, anticipated

#FREECESPEDES #TRADECOCO

Coco can't get traded without his consent until like, June.

I’d love to see Carter get traded, along with Taylor. Have Smith DH, Reddick in RF, and Cowgill/Gomes on the bench. That seems the best way to do it.

Carter is still a potential monster

Taylor’s a dud.

Re: Carter

dat k-rate.

Yep

Carter has contact issues…that much is clear

TontheDon - February 13, 2012 reply

he hates Carter has seen enough to make that judgement

goddamn right

I could get behind that.

But who’s to say that, if there was a suitor, Coco wouldn’t want to be traded early in the season? It’s not likely but could definitely be a possibility.

Though the chances of Coco staying healthy aren’t very high, so Cowgill will probably fill that void anyway.

DFA COCO

See I would like to go back in time and not re-sign Coco trade for Smith or sign Gomes

to each his own.

It's not like they knew they were getting Yoenis when those moves happened.

And Smith can now be flipped for much more than we gave up for him. The arbitrage possibility is high there. Gomes is only signed for 1/$1M, so he’s DFA-able, or a bat off the bench. Coco is best suited as a LF with his arm, and he’ll plug in nicely there. This “logjam” isn’t such a problem.

Yoenis Cespedes could be Vlad Guerrero. You don’t let Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes stop you from acquiring that kind of talent.

Even without signing him I want to go back in time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kREZHmOR1bg

YESSSSS

SamYam - February 13, 2012 reply

Josh Reddick is intrigued, I suppose...

Tweet:

Interesting…..

Josh Reddick is benched

I hope not.

That would suck.

There’s absolutely no reason why Josh Reddick shouldn’t start in right field.

True, but I don't really care about him one way or the other

I think Reddick can be a 3 fWAR player.

He posted a 1.9 in 87 games last year.

OK but I don't really care about guys who "could be 3 WAR" players

But wouldn't you rather have Reddick in the outfield over Crisp?

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7298446/mlb-statistical-projections-yoenis-cespedes

ZiPS projects Cespedes as a 3 WAR player

so heres hoping for the over

Damn Insider.

roughly averaging .270/.330/.435

with 22 HR and a handful of steals.

With a plus glove?

it doesnt discuss defense

other than describing him as a CF, though I would think even an average CF with that triple slash would be worth more than 3 wins

KLAW's insider piece has him too big for CF fwiw

You mean he won't fit?

WTF? Was Willie Mays too big? Mickey Mantle?

and marlon byrd is 6 foot 240

has law not seen “the showcase”?

I dunno, should we really put any stock in that?

I’m kind of sick of the “he’s too big for CF” or “he’s too short to be a regular” or “he doesn’t throw hard enough” stuff. Really, we’re still doing that?

I think it means he is too wide and not too high for a CF

If he said "too slow" that would be one thing

If he’s big (in whatever way), but also fast enough and has good enough fielding skills, then what’s the problem?

fast enough and good enough

That is exactly the question. The scouts seem to have mixed opinions ranging from plus CF to good corner but not enough for CF (just what was said about Sweeney/DDJ)

I am just sceptical about him

From seeing the winter league clips the COF projection did make more sense for me.
But I will happily take him becoming a superstar and be happy with it.

I warned him to lose that sux cap...

Not sure what he's annoyed about. It's still Crisp, Cespedes and Reddick in the OF as far as I can tell

Cowgill’s the one who’s back in AAA

lol

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

I really hope not.

I am thinking it will be:

Reddick in LF,
Coco in CF,
and Cespedes in RF with Smith and Gomes DHing against righties and lefties, respectively.
Cowgill and Taylor could be the last Ofer.
There will also be a no hold barred battle royal for the 1B spot between Carter, Barton, Kila, and Allen. I would go with Barton as he is the only one who has actually had a good mlb season.

Manny might have been fun but he makes no sense at this point.

Slusser was just on the radio and thinks it will be

Coco LF, Cespedes CF and Reddick in RF with Smith as the primary DH (I assume a Gomes platoon but she didn’t say).

Maybe it will be like when Damon and Long were in LF/CF,

then switched mid-year and the A’s took off to win over 100 games!

I was just thinking about that.

I remember when Long was in CF and Damon wasn’t. That just was wrong at the time….

did she seem pretty sure that cespedes would start with the big club?

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

Unless he falls on his face in ST yes

I heard that too

the big takeaway is something I’ve been suspecting: Taylor and Carter are pretty much done with this organization.

Yep and that made me sad but at least Sac will be fun to watch.

I would hate to see Crisp moved off of Center

but maybe Slusser knows something that I don’t. is Cespedes a better CF option than Coco? I guess we will find out.

Coco's range has been only slightly better than average the last few years

he’s lost a half a step. Add in his terrible arm and LF is his best position right now.

good point.

I think I was thinking of the highlight real moreso than the data than I was thinking of his actual performance in center. Call it the Byrnes effect.

I'm more concerned about where Cespedes fits in

If he pans out, he will be more important to the A’s future than Crisp. Trying him out in CF to see if he can hack it out there is worth diminishing Crisp’s value by shifting him to LF.

Of course it’s important to remember that this is all very early speculation. I’m sure ideally the A’s would love for Cespedes to be the CF of the future but at this point the information on him is so limited I’m sure not even the A’s know for sure what his best position will be defensively.

I don’t doubt Slusser’s sources and I believe that the A’s initial plan could be to put Cespedes in center and Crisp in left, but that is all subject to change once the team gets a few weeks to watch these guys in action in spring training.

great point.

Coco is a fun player to have and watch, and ultimately the kind of player who is fun to root for because of his personality and hustle but it is far more important to find out what we have here in Cespedes. Great point and in retrospect I think you’re totally correct.

I just don't see Carter in the 1B mix

Barton’s an excellent defensive player and Allen looks very solid there, and Barton has a track record of a really good hitting season in the big leagues while Allen has mashing potential. One of those two should be at 1B, and Carter should DH or bust.

I don't think anyone sees him in the 1B anymore

I agree he should be handed a bat and told this is all you have to do and you get to play every day for 50 games.

I do.

do I win a prize?

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

I'm a huge Carter proponent and even I have given up on 1B

This

He’s Edgar Martinez 2012, if we’re really lucky

Well

I am sure he owns a 1B mitt. But then again, so do I. Akadema actually…. I wonder if I could get in on the 1B battle Royal?

"Do I pack now or...?"

Translation

“Fuck you Billy”

EddieVegas_NRAF - February 13, 2012 reply

Nickname

After first extended hitting slump: Cesspool.

JohnSeal - February 13, 2012 reply

haha

hopefully he transitions well and his A’s career is more like Jose than Ozzie

buddahead9 - February 13, 2012 reply

Or like

Ariel Prieto!!

JohnSeal - February 13, 2012 reply

Or if he plays well...

Cess Machine!

chrisatsac - February 13, 2012 via iPhone app reply

The Knock Cess Monster

drink409 - February 13, 2012 reply

Cessual Chocolate!

Sent a text to a friend earlier and intially typoed his name as Cespoopes.

Good thing I caught THAT one. Damn iPhone.

Jim Callis said he's a top 10 prospect

if he were a prospect, behind only the hitting likes of Trout, Harper, Machado, Profar, Montero… We got one of “those guys”. =))))))))

And Goldstein said he would've put Cespedes 20th.

Not Trout or Harper but I agree that this is pretty damn good news

yep

when was the last time we had a top 25 prospect that was a position player??? Chavez? Tejada? I don’t think CarGon was top 25, was he?

BA had him #22 once.

If I recall, both Carter and Taylor were ranked in the 20s. Maybe 30s.

chrisatsac - February 13, 2012 via iPhone app reply

I think they were #27 and #28 last year or something

28 and 29 in 2010

the best thing is we didn't have to be atrociously unwatchable for years to get one of "those guys"

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

Yay for another season drafting around 12.

who cares?

cespedes is way less of a lottery ticket than a high draft pick

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

I still want a top 5 this year and next

yeah we could have been 100+ loss bad and then ended up

with Jeff Clement or Tim Beckham or Josh Vitters or something.

or Evan Longoria

well yeah

we could have been a playoff team and still picked Mike Trout or Mike Stanton. The point is having a top 5 pick can still go horribly, horribly, JaMarcus-level wrong.

Yes. It's not worth losing a lot of games for sure.

I disagree, the risk is worth it imo

Completely agree

All that discussion last week made it very clear. Suck epically and you’re still not guaranteed to get the #1 overall pick, and even if you did you should expect that to get you Pat Burrell. A nice player but basically league average. And if you miss out on #1, the dropoff is huge with every slot.

The A’s just took a major shortcut and added a guy who is projecting better than that without losing any games or giving up anything besides a relatively modest amount of cash.

laserbeams - February 14, 2012 reply

Winning is still the gole of baseball even in a rebuild.

Billy is competitive and fans want to see a team at least that doesn’t lose 100 games.

I know it sucks that it has to be that way, but I'll live and be bitter about it

I know we aren't going to try and win the division.

But losing on purpose is not what baseball is about.

I'm not say lose on purpose but I'm still in the belief of find out what you

have in the guys that are ML ready or close to it instead of adding a bunch of vet fodder.

Yeah, I see what you mean.

Unfortunately you can’t have it all.

Collecting average players year after year and being .500 is also not what it is about

Billy found a way to win 75 and get a top pick instead of losing 95 to get a top pick

What’s not to like?

There are ways to lose effectively while not technically rebuilding.

Play your younger guys for example and get them minutes. That way you can hide behind their veil of effort and youthful exuberance.

kenntoe - February 13, 2012 reply

This is what I and others are advocating

Not purposefully put a crappy team out there; purposefully put a team out there that’s young and designed to showcase talent

cuppingmaster - February 14, 2012 reply

I agree

Have you seen the team over the past 5 years?

the sucking did not lead to getting him though...

Also the team hasn’t been that bad the past 5 years. They’ve at least been competitive. They haven’t even been the worst in their division.

Holy Crap this is the most awesome thing I've heard this offseason!

2nd most awesome for me but still really good.

Well if you're counting non-A's stuff it's not that high, but as far as Beane moves go, it's been the best.

Gio trade was #1 for me

It was OK, but Gio is still the best player in that trade. Here we give up nothing.

I was/am not as high on him as everyone else so it was really good in my eyes

Are you higher on Cole or Peacock than Gio?

Cole yes Peacock maybe

Interesting.....and I mean that sincerely, not in a Reddick way.

QOTM

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via Android app reply

Has Cowgills arbitration clock

officially started? did he play that much last year? If not, I imagine he could be shuffled down to the Rivercats along with Taylor and Carter once Cespedes is ready.

Neither Cowgill nor his clock are worth worrying about

i'm sure Mama Cowgill begs to differ

buddahead9 - February 13, 2012 reply

why not trade him and minor league reliever like Carignan

along with Fuentes to the Rangers for Uehara. With HamBone and Cruz running around in the outfield, they can never have enough back ups in the wings!

Fine with me

too much

people forget that carignan was ahead of bailey on the depth chart and was better than bailey in the AFL the fall before bailey started closing. plus i think the rangers are trying to shed salary with the Uehara move.

that was before

Carignan had a half a dozen arm injuries/surgeries, missed significant playing time and lost a few MPH off his fastball. Those things tend to knock a guys stock down…

Re: the bullpen

There are a few sleepers to watch in spring training who could make the final few spots in the bullpen, like Andrew Bailey did back in 2009. Brett Hunter has loads of potential, but spent a few years in the minors working off an arm injury, and Blake Treinen, a 7th rounder in 2011, was impressive in 30 IP last season mostly at A-ball, he’ll be 24 next year.

exactly

why I wouldn’t sweat trading a guy like Carignan.

Hunter, IMO could be a Bailey type. He’s struggled mightily with injuries, and though they originally had plans for him to start like he did in college, the bullpen seems to be his only hope of making it. If he can stay healthy, he could be a beast – even after his injuries, he still can apparently deal in the mid to high 90’s with his heat and his pitches apparently have nasty movement.

true

hes definitely a red flag. but he can still hit 96-97 and his k rates were just as crazy last year as pre injury.

But....he's an injured reliever. Who cares about him?

hes a healthy reliever who has been injured

has great stuff, draft pedigree and got mlb hitters out in a tiny sample size last year.

OK fine. You win.

Come on! You really wouldn't trade Carignan to get rid of Fuentes?

i wouldnt do the trade above

but its moot because the rangers are purportedly shopping uehara to shed salary and sign oswalt. they’re not going to take fuentes.

i also think fuentes can be effective when used correctly

as he was post geren

You mean like....never?

like exclusively against seth smith

Truly what the doctor ordered for this franchise.

In general, I’ve liked most of Beane’s moves during the offseason. He got good return on trading away Cahill, Gio, and Bailey, and the team assembled was going to be more competitive than people were giving credit.

But there was a perception of throwing in the towel for this season in favor of building for 3, 4 seasons down the road, when (hopefully) Cisco in SJ is open.

But with getting highly touted and sought after young Cuban power hitting stud Cespedes, basically out of nowhere (nobody, I mean nobody, including me, would have expected the A’s had a snowball’s chance of landing him), Billy Beane has made a huge huge huge huge, Maverick’s surf type splash with landing Cespedes.

This is huge folks. People are going to want to go to A’s games now. Now the perception is the A’s are trying to win, now. He will make games more interesting and exciting. And now all the Wolff/Fisher/Beane naysayers can stop complaining.

This is huge, and I am, along with everyone else here, totally, completely stoked.

jeff-athletic - February 13, 2012 reply

Another thing I love about thisis ...

… the gnats have almost triple the payroll of the A’s, but still have not been able to beef up their hitting (Cabrera? big woop). And here, little ol’ Oakland A’s, with the shittiest stadium, lowest attendance, lowest revenues, on revenue sharing, manage to land the hottest foreign young hitting prospect in all of baseball. Take that, Larry Baer, you friggin’ douche!

F&%$ the Giants!

Go A’s!!!!!!!!!

jeff-athletic - February 13, 2012 reply

REC'D!

If you ever need to find Tutu

Simply post FUCK THE GIANTS and Tutu appears with a rec – it’s more reliable than the Batsignal!

REC'D!

hehehe. :)

I love how the Giants fans on McCovey Chronicles are happy for the A's

They are saying they may want to go watch some A’s games now just for support and are congratulating Billy and the A’s on the signing, and…

You guys are saying “Fuck the Giants!!!” Oops.

The Giants organization has done everything possible to alienate A's fans these last few years...

… short of actually crapping on our front doorsteps. We’ve all prettymuch had it with an organization that has made it clear time and time again that their ideal situation would be for the A’s to just disappear.

Idk about the organization itself, but as for the hate between the two fanbases...

seems like it’s a one-way street.

Anyway, Congratulations on the Cespedes signing!

I'm pretty sure he said "Fuck the Giants"

Not “Fuck the Giants’ fans.”

sc00by - February 13, 2012 reply

REC'D!

(uh…the first part)

Fuck like 95% of the Giants fans

I think the jury is still out on who left that bag of poop outside gate D.....

Fuck the Giants indeed #teamscottcousins

See, that's called being a dick ;)

I’m not here to flame – just came to congratulate you folks on the big signing.

I hate the Giants as much as I hate Tebow if not more, fuck them

Close enough! REC'D!

Also being thought of a as dick is the least of my concerns

except that it makes me think of McGinn then I feel dirty and want a shower.

+1 there sir :)

You misunderstood or miss my anti McGinn comments on FTF

I dislike him greatly

Wait what? Oh...that's something we joke about on FTF...

I didn’t think you were serious. Why do you hate him? I think he evolved into a very decent 3rd liner this season on Zus’ wing.

Playing over his head is no better then a 3rd liner going forward

and I fully expect out of control bad penalty McGinn to return at some point.

Ah...well then we'd hope DW gets some reinforcements at the TD

Go Sharks. :)

REC'D!

REC'D! :)

Keep in mind that such statements are not against Giants players, on field managment, or the fans.

… it’s against Giants ownership and upper management (Larry Baer, et al). They’re the ones doing everything they can from stopping the A’s from building a great new ballpark in SJ with their nefarious territorial rights, and suing by proxy, etc. The A’s and their fans just want a new ballpark, and they have exhausted all possibilities in Oakland/East Bay and SJ is their last hope, but Giants ownership/mgmnt keeps getting in the way. And the Giants were given south bay rights by the A’s, to help keep them in the Bay Area and not move to Florida, for “the good of baseball”.

This, of course, infuriates A’s fans, and even folks who are non-partial.

As for Giants fans – nothing against them at all. My brothers, and a number of friends and coworkers are Giants fans. And most of them think the G’s should just get out of the way of the A’s and concentrate on getting a hitter or two.

Yes, it’s a business, and the Giants management’s desire to force the A’s out of the Bay Area is what many would consider a wise business strategy. However, it’s more than a business.

jeff-athletic - February 13, 2012 reply

This is a more eloquent version of what I was trying to communicate

~

REC'D!!!

This is amazing!

I completely agree with and understand what you are saying...

but it just doesn’t look very good with statements like “Fuck the Giants!” instead of what you just said. Kind of gives off a venomous and arrogant first impression. Just saying!

Look at it as a sign of pent up frustration...

… we’re all prettymuch at the ends of our ropes at this point, where nuance and subtlety have gone away, and every time we think about the whole situation, all we can come up with is FUCK THE GIANTS.

REC'D!

Wrex in Effex.

Uh me no undur stan...

Fair enough...I would probably have to admit being a Giants fans, but...

I always have had a soft spot for the A’s in the AL as the other local Bay Area team, so I always root for them as long as they’re not playing the Giants. That is why I am happy that you guys were the mystery team and signed Cespedes

sorry typo - admit to being a Giants fan*

I used to have a soft spot for the Giants...

It even made me happy for them to win the series a few years ago. Unfortunately, the behavior of the Giants ownership has burned that bridge, and it would take quite a shift for me to ever want to rebuild it.

Damn straight.

Absolutely your right - no offense taken. :)

and for the A's fans who support the team staying in Oakland

the Giants ownership is despised for nixing the offer to buy the A’s from the Piccininni group (and for more $$ than Wolff/Fisher offered), because they didn’t want him in the Bay Area. That group was interested in staying in Oakland and would have made a more credible effort. For all A’s fans regardless of where they stand on this issue, the Giants have been angling for years to get all of N California to themselves.

Perplexing

I’m not sure how this fits in the “2015 (hopefully in SJ) as the next competitive year” plan. I

Well he'll still be there in 2015.

Bet he gets traded after 2013 unless he's a megastar

You mean we get to keep him if he's a megastar?

yeah - don't megastars

make better trade material????

Still you would think they would go

All-in on someone younger like Soler, whom they could control from 2016 onwards.

Yes I still want Soler

both would be so incredibly sweet

Cespedes to keep us from being a laughing stock for the next few years, and Soler to usher us into the new stadium along with VDL Cruz and Choice!

It would be interesting to see

Guys like Cespedes and Choice in Cisco Field if it’s ever built along the plans that are currently floating around. 302 ft in LF? Maybe that’s why Beane has focused on right-handed raw power for awhile.

He has? We have RH raw power? Awesome!

Well, there's Carter

Who was targeted in Haren trade talks for that specific reason, Nunez was mainly signed as a raw rhh power type, then guys like Choice, Y.Cabrera, Stassi etc. in draft. Derek Norris also fits the profile. I’m not saying all of these players will have or will have game power in major leagues, but they sure did pick an awful lot of guys over the last few years who can crank it from the right side in BP.

I guess you could add Vollmuth to that.

OK you win!

he who shall not be named

i'm sorry but

nunez? who?

Renato

ahhhh

right how could i forget

problem is

that everyone else was ramping up on Soler. Most assumed Marlins get Cespedes and the rest make the long term play for Soler.

can't imagine

Soler gets the same type of money – if he nets 30-40 mil, it will be over 6-8 years.

Slusser tweet from 9:22 a.m.:

Source tells me Cespedes signing eliminates Soler as possibility for #Athletics but Manny Ramirez is “still on the board.”

Now

Cespedes, Manny, Braden and McCarthy on the same team sounds like a reality show pitch.

Yes I saw that but I put my head in the sand and now I think we can still get Soler

Wouldn't that be

Soler-plexing?

federicobandini - February 13, 2012 reply

Nickname

Cespico!

Lots of poo-pooing, but I like it

Yes, it’s a lot of money, but there is lots of athleticism and upside, which seems to be lacking in the current A’s offense and upper minor league system.

- This move probably puts a few more butts in the seats.
- No big name FA will ever sign in Oakland, so the A’s need to take risks to succeed and I’m tired of the stream of low risk-low reward players that people seem to want to give 2nd and 3rd chances to
- There is a pretty good track record of developing pitchers and signing scrap heap guys to fill the rotation, so the recent trades don’t bother me.

write_said_fred - February 13, 2012 reply

Not sure the money is a factor

I didn’t see us spending it otherwise. Only name out there that would command $9MM per is Oswalt. I think Beane was ready to move forward with a $40MM payroll and pounced on what he thought was a good deal.

DrDoom - February 13, 2012 reply

lol

Jeremy Barfield @Baseclogger

Reply
Retweet
Favorite
· Open

So today I asked the Clubbie for a pair of sanitary socks and he said no. Little did I know the budget was allocated to sign Cespedes lol

theblackpearl - February 13, 2012 reply

I am going to add about 9 more outfielders

Trade for Ryan Sweeney.

Pop N' Locktapus - February 13, 2012 reply

The Only "issue" with this signing is the value of the Andrew Bailey deal

Now I know JJ Reddick can drain a 3, can’t play def – but he might be more valuable the Josh Reddick. WIth Smith, Taylor, Cowgill all being able to fill the hole in the OF – the Bailey deals seems even worse to me then when I 1st saw it…With teams looking to add quality RP – we traded Bailey too soon and we could have probably gotten more out of him in terms of what this teams needs

ryanmoser - February 13, 2012 reply

As of right now I still see Reddick as a starter on this team

Along with Cespedes and Coco in the outfield. So the way I see it we still parlayed Bailey into a starting OF and a couple high upside Minor leaguers.

Speaking of which Raul Alcantara is gettin more love than I thought he would from the scouts.

JJ is a starter on this team

he has way too much value going forward.

Pop N' Locktapus - February 13, 2012 reply

I meant to add in that a starting OF and some high-upside guys for a injury-prone, overvalued closer isn't terrible return.

Have to admit

This move completely confuses me. It doesn’t track with their “strip down the club for SJ” moves. Unless maybe the plan is to lock him up now so they have something interesting to watch during the final years in Oakland, and if he’s still working out in 4 years, sign him up for San Jose year 1 (2016) and/or beyond.

athletics68 - February 13, 2012 reply

Here's the way I see it

1) Cespedes is a very talented, 5-tool prospect. Old for a prospect, but the consensus is that he’s about as good as you can hope for from someone who hasn’t actually proven himself in the majors yet.

2) The new CBA requires teams to spend their revenue-sharing income on the major-league roster, rather than stashing it for a few years down the line, Marlins-style.

3) The new CBA also makes this kind of deal impossible after this offseason. So if the A’s want to gain some kind of advantage from a willingness to sign young, non-draft-eligible foreign players with big signing bonuses, this is their chance.

In short, Cespedes fills a big hole in the roster (even with the glut of okay-to-maybe-good OFs on the team), and he gives the club something useful to spend the revenue-sharing income on. And this kind of deal really won’t be possible in the future.

So, why not go for it?

Why does everything have to be for the new stadium? Don't they still have to play baseball until then? None of the

signings for this year, have no impact on the 2016 teams. You see good players you want you sign them, and let the fans worry about that stuff.

theblackpearl - February 13, 2012 reply

nothing to do with a new ballpark or its location IMO

they saw an opportunity and jumped at it. With the new CBA they wouldn’t be able to do this next year. They can have him for 4 years or trade him. The only downside is if he sucks or gets injured.

and of course they have the money…

The way I see it

Adding talent to the organization is always a good thing. If Cespedes pans out he is a valuable asset that the A’s can utilize in a number of different ways.

Also, I don’t think a plan to be competitive in the new ballpark necessarily means the A’s have to be horrible until the new ballpark opens. I think, ideally, the A’s would like to be competing for the division in the years leading up to the move so they have some momentum and excitement around the club when they make the move. They don’t want to be a 65 win team for the next 4 years then try to sell the city of San Jose on Pirates West.

Yes.

That is exactly their thoughts. If he does well and has a good time on the A’s, then when is contract is up that will be the first year at the new SJ stadium. So they can try to re-sign him by showing him all the new things he will have and how he will be the face of the new San Jose A’s. Plus their payroll goes way up once they make the move, so they can offer him an even bigger contract.

By 2016, if he decides to re-sign he really will be the face of the A’s. He will be one of the oldest and probably best players on the team at that time. Braden, McCarthy, Colon, Crisp, Smith, Gomes, and any of our other older players probably won’t be there in 2016. So in a way it’s a smart move. “You sign with us until our move, then in 2016 we will have a new stadium and a bigger payroll to give you a bigger contract, and you will be the veteran face of the brand new San Jose A’s”

If he’s as good as we hope then I wouldn’t mind him being the face of the A’s at all. He will be like the new Chavez, or Tejada. The drummers need to make a song for him right now.

Mike Siegel - February 13, 2012 reply

Prospect rankings are nice and all

But its up to the player to produce at some point. Goldstein ranked carter #11 and Taylor #20 in 2010 top 100, now they are pretty much spare pieces. I’m sure if the A’s thought highly of them maybe this rebuild might have not happened

Bravos were in on Seth Smith

for a while. I wonder if we could trade Smith plus others for Prado and have him play third.

My predictions for this season's OF issues.

Pretty soon into the season the starting OF will be Crisp, Cespedes, Reddick, with Gomes/Smith as backup OFs and DH’s. Cowgill is back in AAA. Manny is signed.

After 50 games: Manny is DH, Cowgill is up at backup OF and Crisp is traded. Leaving the OF looking like this Cespedes, Reddick, Gomes/Smith.

That is if Billy doesn’t trade one or more of the OFs before the season even starts.

Mike Siegel - February 13, 2012 reply

I like it.

Dub_TC - February 13, 2012 reply

where will the

cuban smoking section be located?

Satchmo22 - February 13, 2012 reply

in the parking lot. The coliseum is a non-smoking facility

Not that it stops people.....

Well, the AN hotties are SMOKIN' HAWT!

informally, every section is the smoking section...

I would prefer if the only smoking done in the Coli

was done in the bottom of each inning, and straight down the lines.

LoneStranger - February 14, 2012 reply

We can win the division in 2012!!!

Hamilton will end up falling off the wagon trail and the Rangers will fade come August.

LAA can be beat easily if we give Pujols the Bonds *IBB treatment.

MMunoz33 - February 13, 2012 reply

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet

It’s a little long, but WELL worth your time.

there is a link there, it's awesome

For those confused above, please remember

that we have to spend our revenue sharing monies. If we don’t we get dinged. It’s not confusing really, we have to spend the money. And we have to spend it on free agents (right?). And since hitters won’t come here, we have to sign pitchers. And apparently there were not a lot of suitors left for Yoenis.

and I think personally it F'$#@ing awesome we signed a big bat!!!

KOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ!

A Kouzmanoff for the rest of us!

Could he be the one FA bat to sign with Oakland?

Has anyone already posted this video somewhere?

Yoenis promo video

yeah

I just posted it like two comments above, but I didn’t do it as nicely as you did.

oh cool, thanks, didn't see it!

Christoper Cross and Yoenis Cespedes: How can we go wrong?

I can't believe they chose that song

nothing says dominant baseball talent like Sailing by Christoper Cross

dominant A's baseball talent!

Takes me away.

TwoAway - February 13, 2012 reply

Heard about this multiple times

Can someone please explain its significance? Did it become like a hot internet thing or what

hot baseball internet thing

It was just so ridiculous and bold. I don’t think anyone else has done that.

shiny toy!

I approve. Especially if he works – i.e., plays -as expected

my_cat_max - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

a couple of observations about the video

1) assuming that all goes well with the physical and he signs with the A’s, please NO MORE STUNTS in the weight room…we’ve had enough players injure themselves that way.

2) his OBP’s during his years playing in Cuba looked good

3) he’s listed at 6’0", 215 libs. so he’s not actually a huge guy.

4) his mom was the ace pitcher for the Cuban women’s national softball team. I’ve watched that team play during the years that she played, and they were quite good.

5) he has power to all fields. Of course, we still don’t know how long he’ll take to adjust to MLB pitching…(his first HR in Dominican winter ball was a high outside pitch, and he pulled it.)

there are a few other youtubes of him driving balls to right in games

the power is very real

I know, I've seen them. He has power to all fields

You might expect a pitch to the outside of the plate to be hit the opposite way for a HR. He hooked that one and pulled it quite nicely. But that’s clearly not the only way he can hit them out.

In response to #4

So in this one case it’s okay that he “Plays ball like a girl!”

TwoAway - February 13, 2012 reply

Great Power To All Fields

That’s an attribute you want guys to have.
I’m hoping for his performance to be similar to those of his idol, Miguel Tejeda, during his time with the A’s: 30 homeruns, 90-110 RBI and a .300 average. He has that much potential and talent.

Sean Fortuna - February 14, 2012 reply

If I love this signing,

does that make me a Cespedophile?

Pop N' Locktapus - February 13, 2012 reply

Given that he's 27, by American standards, no you are not.

However, given Cuba’s shakey aging system he could be closer to 37 and depending on how old you are you could be closer to grave-robbing than cradle robbing.

Question

Won’t we have to DFA someone, to get Cespedes on the 40 man. Who goes?

My vote goes to Gomes.

HuskerFan - February 13, 2012 reply

Gomes is a perfect platoon player...

why would we rid of him?

Trade Allen hopefully

They've got to wait several days for visa/physical things to be cleared up

so I’m guessing Brandon Allen or Michael Taylor or Chris Carter or the Kila Monster are getting traded quick. Or Seth Smith.

Well I'm actually interested in our opening day lineup which is something I haven't said in many years...

Weeks (2B)
Barton (1B)- yeah i hope he returns to form
Cespedes (CF)
Smith/Gomes (LF)- this is a really stud platoon
Reddick (RF)
Carter/Allen (DH)
Sizemore (3B)
Suzuki ©
Pennington (SS)

That looks solid…

BTW I want Crisp gone

I like you

Also can only pick one of carter and allen...

Damn, and think how nice that lineup might be

Starting behind a couple of All-Star pitchers named Cahill and Gio…. But c’est la vie

Yeah but how is that lineup gonna look in a couple years backing up a rotation of...

Parker, Gray, Peacock, Cole, and Milone?

With some guy named Choice also plugged into the middle of the lineup

and remember, that line up doesn't exist if we don't trade them

Why the hate for Crisp?

Cespedes isn’t ousting Crisp, and Crisp is more than likely going to be traded come July or next off-season.

For me it is the one offseason move I wish never happened

I don't love the move, but I love Coco and don't see how he hurts anything.

I think if they really want Soler, they can get him.

Coco is okay but having him means most likely he leads off or bats second

then there is his noodle arm, the fro is the only cool aspect of him.

I'd rather see an OF of Smith/Cowgill, Cespedes, Reddick

(Taylor at AAA to try to force his way back), but I also realize that when they signed Coco they didn’t know if they would land Cespedes.

Well it's not as if we have anyone that's a true 2 spot hitter...

Furyan - February 14, 2012 reply

Barton would be my choice

Copenhagen - February 14, 2012 reply

But having Coco blocks Smith and Gomes! What will we do?

we love Coco, it's just that this wasn't a great move in many ways

He's a huge injury risk and is just not that valuable of a player based on most metrics

If you'll forgive the brief aside

It’s nice to see this place can still get lively when there’s actual baseball news to discuss – especially when it’s good baseball news!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLgsIvwMFL4&feature=related

Cespedes has come to save the city of Oakland and/or San Jose. This video was certainly made by Cubans. Make sure you watch until the turtles.

This is now my favorite video on the interwebs.

I see no evidence taht it was made by Cubans

although it does appear to be someone who lives in Miami.

If this was made by Cubans

then what entity made the one where Brandon Allen’s home run circles the earth?

I claim it was made by Cubans

because it is so corny that it has a sort of “foreign” feel to it. Although, you are right in that I have no evidence.

I'm pretty sure

he’s wearing green & gold, and the jersey says “Athletics” in spanish.

the corniness had a distinctly "domestic" feel IMO

fair enough

He looked very Sammy Sosa-ish on the HR

http://www.insidebayarea.com/monte-poole/ci_19955445

Monte Poole delving deeper into Lowell Cohn territory

just sounds like he's looking at Céspedes as a trade chip

that’s not an unusual analysis of the A’s.

His writing on the A's (not just this one) makes me look like a ray of sunshine

He makes a point about one thing....

Trading Cespedes. The contract is back-loaded with 15M the first two years, and 21M the last two. So the A’s are set to save more than half the contract if they trade him after the 2013 season. But the guy over at cbs sports probably has it right: the pitching staff comes of age in 2014-2015, which is the same time that Cespedes will be peaking (also the same time Reddick will be peaking and Choice will be coming of age), so it’s a smart deal because the team will still cost very little but could be very, very good.

cbssports guy:
http://danny-knobler.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/8590096/34822327

that could be

a scary good hitting outfield.

Thanks for the accent mark, Sí.

I didn’t know that one, and as a result I was pronouncing it wrong in my head.

sure thing

I'm just hoping he really is 26.

Age is a fluid concept in Latin baseball.

Drone - February 13, 2012 reply

actually, not so

the problem is specifically in the Dominican Republic, and only with regard to desperate baseball prospects.

on the birth certificate, in the box for age, it just simply says "stud"

Is the biggest contract on the team now owed to a player who has never seen a pitch in the U.S.?

If this is true, it is ok with me. But it is sort of weird, too. What does he say when he arrives in the clubhouse?

"I'm richer than all you beaches"

Did he play in the WBC perhaps?

A'sFanDFW - February 14, 2012 reply

Yeeeaaaaheeessss!

talex - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

I have to admit. I've been very impressed with the rebuilding/reloading efforts so far.

But the fact you were able to snag Cespedes puts this off-season into a whole ‘nother level. You built a formidable future pitching staff (A.J.Cole looks awesome, I take back any negative thing I said about him) while adding good pieces to the ~~-albeit confused~~- but interesting position player acquisitions. It’s almost like Billy Bean saw that there was a choice between sucking his way into good draft choices (like many on the board were advocating) and building the San Jose team that way, or going balls out and trying to build a winner. The humiliation of that would’ve been to much to take, particularly in the same year Brad Pitt just played you in a great movie extolling how much of smarty pants you were.

This really stings. Cespedes would’ve looked really good in RF for the Pads. I always wanted to beat you guys, but now I REALLY REALLY want to have my Pads beat you. My only consolation is the conscientious objectors that don’t get to celebrate here.

padmadfan - February 13, 2012 reply

Thank you

Wow, I'm surprised there haven't been more posts about why we didnt get Soler instead

Personally, I love. He’ll add some much needed power to our lineup which doesnt actually look to bad if all the unnowns (Reddick,Smith, Gomes,etc) play decent. Also, he wasn’t too expensive, especially when we have to spend a certain amount of money to satisfy the CBA (or whatever it is. I forget) The fact that we will only have him for 4 years isnt that bad either. The most likely outcome will probably be that we will trade him in his 3rd or 4th year for a crop of solid prospects (provided he does well). But maybe he would actually consider resigning if our prospects near arrival, the team starts to play well, and the eventual stadium nears completion. I still hope that they can somehow get Soler and that they dont go after Manny even though they are still said to have interest in him

DH

I just thought of this. He could DH instead of signing Manny, this way our OF isn’t as crowded as we imagine it to be. Then after a year of DH, we’ll see who we re-sign next year and Cespedes can move into an OF position when the room opens. Cespedes can also play OF this year when we are at NL.

Mike Siegel - February 13, 2012 reply

I think having Smith/Gomes DH is more likely.

Maybe an outfield of Cespedes, Coco and Reddick, with Cowgill as the 4th/5th OF.

Everyone seems to love his athleticism

and think he has atleast a shot of playing CF. Nobody goes from possible CF to worse than Seth Smith in LF. He’ll be roaming the green grass of the O Co this summer

A'sFanDFW - February 14, 2012 reply

I would explore

Seth Smith, Grant Balfour for Martin Prado, C+/B- Prospect
Sign Vladimir Guerrero
Sign Mike Gonzalez
Explore Trading for Koji with the remnants of Brandon Allen, Michael Taylor, Scott Sizemore (if no dice, go with Devine/Gonzo setting up in the 8th)
Lineup:
2B Weeks
CF Crisp
3B Prado
DH Guerrero
LF Cespedes
RF Reddick
1B Barton
C Suzuki

I'm also

a proponent of Cespedes staying the minors for a month or two

and I left Pennington out

because I think he will die of natural causes

see tag line

who needs a SS when we are going to be so awesome!?

I tip my hat to

you sir

Michael Taylor

Early in the offseason it looked like he had a shot to start next yr, but A’’s wanted him to compete for a job and prove himself in AAA. Theyve added 6 OF’s, a couple milb free agent OF’s (moss/pridie/fiorentino), and added jermaine mitchell to the 40 man roster since.

Seems like theyve lost confidence or just dont think as highly of him from 2 yrs ago when ranked the 20th best prospect in mlb

Does anyone think as highly of him as they did 2 years ago? Anyone? Anyone?

I actually think he could have a big year...

It is really now or never for the guy, and I think the time might be right.

Bueller?

His Mom

He's just a good looking guy

holding a bat and wearing a cool uni as far as I"m concerned. I expect zero from him this season.

EddieVegas_NRAF - February 13, 2012 reply

Maybe he shouldn't have got an unauthorized "internship" at KNBR, hrmmm?

LoneStranger - February 14, 2012 reply

Pronunciation help, please

YO-nis? YAY-nis?

Sess-PAY-dess? SESS-pe-dess?

yo-EH-nis CES-pe-des

with the accent on the syllable with caps.

I put an extra h in his first name to help people with pronunciation. His first name is NOT pronounced “yo’ anus” …

OK that first name is obscene. Literally.

My initial nickname for him was “’Spedey” (get it?) but now I’m leaning towards, “What about my anus?”

yo-eh (not the canadian pronunciation)-nes SESS-pe-dess i believe

JimBarnett2KevinGarnett - February 13, 2012 reply

YES! YES ! YES ! YES ! YES ! YES! YES! YES!

woooow….first major league hitter on our time in years!!! need to get someone to hit behind him or me he might lead the lead the league in walks…….wow, at least 4 years will guarantee a Choice/Cespedes 3/4 order.

wow too extied, soo many mistakes...meant to say, he might lead the league in walks

JimBarnett2KevinGarnett - February 13, 2012 reply

I had an ex tied once...

… but she got out of it very quickly. Probably best that way, really.

Two comments:

This Cespedes move still has me in wonderful shock. I am overjoyed.

The second is about this continued talk of Manny, that it is Win-Win, little gamble, etc. etc., but even as Manny would sit out 50 days at the beginning of the season, we would still need to clear a 40-man roster spot, while he sat out his suspension. Correct?

robertmelvin - February 13, 2012 reply

Not sure but it's not like they'd miss Figueroa or Doolittle or Sogard or any of 30 other guys

Sogard would probably stick around with Cardenas gone, just him and Rosalas to back up MI

I hope it is an Allen deal or another one of the outfielders that are multiplying like rabbits.

It sort of has to be one of Crisp, Reddick, or Smith

Which is unfortunate, because I’d rather Gomes or Crisp go. Reddick and Smith have much more upside than the other two.

I still want to turn back the clock and not re-sign Coco

Losing Smith means Gomes has no platoon partner so in my perfect world they both get dealt to make one decent ballplayer. Reddick I’d like to stick around but if he is dealt I’d be fine with it.

he'd probably take PAs from reddick

manny, crisp, cespedes, reddick/gomes

I agree Sogard will stick around,

so the A’s will either need DFA someone, or more likely there is another trade in the wind……me thinks that BB is enjoying this off season more than most.

robertmelvin - February 13, 2012 reply

There is no need for Jerry Blevins on our 40-man roster

branch rickey - February 13, 2012 reply

He would be down on the list of guys I would let go

At this point I think Blevins is probably the best left-handed reliever on the roster.

Moneyball WIN!!!!

When asked why he chose Oakland….

“On Monday, the 26-year-old outfielder agreed to a four-year, $36 million contract with Oakland, citing the reputation of A’s general manager Billy Beane and the direction of the franchise among the reasons he chose the A’s.

It didn’t hurt that one of Cespedes’ favorite players growing up in Cuba was former Oakland shortstop Miguel Tejada"

What he really meant was that he liked the nude scenes of Pitt's body double.

And honestly, who didn't?

Excuse, what's a "body double"?

Seriously?

Okay. You see Brad Pitt and he’s taking his shirt off. Then you see him from the neck down and he has abs of steel. Then he turns his back to the camera, end of scene. Next scene, Brad Pitt is clothed. The person you saw with the abs of steel wasn’t Brad Pitt, it was a body double. Brad Pitt’s body in reality looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Ok, not that seriously.

I REALLY liked your explanation, though, and the PD image will stick for a while! I like to pretend that films are real, sometimes, and at least that film stars are really as beautiful as they look, or that Middle Earth really was that shade of green (at least near Hobbiton). Don’t know why.

Yep,

heard the same thing!

Not seeing the espn insider article about comps

Cespedes was being compared to Colby Rasmus and Adam Jones. This is not encouraging.

Well he's not going to be like 2011 Ellsbury

Both of those players are high power CF, which is a good comparison to Cespedes. Jones’ only two flaws are below average glove (not horrible) and not understanding what a walk is. I have to imagine Cespedes would be able to walk more than 5% of the time. I would be ecstatic if we end up with a .280 25 HR CF.

I’m kind of in a little fantasy where Carter works out, Choice comes up, and we have 3 30HR hitters in the middle of the lineup for at least one season…

My heart skipped a beat

at the thought of three 30 HR guys playing for the A’s at the same time.

A'sFanDFW - February 14, 2012 reply

What's wrong with Rasmus and Jones? True they're not superstars, but they're not horrible.

2011 Rasmus was horrible

but every other year that Jones and Rasmus have put up has been pretty good.

Yes. Colby won the Cardinals the World Series by not being on the team.

the panel of execs surveyed ranks the group from least to best

rasmus, stubbs, upton, young/cespedes tie, jones in aggregate

If he turns into Adam Jones I'm cool with that

McCutchenIsTheTruth - February 13, 2012 reply

He's far too big to stick at Corner Back...

TwoAway - February 14, 2012 reply

Congrats

You sound as pissed as I am.

padmadfan - February 13, 2012 reply

haha

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Or as Josh Reddick would say: "Interesting...."

Awesome dilemma!

Great problem to have and not to familiar to us of late:

SO little positions, so many players! :)

I’m looking forward to seeing him take BP. I think I’m going to go to opening day REALLY early now! :) Need to eat before BP!

DoomandGloom - February 13, 2012 reply

Never get to see the A's take batting practice

am I missing something?

HELL YES!

It’s the ritual and rite of passage as a fan—to be able to catch a ball during BP and better yet you just feel like your in the game. Picture this, your in the bleachers with your glove and every crack of the bat means you better be paying attention because a ball might be on it’s way!

DoomandGloom - February 13, 2012 reply

Ok its just that I have been going to games for years and the A's are off the field by the time they let people in.

again, is this just me? Or have I been missing A’s batting practice for years?

I guess I gotta get there earlier

SeligNeukomSabeanSuckBalls - February 13, 2012 reply

I think you're right?

I guess I got to excited! LOL! I remember the good ol’ days when the gates opened two hours early and you could literally have a whole section in the bleachers to yourself! LOL

DoomandGloom - February 13, 2012 reply

Now you don't even have to get there early...

to get a whole section to yourself!

snrubnivek - February 13, 2012 reply

All the A's need now is Canseco as the DH

I’m not joking.

1. Canseco will bring people to the stadium.
2. Canseco will bring drama and excitement.
3. Canseco can only be greater than or equal to the DHs the A’s have had for the past few years.
4. Canseco has experience and won’t buckle under the pressure of the majors, he lives for the pressure.
5. Canseco could play DH the first 50 games until Manny’s suspension is over.
6. Canseco is in great shape, better shape for the DH position than any of the older free agents the A’s might get, and can run faster.
7. Canseco can still swing the bat.
8. Canseco has been involved with baseball for the last 11 years.

I know that this may sound crazy and insane to almost all of you. I have seen the guy play and he might be old but he still has gas in the tank. If he was just a DH last year for Yuma (didn’t coach and pitch) he would have had amazing numbers as a DH. Major league pitching is much different than independent league pitching, but the guy can still do a number to the baseball.

Worst case scenario: Canseco could get the A’s on a show called ESPN’s SportsCenter

Jose, is that you?

Did Billy ignore your tweet? ;-)

Tyler Bleszinski - February 13, 2012 reply

Canseco doesn't know what you are talking about

I think reason #8 is compelling enough to bring him back

Unless he meant Ozzie Canseco

Have you ever seen his twitter?

This guy is WAY too coherent to be Jose Canseco.

But I'm not!

SeligNeukomSabeanSuckBalls - February 13, 2012 reply

Bring him back!

If Jose gets injured the A’s can always play Ozzie in his place.

I'll give anything

to see a HR bounce off his head again.

I guess this sort of makes up for trading away Carlos Gonzales

elSAVinator - February 13, 2012 reply

Ack, I cant believe I had to be at a conference all day when this news broke.

Fuck yeah! Rebuilding is no longer a dirty word!

Billy Frijoles - February 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Howdy

Nat’s fan here, and want to tell you: we wanted us some Cespedes, so ya’ll can kiss my ass.

Nah, congrats. Good luck, and hope everything pans out for ye’. Seriously.

Btw, I loves me some Gio, but Tommy Milone and Brad Peacock are that good. You’ll see. Lookin’ good A’s.

Whupass - February 13, 2012 reply

Thanks, "Whup"

I think the Gio trade is a “win-win,” assuming the Nats can contend now. Hey, there’s two wild cards to shoot for….

It's funny, Cameron from FG said on Clubhouse Confidential he thought the Gio extension/trade was one of the most puzzling of the offseason

Thinks his BB rate isn’t going to get better. I’m rooting for Gio myself, but I suppose he does have a point.

I think it is gonna be a bad contract when it is over

Have you ever not said that about any long term deal?

Nope, I'm that down on him

There are some long term ones I like, any deal for him I would shit on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6cZxTrADz0&feature=related

Had a cuban sandwich from a food cart for lunch to celebrate!

JamesS - February 13, 2012 reply

I like long at bats, especially ones that end like this.

Slusser says crisp LF, cespedes CF

then i assume a smith/gomes combo at DH

Say goodbye to taylor/carter if this is the plan

I called it!

From Rosenthal:

The Athletics have no such plans for Cespedes — they intend to start him in center, move Coco Crisp to left and play Josh Reddick in right, with Seth Smith getting most of his at-bats as a DH, sources say.

Which sounds like the best plan. Cowgill and Gomes are good bench pieces.

I like it...

Just wish we could deal Crisp and use that 7 million to go after roy oswalt or aj burnett. I prefer Allen or Taylor getting a shot in LF cause Crisp is not part of our future. I think Seth/Gomes are best at DH I suppose because I’ve given up on Carter.

Hell No!

to Burnett.

Sounds like his sources are listening to Slusser on the radio

If Smith DHs, he should be in a platoon with Gomes.

That’s actually a pretty darn good DH. (And we don’t have to watch either of them field!)

Hope Yo-Yo is on the Show 12'

If your talking about the video game, I agree and he should be

If your talking about being in the pros from day one, I still agree. None of our other OFs have done enough to beat him out

Agreed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is she still rapping?

I think so...she probably has a label by now.

z

whoops

I had totally forgotten about her until that sentence. Her and Cube were pretty good together on It’s a Man’s World

Seth Smith playing some DH and the fact they are looking at Manny

spells (sadly) Carter is not good enough in their eyes.

Trainman - February 13, 2012 reply

Awesome song!

You can't play with my Yo-Yo lol

More Cespedes, of course!

NEW POST UP

Now if we can somehow get Roache and Diekroeger in the draft!!!

Just thought of a possible nickname...

Whatchmacallit: Derived from the fact that no one knows how to properly pronounce his name

Lol

Well if he's good,

we can call him Yoenis the Menace.

Just go to SuSlu's initial story about it on sfgate.com

She embedded about 5 minutes of a game with Spanish PXP in which Cespedes hit a HR.

Nick - February 14, 2012 reply

his nickname in Cuba was "Potencia"

means “the power” of “the force”

OaklandSi - February 14, 2012 reply

And he certainly has potencial!

Nico - February 14, 2012 reply

Is that a PED? Can it be bottled?

paris7 - February 14, 2012 reply

I think it would be more accurately translated as

potency

darooster - February 14, 2012 reply

verdad

correct.

I was intrigued

by all the no-names and unkonwns going into the season, now I am excited!

Fantastic

This is a bold move by the A’s and one the caught everyone by surprise, I think; last thing I heard, Cespedes was touring the Marlin’s facilities and it seemed like a done deal. I didn’t even know Oakland had been linked to him.
Does this mean Lew Wolff has an idea of what’ll happen with the stadium now, because 9 million over 4 years was not the contract I expected to see thrown out this offseason; why didn’t they just do it with Willingham? I guess this means we may have an answer soon, but in any case, great news.

Sean Fortuna - February 13, 2012 reply

I'd rather the A's give the money to Cespedes over Willingham

Cespedes means a lot more risk but he’s younger and a much better defender. Much more likely to have value over the next 4 years than Willingham. Plus, letting Willingham go netted the A’s some early draft picks.

http://gifsoup.com/view7/3418211/yoenis-cespedes-o.gif

Though,

With defense, will Cespedes’ strong D in center be worth more than the loss of Coco’s D if he goes to left field?

Sean Fortuna - February 14, 2012 reply

I was thinking more in comparison to Willingham

I’m not sure if Cespedes can stick in center but even if he moves to the corner most reports suggest he should be well above average. Either way your looking at a possible +10 or better corner outfielder in Crisp or Cespedes rather than the -10 that Willingham would likely provide. That provides a lot of wiggle room in offensive production, if Cespedes can come close to matching Willingham’s offense the A’s are in a much better position no matter who ends up in left field.

Also, I’m thinking Crisp might be on the move pretty soon. On a multi-year deal the A’s outfield defense looks a lot more promising with Cespedes rather than Willingham.

OkayJay81 - February 14, 2012 reply

even if you cant see it it looks promising

ilikeike - February 14, 2012 reply

A couple reasons why Cespedes>Willingham

1. Willingham’s older. Hammer’s 32 and Cespedes is only 26 (still kinda old but relatively young)
2. Cespedes is only 2M more expensive per year so there’s not a huge difference
3. Cespedes’ potential is much higher
4. Cespedes is faster and a better fielder so he wont be limited to LF/DH like Willingham is
5. Combing reasons 1-4 makes Cespedes better trade bait if they dont feel like they would be able to sign him to an extension for the years when the new stadium is presumed to be finished

and the biggest reason:

the A’s get the 34th and 60th picks in the draft for Willingham.

BWH - February 14, 2012 reply

agreed, forgot to put that

SheaWasBettor21 - February 14, 2012 reply

Trade

Michael Taylor for Sean Rodriguez?

never

Rodriguez is a utility man at best. Even though it probably wont happen now, Taylor has the potential to be a solid OF. Even if Rodriguez has a career year, he’s still not as good as Weeks, Pennington, or Sizemore who play the positions that Rodriguez has the most experience at. Maybe he can play OF too but we have way too many of them

I see Sean Rodriguez

as a potential sleeper. I would do that trade.

Billy Frijoles - February 15, 2012 reply

And displace Sogard or Rosales? Our secret weapons?

paris7 - February 15, 2012 reply

I would def. do that trade.

Me too: Better crap!

Nico - February 15, 2012 reply

eh, I dont know

I think, at best, he’ll do about as well as Sizemore did last year. But I expect Sizemore to improve a little so Rodriguez would still be beat out as a starter. Maybe he could play utility man instead of Rosales but I’d much rather give up either Rosales or Sogard instead of Taylor. I think Taylor+Balfour could be a nice package to get a good potential A ball guy and maybe a decent reliever

NJA'sFan - February 15, 2012 reply

oops, meant to reply to Athletics fan and runner

NJA'sFan - February 15, 2012 reply

I just replied to you a few posts down.

sorry for not actually replying in the right place.

Rodriguez's AAA numbers

He put up OPS numbers of 1.017 and 1.042 in his last two seasons in AAA. He was 23 and 24 in those seasons.
That is actually a lot better than Taylor has done and that alone would make me do that trade. I would do it in a second.

wow

I meant that as a reply to our comrade from jersey.