Frank Thomas to the A’s
DMZ · April 24, 2008 at 10:03 am · Filed Under Mariners
Oakland will be on the hook only for about $337,000 — a prorated share of the $390,000 minimum — so this move was a bargain for general manager Billy Beane and a club looking to boost its power numbers.
If that’s all they gave up, this could frankly be astounding: they get his rebound year, let someone else eat the resulting FA contract, and get him back for prorated league minimum.
Prorated league minimum.
Depressed? Cheer up–
hcoguy
So what? We’ve got a DH who clogs the bases and hits for -no- power.
I wonder if Raul could be a better fielder at first than Sexson?
Can someone point me to a source that has total balls hit to the outfield by team, along with the percentage of those that were turned into outs?
Well at least we can go watch the hometown 9 struggle to hit tonight, at least we have Washburn on the bump … oh yeah another great signing by Bill ‘LightYear’s Son’ Bavasi.
Billy Beane is good. We all know that. But I think we should stop acting like he’s brilliant for manipulating this deal.
This deal was so obvious for every team looking for an upgrade at DH (M’s and A’s being the main two) that it has to go down as a failure by Bavasi rather than a success by Beane. You get a HOF DH for absolutely nothing. It makes sense that Bavasi would try to turn it into a two-year deal and somehow send prospects to the A’s, Angels or some other team destined to beat us now and in the future.
This deal would have made the offense better in so many ways I don’t even want to think about it. Too painful.
32 – not really, would Bonds play for a prorated league minimum? No…
I think the best part of the Thomas acquisition is that it might provide more opportunities for Jack Cust to play in the outfield, increasing the comedy potential of any Athletics game by 173%.
And Thomas can clog my bases anytime he wants.
And the A’s score in his first inning back…
I know you guys all love that video that Derek posted … but if you want to laugh again watch this Video made by some M’s fan on YouTube. It’s called “I want Sexson Gone” sung to the tune of “Sexy Back” by JT.
I know you will enjoy.
Clogging bases what?
*strangling noises*
meant to say score 6.
Good point eternal.
Thomas is in Oakland for 10 minutes, and what happens? He walks and scored in a six-run first inning against Francisco Liriano.
I have a feeling this deal is going to be the gift that keeps on taking.
58 – …and Liriano didn’t make it out of the 1st
BrianL – but Ibanez is very unlikely to request a move to DH, any more than Vidro is to request that he be benched because he couldn’t hit a beach ball out of a sandbox (with the wind behind him).
It’s McLaren’s job to tell the team what to do and and Bavasi’s job to construct a roster that gives McLaren the best chance to win.
A mindnumbingly risk-averse strategy of both “hire the veterans (no matter the cost)” and “play the veterans (until their own mothers see that they’re washed up)” has killed this team for years.
Sorry. Preaching to the converted. Just venting.
Evan is right. This was a brilliant move. Beane didn’t pick Frank up to make a run at the division title he picked him up, taking a cheap ass risk in the process, to flip him to a contender this summer. Amazing.
Colm –
Someone over at LL mentioned that Ibanez was expecting/wanting to play at DH this year. Unfortunately LL is down (again) so I can’t go off and cite that information. I think he realizes that he’s not physically capable of playing the outfield every day.
Yes, Thomas drew a walk and scored a run in his very first inning of play. Walks and runs are baaaaaaad.
RE #50
I think it’s a sarcastic remark.
Sorry, didn’t think it was that subtle 🙂
Oh, okay. Sometimes it can be hard to tell.
That was the sound of me strangling, anyway, not the sound of me trying to strangle you!
A’s fans don’t know just how good they have it. Once they get the new stadium, I can only imagine what sort of team the A’s will be. And as a Mariners fan, I am scared of that day coming.
I am hoping the team acknowledges that their corner outfield now is just terrible defensively (Just look at Willie’s “webgem” last night), and right field there is a gaping hole. Would anyone agree that bring up Wlad to play RF and trading for a LF and sticking Ibanez as full time DH would make this team loads better. I feel like I am pipe-dreaming though, seeing that this team never seems to make any rational moves before its too late.
Walked again. He didn’t even swing that whole at bat. Vidro could teach that HOFer a thing or two about being a professional hitter.
The Rick Roll/Muppets combination is awesome. Almost made up for the fact that we still don’t have a DH.
Yes, Thomas drew a walk and scored a run in his very first inning of play. Walks and runs are baaaaaaad.
No doubt about it. They ruin Chemistry (TM), and kill rallies. And so forth and so on.
Two walks in his first game could either be a very good example of “old player skills”, or it could be a very good example of SSS theater.
I’m glad we didn’t get him, we need to be getting rid of old veterans on the dowhill side of their careers, not adding them.
Also, LL being down today made me a sad panda.
not something that I can find out of Ibanez’ own mouth.
IIRC they had it linked on LL, but I could be mistaken.
Anyone know what’s going on with SBNation? Field Gulls and LL have had a ton of downtime lately.
I’m not so sorry about Frank Thomas. Is it true Boston doesn’t love Coco Crisp anymore? I’d like: Coco Crisp in left, Wlad in right, Ichiro center and Clement’s bat in the lineup every day as either DH or catcher. I’d offer 2 ponies and a Kermit for Coco.
Oh, we know how lucky we are, believe me.
As long as the M’s are committed to Vidro as DH (and a full-time one at that), it’s hard to see where they will get the flexibility to improve.
I wasn’t really a fan of Thomas. If we could have gotten him for prorated league minimum its just stupid not to. We would actually save money. Thomas at $337K – Pepe’s vesting option= Good GM.
I heard that Thomas had to play for the pro-rated league minimum if he signed somewhere else this year because he already had a contract in place this year and was released from it. The negoticating part was what he would be paid the following year.
Can anybody confirm this, because if it’s true it would appear Thomas just prefered going back to Oakland.
I just turned on this game on ESPN’s GameCast. Frank is 0-3 w/ 2BB, BTW. The funny thing is, most of the Oakland players are wearing caps from other teams in their photos. It’s like watching the all-star game…except with no all-stars.
could we not assume that the Ms FO didn’t even try to get Thomas until we actually know that they didn’t?
Can an imbedded youtube link be a rickroll? Meh, whatever, I hadn’t seen this one yet and it’s well done.
Although “rickrolling” is the internet equivalent of tapping someone on the opposite shoulder while walking past them. It’s kinda funny the first couple of times, but after a while you just want to punch the sumbitch in the face.
It’s not true that Thomas had to pay for the prorated minimum. He was free to sign whatever contract he wanted. The issue is that the Jays were on the hook for paying the difference between that contract and his contract with them for this year.
Technically, rickrolling would have been saying “Here’s the ESPN story” and linking to the video. That would have been jerky, and that’s why I didn’t do it.
Embedding it on the page doesn’t count in my eye.
Got this from JerBear in the Blue Jays Release Frank Thomas comments:
“His all-around game has been outstanding,” manager John McLaren said. “His defense, his throwing arm, the way he is running the bases. He has looked really, really good.”
Here’s the original link (on the M’s team site).
Much as I would love it, they are not moving Ibanez out of left. Can we make this an FAQ?
Ok, thanks for the explanation. That makes sense, but then you could make the argument that this years’ contract was no issue to Thomas, so he could just use to play wherever he wanted with money not being an issue.
I’m not trying to defend the M’s FO here, just trying to understand what may have actually happened. Personally I wasn’t a big fan of signing him, I’d rather see them go for Lofton or stay within the organization for a DH/LF replacement.
I think the Ms didn’t sign Thomas precisely because he is still going to be productive. When the Mets release Carlos Delgado we’ll be all over him.
I’m not saying that the front office is deliberately sabotaging our chances. Rather, they are drawn pathologically and self-destructively to players who have or are about to fall off the cliff. Has something to do with trauma in childhood.