On Friday I summarized the moves at made as a part of the Mets 360 MLB Project, acting as General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. At the time, I said that other moves were in motion. Plenty of activity occurred over the weekend and the following is the chronology as I made all of the final offseason moves related to my version of the Oakland Athletics.
As of Friday, several discussions on trade fronts were brewing, but with free agency pending, most teams were in a holding pattern. When I looked at the roster I had compiled, I knew four things:
- I needed another starting pitcher and one that was cheap.
- One bullpen arm needed to be acquired, again, on the cheap
- Depth in the starting rotation, at Triple-A or a swing man type, was necessary
- I needed to find some way to replace the production of Yoenis Cespedes
With the first three in mind, I put in bids on multiple pitchers that I felt fit my price range and needs. My number one relief target was Pedro Strop, recently of the Cubs, who over 96 innings over a year and half with the Cubs, posted a 2.44 ERA and 113 strike outs. He was also arbitration eligible for the first time in 2015, meaning the A’s would have two more years of control on Strop before he could become a free agent in 2018. I was able to sign Strop for 1.5 million.
I also noted that former top Padres pitching prospect, Joe Wieland, was also available. I signed him for 600,000, with the idea that he would compete in spring training for a spot on the staff, but still be able to be optioned to Triple-A as starting pitching depth. Wieland is also arbitration eligible for the first time in 2015, again giving Oakland control over him for two more years.
I missed out on my number one starting pitcher, Yusmeiro Petit, as he signed with the Astros for 6 million. My number two target was former Indian Josh Tomlin, who I signed for 1.5 million. Tomlin had a poor ERA in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, but had a much better FIP and some nice peripheral statistics as he posted a nearly seven to one strike out to walk ratio. He was hurt by the home run ball and my hope is that pitching half his games at Oakland Coliseum might help with that. As a number five starter, or at worse long reliever, for minimal dollars and one more year of control, it felt like a good move.
With those acquisitions down, I continued talks with several franchises on trades. The Brewers approached me about Marco Estrada and, even though I was interested, we couldn’t find a match on players or dollars. The Mariners and I had on and off talks throughout the weekend, but could come to no agreement on a trade that at times involved Nick Swisher and at other times didn’t. I offered the Yankee’s Scott Kazmir, but was rejected outright on the deal and those negotiations didn’t get out of the starting block.
The Braves were another story. Prior to free agency, the Braves had offered me a comprehensive package based around Alex Wood and B.J. Upton. I wasn’t interested in that original deal as the Braves wanted to send Chris Johnson and Christian Bethancourt to me in the deal as well, with Oakland surrendering Derek Norris and other players. I had very little interest in trading Norris and had no interest at all in Johnson, but something about the deal intrigued me, so we agreed to have on and off discussions around what occurred in free agency. I reignited those discussions after free agency with a modified trade, but it took time for those discussions to reach fruition and I had to make some decisions about players who had made it through free agency. I still had holes to fill and couldn’t wait on the Braves.
In the second round of free agency, basically on a first come first serve basis, I attempted to fill some roster holes.
I decided to sign John Axford to a 700,000 deal. Axford’s closing experience and the fact that I would have another year of control, lead to the decision. Axford has struggled in recent years, but since he is in his arbitration years still, I looked at it as a gamble that would be easy to get out of.
Next I signed Brandon Morrow for 500,000, the league minimum. Morrow has struggled with injuries recently, but was dynamic out of the bullpen when he transitioned there last year. Morrow is not in his arbitration years, but to me, this was the classic situation of bringing in a player who is playing for his next contract. Morrow had been bought out by the Blue Jays earlier in the week for 1.5 million, which is why I could get him on a league minimum.
Finally, I signed Billy Butler to a minor league contract with a spring training invite. Butler had been bought out of his contract by the Royals after a poor 2014. This signing was partially to meet the point I made in number four above. My hope was that Butler would have a rebound year and could help replace Cespedes in the lineup as he had his next big contract to play for. As my roster stood, Butler’s right handed power bat would help.
Then the Braves got back to me and we agreed on the following deal:
I sent Swisher, Kazmir and nine million dollars to the Braves for B.J. Upton, Alex Wood and Joey Terdoslavich.
Nine million and Upton you might ask? Well it was Wood and Terdoslavich that convinced me, along with point number four from above.
Wood is a young, successful, left handed starter in his pre-arbitration years. I couldn’t pass up replacing Kazmir’s 13 million dollar salary with a pre-arbitration guy I now had control over until 2020 and has ace potential. Terdoslavich might not turn into anything, but at times he’s been looked at by the Braves as their future third baseman and corner outfielder. As a switch hitter that I can put at Triple-A and have ready to go in need, it felt like nice depth in the outfield and a potential starting player, allowing me to move Coco Crisp and Josh Reddick in deals if Terdoslavich was successful.
Why take on Upton and give up so much money? The money was in order to move Swisher’s contract and still get Wood. I would have had to accept a much lesser prospect without the 9 million. Upton has been awful the last two years, but Swisher was terrible last year also. I looked at the two, so that the money wasn’t that far off on there long term deals (Swisher has an option that kicks in based on plate appearances in 2016) and thought to myself, who has a better chance of rebounding. The obvious answer is Upton, who is only 30 this year. This could be a mistake, but I’m taking the chance as, looking at his last two years in Tampa Bay, if anyone can replace Cespedes, it’s Upton.
With this deal in place, I was right handed heavy, so I released Butler and signed Kendrys Morales to a 1 million dollar contract. It’s again a risk, as Morales was bad last year, but the thought process was to add a switch hitter and a veteran who was playing for one more contract.
On Friday I’ll take a look at the roster and see what I accomplished. It’s been fun being a general manager. I was very active and took some risks, but in the end, I think I came out okay. I’ll know more when I get into the detailed analysis.
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