Chapter 10
Shop 'Til You Drop
By any measurement, the 2013 Athletics baseball season was a successful one. The A's had two All-Star representatives in Coco Crisp and Tommy Milone. They had two Gold Glove winners in Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes. Bob Melvin was the American League Manager of the Year.
Yet that grand slam finish in Game 7 of the ALCS made all of those accomplishments seem insignificant. It exposed the A's for the small market team that they really are. Sean Doolittle, truth be told, had no business closing out a game that would decide a league championship series. That role is left to the Mariano Rivera's and Jonathan Papelbon's of the world. The A's had to cut corners, and paid dearly when it counted most.
Billy Beane set an agenda for the offseason prior to the 2014 season:
- Add a legitimate closer to the bullpen; preferably not a left-hander.
- Acquire a defensive-minded catcher with some offensive pop.
- Find a capable replacement for the outgoing Chase Utley at 2B.
- Sign at least two players to extensions to avoid arbitration.
Billy found two closer candidates in Carlos Marmol and Mark Montgomery. Marmol was a bargain basement find in free agency, still recovering from reconstructive surgery on his elbow. Marmol closed out 14 games for the Cubs in 2013 with a sterling 1.27 ERA, and will be the ultimate high-risk, high-reward signing. He's expected to be back on the field by the All-Star Break. Montgomery saved 35 games for the Yankees AAA affiliate in Scranton, before being sent over to Oakland in exchange for C John Jaso, RF Michael Taylor, and minor league pitcher Nolan Sanburn.
Jaso became expendable when Billy made one of his boldest moves in recent memory, shipping 25-year-old pitcher Brett Anderson (14-14, 3.73 ERA, 224.1 IP), reliever Jerry Blevins (2.87 ERA in 45 appearances), and catcher Derek Norris (.229, 8 HR in 192 at-bats) to Baltimore in exchange for catcher Matt Wieters and $5 million in cash.
Wieters is coming off a horribly disappointing 2013 season in which he hit just .222 with 15 homeruns in 107 games. Billy has always been the master of the "buy low, sell high" axiom, and Wieters could be his ultimate acquisition. Wieters was a 2-time Gold Glove and All-Star catcher in Baltimore, and Billy is banking that a sprained thumb and sprained ankle are to blame for the down year. Unless he's traded, Wieters will be under contract with Oakland through the next three seasons.
The A's found their replacement for Chase Utley at second base by acquiring veteran Alberto Callaspo (.270, 10 HR, 59 RBI with the Angels in 2013) from Los Angeles in exchange for outfielder Seth Smith. Callaspo will compete with Jemile Weeks for the starting job, though there is a belief that Jed Lowrie will be moved over to second base eventually to make room for shortstop prospect Addison Russell.
Lowrie, who hit a respectable .259 with 17 homeruns in 150 games in his first year in Oakland, signed a four-year extension worth $14.7 million back in June. Josh Reddick also inked an extension, signing a 5-year, $28 million extension after injuries limited him to a sub-par .216, 9 homerun, 39 RBI campaign in 86 games in 2013.
Not on the shopping list, but definitely on the radar was landing a slugger to add some power to the A's weak-hitting lineup, and give Melvin some options with the lineups. Billy found the perfect candidate when he swung a 3-way deal with the Rangers and Angels. The A's dealt second baseman Scott Sizemore and minor league outfielder Josh Whitaker to Texas for 1B/OF Mark Trumbo, along with minor leaguers Joey Gallo and Zach Cone. Trumbo matched a career-high with 32 homeruns in 2013 while setting a personal best (or worse, in this case) with 162 strikeouts.
Oakland had one other hole to fill in the offseason, with the loss of Anderson in the rotation in the Orioles trade. Billy is rolling the dice on a couple of free agent signings, hoping at least one doesn't crap out. Bud Norris (8-16, 5.51 ERA, 210.2 IP) seems like the safer bet, signing for $3.2 million over 4 years. Billy doesn't seem at all concerned about the 16 losses or the 5+ ERA, believing those numbers were inflated playing for a 108-loss Astros team. Norris also drew the short straw as Houston's ace, typically going up against other teams' number one starting pitcher. Now he'll have the luxury of pitching against guys at the bottom of the rotation. The bigger risk is Johan Santana, who could join the team at the end of Spring Training. The 4-time All-Star selection hasn't pitched in the majors since 2012 and is rehabbing a torn ACL. His 2-year deal will pay him a total of $1.8 million. He's your typical Billy Beane speculative buy. Billy made one more high-upside signing when Delmon Young, an always-promising and usually-disappointing outfielder agreed to a 4-year, $5.4 million free agent deal.
For those of you keeping track, the A's had lost:
SP Brett Anderson
OF Seth Smith
RP Jerry Blevins
C Derek Norris
C John Jaso
OF Michael Taylor
2B Scott Sizemore
OF Josh Whitaker
And added:
C Matt Wieters
OF Delmon Young
P Johan Santana
P Bud Norris
RP Mark Montgomery
RP Carlos Marmol
2B Alberto Callaspo
1B/OF Mark Trumbo
OF Zach Cone
1B Joey Gallo
Even by Billy's standards, that's a fairly big haul. The shopping list complete, Melvin was ready to cook with his new-look team in Spring Training.