And I really like trying to woo Randy Johnson.

I like getting Johnson only if, like you said, it doesn’t take very much to get him. I think Barton can be as productive as Johnson, so unless the Nats are willing to take Herrera and Jeff Gray or something, I’d pass.

I prefer PT’s James Skelton plan for the Rule 5 draft. I think he could develop into a starting catcher, and it doesn’t hurt to have two of those guys on the roster.

The case for Randy Johnson.

5 wins from 300, the media attention and general publicity would/should boost ticket sales.

He made 30 starts and pitched 184 innings, striking out 174 while walking 44. That’s an 8.51 K/9; an 2.15 BB/9 and a 3.95 K/BB.

I know people worry about the NL/AL crossover, but Johnson put up this line while making his home starts in one of the best hitter’s parks in the NL. He’d be moving to one of the best pitcher’s parks in the AL.

Johnson’s age (45) and injury history make him a risk, but we’re talking about a 1 year deal here. We’re also talking about a SP who made 30 consecutive starts last year and posted a 5-3 2.41 13 GS 86.0 IP 74 H 9 HR 16/78 BB/K line in the 2nd half.

Johnson could probably be signed for $8-10 million, well within what we think the A’s 2009 budget caps out at.

As shown here, Johnson’s fastball still sits at 90 and his slider hasn’t lost much if anything.

Johnson offers short term risk and solid upside. He’s not much more than a 6 inning pitcher anymore but that’s all the A’s need him to be.

 But I’m down with signing Furcal, Unit, and Giambi.

If the A’s can’t sign Giambi then I might be interested in Nick Johnson in a trade……..but, as has been stated before, it would have to be for guys of not much signifigance.
Hope y’all had a lovely turkey day.

He is a good compromise between those of us that think Barton insurance is absolutely necessary and those that don’t. Odds are that he will be injured most of the time anyway thus the Bartonatics will get their wish, but if he is healthy it is supremely likely that he would be more productive than Barton. Barton wouldn’t touch a healthy Johnson’s OBP/SLG and Johnson’s defense is not much worse than Barton’s.

I’m going to post a “Don’t talk back to Randy” sign in the outfield.

I don’t see it as so bad. There are some very interesting options in there…

Skelton (DET)
Morlan (TB)
Chuck Lofgren (CLE)
Alan Horne (NYY)
J. Brent Cox (NYY)
Donald Veal (CHC)

I can’t seem to find a good list of hitters that would be possible picks. Baseball America has their preview for subscribers only, which is lame. I guess I’ll just wait for the Rotoworld preview.

I’m ok with Randy but only around 7-8 million at the most. Nick Johnson I’m not too crazy about. If he’s healthy his numbers will go down from his 06 numbers. His salary is 5.5 million and I don’t think he will do much better than Barton. Defensively he isn’t much of an upgrade since Barton did well playing first base. Nick Johnson is too similar to Barton so why get Johnson? I’d rather sign Giambi. His defense sucks but the one position where bad defense doesn’t hurt to much is 1st base. He has allot more power. I think you’ll find Johnson will have a big drop off in production coming to the AL and a pitchers park. Where as Giambi will not have a big drop off if any. He also has played well in Oakland the last 3 years. I’d rather pay Giambi 8 million a year than 5.5 to Nick Johnson. Plus I think Giambi will draw more fans in to the games. With the team wanting to move to Fremont, the economy being so bad any help with attendance is a plus.

Think of this possible line up.
Furcal- SS
Suzuki- C
Holliday- LF
Giambi- 1B
Cust- DH
Chavez- 3B
Sweeney- CF
Buck- RF
Ellis- 2B
Obviously that lineup will be tweaked from game to game but that could a a possible lin up. Now look at the Possible Rotation.
Duke
Johnson
Ghalagher
Eveland
Braden, Gonzales, or Outman
With that Lineup and that Rotation an out Solid Bulpen the A’s could win the west next Year. Obviously if the Angels lose Tex that that would be a big boost. W/o Tex the Angels lineup isn’t great. They can resign K-rod and sign CC I don’t care. We know K-rod can be beaten. Plus we know we can beat CC since he struggles vs the A’s. I think it’s a good chance to win the west next year. Most important thing is singing Furcal though. He will be a huge addition to the A’s.

But there was a big sale from 5 a.m.-9 a.m.!

After hearing of this talk about Towers saying he had found a third team to work a deal for Peavy, I wondered if Beane was somehow getting involved as this 3rd team, to try and nab Escobar. Especially after Towers took Greene off the block, made me think the 3rd team would get him and then offer up something else Towers would like.
However, Escobar surely comes at a high price and I would not be willing to give up the farm for him, so I really hope this Furcal stuff gets worked out. Beane really should do whatever he can to try and get an answer or finish this out with Furcal before Winter Meetings at the absolute latest. This dragging out business is making me a bit nervous, I just want to see someone other than #7 out there…

in giving up any of the A’s highly touted prospects at this point, unless we are looking at a guy who is an established major leaguer who is being sold low, or if they value someone in the system higher than we do (a la Henry Rodriguez as a centerpiece).
I mean if we get a good deal, then go for it, but it certainly doesn’t make sense to me to give up a lot more for anything.
Escobar would be great and I would love to have the shortstop of the future (him or Hardy), but either is going to cost a pretty penny.
Personally, the prospect of having Simmons or Anderson come up near the end of the season or starting by next year is just more valuable, they both project as front of the rotation guys, keep ’em.

Sheets to a short term contract to help him rebuild his value. Currently there is no buzz surrounding him. If because of his latest injury he doesn’t attract the long term contact he might be open to a 10 million 1 year deal. Compartitively his injury history has been less serious than Burnett. If the A’s are willing to spend on Furcal, it would make sense to gamble short term on Sheets. In the past this has worked ie. Frank Thomas. The A’s could sell him on their pitcher friendly park, good defense etc. I would be willing to good higher on dollar say $15K

Escobar is the only guy on any of the teams linked to Peavy that would make sense to the A’s. Otherwise, it’s getting ride of guys just to acquire more prospects. That doesn’t exactly signal going forward and competing right away. It would really be getting rid of guys 1-3 years away from the bigs to get guys 1-3 years away.

Something isn’t translating with him in the bigs. Yes, I know he’s young and he’s got some time, but he needs to show me he can work a walk from time to time before I see any sort of deal for him.
Headley is gonna cost too much.
Besides, is Towers even considering getting rid of these guys?
I think he somehow believes that the Padres have a chance of competing this year or next, or else why would he be asking for Major League ready guys in a trade for Peavy?

Why would any GM possibly be so vocal about getting rid of their best player when he hasn’t caused any problems that the public knows about?
He has put himself in a position where he almost has to get a deal done, or it’s gonna be a rough season for the Padres.
He’s acting exactly as Kenny Williams would act in this situation, and what does that do? It causes him to alienate some of his players…
That’s not to say he hasn’t made good deals in the past (Chicago did win a world series recently), but it’s just an absolutely ridiculous way of dealing with this stuff.

And that’s why Billy Beane is respected as a GM, because he doesn’t openly discuss free agents, or call out a player because of attitude problems, instead, he quietly shows them the door, or pulls a trade when no one is expecting it…

If you were the A’s GM and were curious as to what it would take to pry Peavy away from SD, what would your answer be?

I ask this because now it seems that any team with decent prospects and players in return would be dealing from a position of strength, as far as dealing with Kevin Towers goes……

He’s an awesome pitcher even though he has a had a few bumps on the health meter. With his salary becoming a big burden on SD and the state of “trading Peavy” becoming a mess, I would think that it would not take as much to pry Peavy away from the Pads as most would think.