It's always fascinating for me to see a player seemingly told that his career is in jeopardy with his current team. Bobby Crosby has essentially been told that. It's not just in that blog post, but there is common knowledge everywhere that the A's are pursuing Rafael Furcal. There has also been speculation that if the A's miss out on Furcal that they're going to immediately pursue Edgar Renteria instead.
The bottom line is pretty clear. It appears that Crosby's days in Oakland are numbered. I guess I'm wondering, do you get to the point of no return with a player as management where there's no chance that a guy will be back? Let's say, for example, that the A's are unwilling to go to the same insane extremes to sign Furcal that a team like the Giants is willing to do. Then one of the other teams that misses out on Furcal decides that Renteria is their backup plan. I don't know about you, but I don't want the A's overpaying for Renteria. I wouldn't mind it as much with Furcal because Furcal is above average for his position. And Furcal is about two years younger. Just following the free agent market over the years, teams are very much willing to overpay for a position that is in short supply. Short stop this year appears to be one of those positions.
Here's the question though. If the A's don't upgrade the position through free agency, do they then look to deal Crosby regardless? It's not exactly a motivator to hear that the GM who drafted you and handed the starting job to you to replace a local legend has "lost patience with you." I personally think it's tough to come back from that sentiment. Then again, maybe Beane knows Crosby well enough to think that he might respond on the field if he feels like it's his "last chance." I doubt that's the case.
If I had to venture a guess, mine would be that Crosby will be gone come the start of the season 2009. Possibly even before the end of 2008. There's a high probabilty that someone thinks that Crosby would benefit by being in a new location. And they're probably right. Crosby's gotten to that place with A's fans where he's one of those players that we all fear coming up to bat in any crucial situation. There's just no going back from there. Especially when the GM is included in the folks who feel that way. Beane has been incredibly patient with Crosby up until this point. But I do believe that they've finally reached that breaking point. The point of no return. Even if the A's don't succeed in getting one of the big shortstops, I could see them turning to Pennington and giving him a shot. It just would seem weird in a season where it looks like the A's are going to try to be competitive that they'd go that route. That's more of an A's mentality from 2008, not the one that went out and got Matt Holliday.
Do you think we've seen the last of Crosby in Oakland? Or could this possibly just be a motivational move on Beane's part?
