MVN - Most Valuable Network

Welcome Back, Big Hurt!

It’s official. The Oakland A’s have agreed to terms with Frank Thomas. Thomas returns to Oakland after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays over a dispute surrounding playing time.

It remains to be seen whether Thomas has anything left, but I think this is a move worth the risk. At worst, Thomas remains cold and the A’s let him go much like Toronto did, losing only a few thousand dollars in the process (unlike the Blue Jays, who are on the hook for millions for Thomas). At best, Thomas gives the A’s the intimidating presence in the line-up that the team has been missing, well, since Thomas left after the 2006 season.

I think this move will also help Jack Cust. Cust looked like he was pressing to me at the start of the year, swinging at bad pitches early in the count and grounding out a lot to second. Perhaps Cust read too many clippings about how he was going to break strike-out records or he was trying to hit 30 homers in April. Whatever it was, he seemed out of sorts at the start of the year. Lately, he has been taking his walks and, while not hitting homers, has been much more productive. Cust is a great fastball hitter and if Thomas is hitting behind him, he may see a lot more fastballs from pitchers not eager to face Thomas with runners on-base.

To make room for Thomas, the A’s have moved Travis Buck to the 15-day DL and Eric Chavez to the 60-day DL. I think moving Buck to the 15-day DL is a good move. He may only need a few more days to get his shins right, but by moving him to the disabled list, the A’s can send Buck to Triple-A on a rehab assignment. Having Buck work out of his slump in a few games with Sacramento under the auspices of a rehab assignment is probably better than demoting him for a short stint. Buck is going to be an important part of the A’s future and the team needs to get him back on-track. Hopefully a little time off and a few games of Triple-A pitching will get his bat going again.

I’m not sure what the A’s will do with Mike Sweeney. He, too, has been hobbled by injuries and despite his good game last night, still looked like he was struggling with his running. Perhaps the A’s can DL him with that sore knee, which would give the team some time to see if Thomas can work out of his early season slump. Sweeney’s knee doesn’t make him much of an option at first base, so the A’s likely can’t carry both Thomas and Sweeney as DHs for an extended period of time.  We’ll probably see a move on Saturday when Justin Duchscherer returns from his DL stint.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 9:49 am and is filed under Transactions, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.