A source told Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown that Frank Thomas is set to sign with the A's.
As long as Mike Sweeney is the one to go, it's the right move. Sweeney is hardly completely hopeless at the plate, but his power is gone, making him well below as a designated hitter. Thomas should step in as the starter there, with Jack Cust playing left field most of the time. Emil Brown would still start versus lefties.
Welcome back Big Frank. Hopefully he can help us make a push to win the west this season and enter the playoffs. Man.....that would shut all the Billy Beane critics up immediately. I guess Toronto is taking on Frank's salary, so we got him for the minimum again.
Thats sweet, it gives us that much needed Power Hitter in the middle of the line-up.
I am kind of curius who they are going to send down to make room for him. With the way Emil Brown has been swinging lately against Righties as well as Lefties and the simple fact that Jack Cust doesn't even come close to being what i would call a decent outfielder makes me wonder who would get more playing time. With Cust's recent Struggles at the plate right now i really think Brown might be the better option.
But who knows we will see very soon what Bob Geren plans on doing. All and All things just got a little better for Oaktown.
I am kind of curius who they are going to send down to make room for him.I'm pretty sure they are going to cut Mike Sweeney. I am a Sweeney fan and it sucks to see him leave as he was a great presence in the clubhouse, but I don't think the A's could have passed up on getting a power bat like Thomas. Hopefully Sweeney will find a job with another team.
I clicked on the link to the article that rotoworld got their information from and Yahoo Sports said that the article had expired or been removed. Hopefully this wasn't made up by some idiot sportswriter.....I apoligize in advance if Thomas isn't wearing green and gold. I was just passing along what I read from rotoworld.
I don't think they should bring Thomas back. This is supposed to be a rebuilding year, and Thomas would hardly work into those plans. If the A's were to start sitting him should his struggles continue, he might become a distraction just like he did in Toronto. Given the choice between Bonds and Thomas, I hope the A's would pick Thomas, though, although I think they should give someone younger some time so that we have something to truly cheer for in a year or two.
And about Mike Sweeney, he has a .300 average, a .365 OBP and has only 1 strikeout in 64 plate appearances this year. These numbers are in line with what he's done in his career, plus the A's are only paying him $500,000 a year. I think it would be a shame to send him away when he's playing so well, even if he is an injury risk.
(04-24) 09:48 PDT -- The A's just put out a release that they have come to terms with free-agent designated hitter Frank Thomas, who was released by Toronto this weekend. Oakland will have two right-handed DHs, then, at least initially - Mike Sweeney remains on the roster because Travis Buck was placed on the DL with shin splints.
In order to get Thomas on the 40-man roster, Eric Chavez was placed on the 60-day DL as he recovers from back surgery.
A's officials and Thomas' agent weren't available Thursday morning, and it is unclear how playing time will be broken down if both Thomas and Sweeney are on the team. Carrying both - neither of whom can really play in the field - seems unlikely to continue for any extended period. Perhaps this is a try-out period of sorts, but considering that Thomas parted ways with the Blue Jays over playing time, you'd think he must have received some assurances about the number of at-bats he'll receive before agreeing to join the A's.
Well now that Frank Thomas is going to be the everyday DH, it looks to me like there going to platoon Jack Cust and Emil Brown in Left Field and you might see Mike Sweeney at first against LHP more often.
I for one am thrilled to see the Big Hurt back in green and gold. He had an awesome season for us in '06 and really seemed to "fit in" well with the guys in the A's clubhouse. He played a pivitol role for the team in winning the west and advancing to the ALCS. I believe the man can still bring it.....and he comes at a bargain basement price of 377K for the rest of the season. He will be highly motivated to show his stuff and get a nice contract with someone next season, much like in '06. Welcome back and stay healthy Frank.
As long as the Big Hurt is giving us the thumping power we need at the Oakland A's discount, it's all good. I mean, the A's as a team have hit less home runs then Chase Utley alone, which is an embarrassing eventhough Utley is very good. And, the A's have enough average in their lineup not to need Ryan Sweeney as a DH, so Frank Thomas is a great fit. I mean, I am not asking for numbers like in 06 when he drove in 116 runs, but if the A's can get production anywhere near 100 + rbi's from this guy, at the price they got him for, Billy Beane truly is a genius.
Banned Poster, I truly hope that your prediction that M. Sweeney will be cut because of the Big Hurt pickup will not come true.
Why not keep both of them? Who cares if they both bat from the right side as long as they are productive... they don't need to prove that they can hit both lefties and righties. If they had to let someone go, I would say goodbye to Cust.
Having both Thomas and M. Sweeney on the roster does create a dilemma though. Thomas has not played in the field since 2004 so he's strictly locked in as a DH now. Sweeney can play first, but is better suited at DH so the only time you'd see the two in the lineup at the same time is when Barton needs a spell... that would be the only reason to not hold on to both.
However IMHO, I still think if the A's are truly serious about contending this year (which, by acquiring Thomas sends that very message), they need to keep Mike Sweeney somewhere on their roster.
Geren has his work cutout for him concerning this situation... but it's one of those "good" bad situations.
