Beaneball

Erubiel Durazo is coming back to the A's! Granted, it's on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, so that shows you how much the league thinks of him right now, but it's a nice no-risk deal that could let Durazo show he can still hit (if he can, in fact, still hit). I have high hopes for this deal to result in a productive backup DH / 1B and lefty pinch-hitter for Mark Ellis, Bobby Kielty, and (during the inevitable Bobby Crosby injury) Marco Scutaro. The best part? The story at ESPN.com reports that the A's confirmed the signing by text message. Really? Billy texts with reporters these days?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Oakland A's at 17:13 | |

I saw today in Lee Sinins' ATM Report that "[p[reviously, if the free agent wasn't offered arbitration, his old team couldn't re-sign him until May 1. That rule was repealed in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement." I hadn't known this. I'm not sure how often it actually comes into play, what the intent of the original rule was, or what the intent of the repeal is, but it'll be interesting to see how things play out with the change. Will teams be less reluctant to non-tender guys now?

Posted by Jason Wojciechowski in Baseball at 12:51 | |