Big Hurt is Back
2008-04-24 10:00
It’s official: the A’s have signed Frank Thomas.
For now, the A’s will let Mike Sweeney and Thomas co-exist on the roster. Hard to understand how long that can last. But for now, to make roster room, Travis Buck was placed on the 15-day DL; Eric Chavez was transferred to the 60-day DL.
Meanwhile, I’ll be at the game today. Will Thomas be in the lineup? I have an extra ticket, if anyone wants to go. Email me by 11:30am if you want it.
1. "Will Thomas be in the lineup?"
Indeed, Frank Thomas is your starting designated hitter.
We're getting the band back together, man.
2. And let us not forget -- Rajah Davis' A's debut. So you've got that going for you, too.
3. What a first inning! This pass-the-baton-but-don't-hit-the-ball-too-hard style of offense is pretty fun.
4. They'd be nuts to not have both Sweeney and Thomas in the lineup against the Twins as both are Twin Killers.
And yeah, I would've said that before the first inning transpired.
I was surprised Mike Sweeney didn't start the first game of the series and (as a Twins fan) sad when he got the start yesterday. He absolutely kills the Twins, as does Thomas.
5. The A's signed Rajai Davis, too? I missed that one. Not quite sure I get that, but I do get the Thomas signing. I think the Mariners were dumb for not pursuing him more aggressively.
6. Jayson Stark has some interesting quotes re: Thomas
http://tinyurl.com/5q3bb8
" .... But you'd be surprised how many scouts and executives are using words like "done" to describe him.
That seems harsh, if not downright unfounded, since it was only a few months ago the guy was finishing off a 26-homer, 95-RBI season. But this is also a fellow who hit .176 during what one exec described as a "dreadful" spring training. And other than a four-day stretch this month when he "ran into" all three of his homers and 10 of his 11 RBIs, he was 5-for-44 (.114) for the season, with no extra-base hits.
"His bat was so slow, he was missing 85-mile-an-hour fastballs," said one scout. "Everything looked so slow, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I didn't see him drive one ball. Not one. Even in [batting practice], he wasn't that good. So I'm really not surprised [he got released] at all."
Another review: "What he became was a complete guess-hitter. He has to gear up for the fastball. If he gets it right, he can still do some damage. It's just not as regular, as predictable or as likely to happen as it used to be."
7. clearly, the answer to the A's power woes (home-run power, anyhow) is more Donnie Murphy.