A's Lose Out On Drew, Sign Nakajima

Drew Signs with Boston, A's Sign Nakajima

Update: A's sign Hiroyuki Nakajima to a two-year deal at $6.5 million with a third year option for $5.5 million. Incentives and escalators are included in the deal. This fills the void left by Drew less than twelve hours after he signed with Boston. This was a great signing, it was at one third the price that Drew commanded. Nakajima is a player in the prime of his career, with a lot more upside than Drew.

Original Story:  After losing out on Jonny Gomes and Brandon McCarthy earlier in free agency, the A's pursuit of free agent shortstop Stephen Drew came to an end today. Drew has reportedly signed with the Red Sox on the basis of a one year $9.5 million contract. Earlier in the offseason, the A's and Drew both declined his mutual option for one year at $10 million, forcing the A's to pay him a $1.35 million buyout. Do the math and Drew still comes out ahead after singing for the smaller amount with Boston, at a whopping $10.85 million for the season. Although I agree that Drew would be overpaid at the $10 million option, the need for a shortstop called for overpaying a little for him. In the end it was really up to Drew, declining that option assured he was not going to be here next year at the $10 million price tag. After trading away Cliff Pennington to Arizona in the Chris Young deal, the A's left themselves little other options. 

Yunel Escobar was an option that came seemingly cheap because the Marlins didn't want him, but Beane let him slip to the Rays. Asdrubal Cabrera is also an option with the Indians looking to clean house with the addition of new manager Terry Francona, but the asking price will likely be too high. I would like to see Cabrera in an Athletics uniform, but not at the expense of giving up one of our stockpiled pitching arms. 

So what options do the A's have now at shortstop? They could look at an in-house option in Grant Green, but he figures to be more of a utility man option. He did surprisingly well in AAA last year, and got some extra action in the Arizona Fall League, he held his own. This may be the reason Billy Beane is sitting back and watching the market unfold, but I think a more experienced player should be signed. Green looks like he may be able to have an impact, but it's very difficult to lean on a player with no major league experience at a middle infield position. Look at Donaldson last year. He did awful when leaned upon early in the year to the tune of a .069 batting average before being sent down. He came back with a vengeance late in the year and looks to be the A's third baseman of the present and future. But you can't put that pressure on a young player to be "the man" especially with no MLB experience. Hiroyuki Nakajima is also available from Japan, but there are rumored to be many teams interested and he may be difficult to sign if the A's get into a bidding war. My feeling is that most teams view him as a utility infielder, so if they A's see him as a starting SS then they may be able to steal him away for a relatively decent price. 

I trust in Billy Beane, as he's been doing this for many years. He could have a trade up his sleeve that he is in discussions with right now, I don't know. What I do know is that the shortstop position needs to be filled, and losing out on Drew was a major blow to the A's chances next year, especially if they cannot find someone that can fill in at that role until the promising Green or Addison Russell are ready. Don't let us down Billy!