Frank Thomas Signs With Oakland
January 25, 2006 3 Comments
The Athletics signed Frank Thomas to a one-year, $500,000 deal today, and proved once again why they are the best-managed organization in baseball. First of all, there’s no downside to this trade, literally zero. Worst case scenario is that Thomson gets injured, doesn’t play, and the A’s are out half-a-million dollars, which is chump change for a major league team.
My quick-and-dirty projection for Thomas is .258/.384/.537 over 365 plate appearances, which translates to about 30 runs above replacement, or $10 million worth of value! I didn’t regress to the mean or age adjust, so maybe a more appropriate projection would be something like 20 runs above replacement, but that’s still worth $7 million. And that’s with Thomas playing only about 85 games. If he somehow stays healthy all season, he might become the best signing Billy Beane has ever made.
Again, there ia absolutely no downside to this move. The A’s have nothing to lose, but they might pick up a few extra wins, and a division crown, in the process.
The A’s are my 2nd favorite team. I write about my 3rd favorite (Nationals) and closely follow my favorite favorite (Giants).
I say this only because it KILLS me to watch the moves Billy Beane and co. are making. You are exactly right, there is no downside to this deal. I think the most Thomas can earn based on plate appearances is something like $2.6 million. Cristian Guzman will make $4 million next year NO MATTER WHAT! Just sayin’, it pains me to think what my OTHER two teams would be capable of if only they had someone competent in the front office.
Damn you Sabean!
Damn you Bowden!
Hire me Billy?
Uh, Frank Thomas is how old?
Doug: Doesn’t matter. Thomas turned 38 in May, but if he’s healthy enough to play 100 games, he’ll make a big difference. Look at this numbers from very limited playing time. His OBP was 100 points higher than his batting average. That’s just nasty. And his slugging percentage was .590! That’s sick.
For $500,000, the A’s can’t go wrong here.