Billy Butler to the A's

[Docwaukee]

according to mlb radio.  

 

3/30 or so.  

[QuinlansMinion]

Wow they actually can afford a 10 million a year contract.  The A"s are coming up in this world.

[wopphil]

What a dumb way to spend such a large portion of their payroll.

[tomsred]

Cespedes' replacement?

[tomsred]

What a dumb way to spend such a large portion of their payroll.

 

Well, at least it's only 3 years, we like to spend for 5, or 10 year increments.

[notherhalo]

great move, underrated hitter who will do very well for them

[Second Base]

Dang.  That's a player I was hoping to see the Angels sneak in and get.  Good move on the A's part, he's solid.  Now I hope their whole team falls apart. 

[Bruce Nye]

How much left in his tank?

 

3 years is suspect.

[Blarg]

How much left in his tank?

3 years is suspect.

Don't know, he seems to have a large tank.

[Cdaniel]

Still pretty young at 28yrs old.

[nando714]

He's gonna own us

[DW711]

Got that one right for the predictions.

 

2 for 5 so far!

[Diaz15]

Country Breakfast is now Ghetto Breakfast

[gurn67]

As an Angel fan, love it. Dude can clog up the basepaths with the best of them. Doesn't hit for power anymore or draw walks. Shocked he got more than a 1 year deal.

[disarcina]

wow -- first the Cespedes for Lester deal and now this --

 

very un-Billy Beane like moves.

 

this makes the A's slower and adds more GIDP numbers to the box score.

 

I agree with the prior post above -- Butler clogs up the base paths and doesn't really hit for power any more -- and is a .280 hitter on a good day.

 

his best defensive position is DH........

 

this is actually good news for the Royals -- don't they get a draft pick out of this -- plus with this done there's no hometown pressure to bring back a fan favorite.

 

having said all this, watch Butler have a 3 homerun game against us or something like that next year.........

[Brandon]

Interesting. I don't know if I like the deal or not. I don't rate him fairly high and maybe not at 10 per.

 

On that note, I wonder what this does to the Royals. They have one of the best runs ever and he was kind of their leader as the oldest of their heralded youngsters/high draft choices. He's easily replaceable, but I wonder if it has one of those intangible effects. It would be like Tim Salmon signing somewhere else when he played.

[UndertheHalo]

Guy hardly hits for power or get on base.  They can have him.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

wow -- first the Cespedes for Lester deal and now this --

very un-Billy Beane like moves.

this makes the A's slower and adds more GIDP numbers to the box score.

I agree with the prior post above -- Butler clogs up the base paths and doesn't really hit for power any more -- and is a .280 hitter on a good day.

his best defensive position is DH........

this is actually good news for the Royals -- don't they get a draft pick out of this -- plus with this done there's no hometown pressure to bring back a fan favorite.

having said all this, watch Butler have a 3 homerun game against us or something like that next year.........

I think you meant to ask if the Royals get a first round draft pick. They don't get a first round pick from the A's, but they might some type of comp pick.

His contract isn't that bad. He's only 28 and it's only a three year deal. His numbers were solid up until this past season.

Edited November 19, 2014 by AngelsAndRamsFan

[Sam Sanchez]

Billy Butler has a history of beating up on the Angels a bit (career .885 OPS against us). Maybe Beane is hoping he continues that?

[disarcina]

the guy from the A's who kind of really beat us up was Cespedes.......

[ScottT]

Love this move.  Butler was terrible last year.  He has a good chance of bouncing back, but this is a guy that may be in decline, like Trout.  His power has certainly declined, and he needs to hit for power to have much value.  If he bounces back, he could easily be worth his contract, but I think you can find others, for cheaper, that will match his production.  Heck, don't the A's have any young guys like CJ Cron that are worth giving a shot?

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Cespedes' replacement?

 

A desperate attempt at that, IMO.

[ukyah]

i don't care for him as a player, so i think it's great news. 

[DW711]

Billy Butler has a history of beating up on the Angels a bit (career .885 OPS against us). Maybe Beane is hoping he continues that?

 

Really, there's no other 1b-dh type hitter out there on the market.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/02/2015-mlb-free-agents.html

 

If you go through all those guys you have:

 

Butler

Morse (injury prone and inconsistent)

Ludwick (injury prone)

Hart (I don't know what the hell happened to him)

Willingham (probably retiring)

 

They needed a right handed hitter, they got one.

 

Yeah, I don't like him playing first and the contract...well...it's bad..but!

 

Aviles sucked, got 3.5 mill for one year

Burnett was worse, got 8.5 mill for one year

Cuddyer will be injured 1/2 the year. 2 years for 21.

Happ was below average...got 6.7 mill for one year

J.J. Hardy was awful. 3 years for 40 mill.

 

You get the idea.

 

They're ALL BAD!

Edited November 19, 2014 by DW711

[Docwaukee]

tough to put hardy in that mix with his ability to play defense.  

 

I think butler is more likely to rebound than not.  He'll hit his 12-15hrs and be around .290.  I could see the A's adding another bat as well.  Someone like and Alex Rios or getting Marlon Byrd from the phils with some salary relief.  Maybe even Crawford with the Dogs paying half of the freight.