Is Daric Barton On His Way To The Minors?

It’s anyone’s guess if the A’s decide to ask first baseman, Daric Barton to move down to the minor league River Cats.   However, for now it may not be looking good for him to stay.  Barton has struggled during the first half of this season after the A’s hyped him up as one of a top-notch player during Spring Training.

Bleacherreport.com is reporting that, “The result has been a season-long slump that has him batting close to the Mendoza line at .211, without a single home run, and with just 12 extra base hits (all doubles).  He set the record last night for most consecutive games without a home run by a first baseman at 64 games.”

Could it be that Barton may be focusing his attentions on other things?  He has been thinking that his contract will be extended with Oakland and that this matter has been pressing on him.  Perhaps, this may be affecting his play at first plate and causing him to over think what he needs to do.

His record for this year is less to be desired so far even though, “Barton is still widely considered one of the better defenders at first base,  and has also seen his struggles carry over to his defense. Last season Barton committed 10 errors in 157 games. So far this year he already has eight errors in just 64 games.”

If he continues the way he is going, there will be no doubt that management will demote him back to Triple A Sacramento. Third Baseman, Kevin Kouzmanoff is just one example of what can happen when you start to sway.  He was recently sent back down to the minors and is actually doing a lot better in stats with 2 homers and 7 RBI’s so far.

If this is the case then it seems that many people are in the know of this situation and are making no bones about what may or need to happen for the team to excel.  Rotoworld.com just reported that, “The A’s might be considering sending Daric Barton to the minors. The .212-hitting Barton has an option left, and he’s simply never been able to escape his season-long funk. Sending him down to get his head on straight might not be a bad idea at this point.  If a move is made, Conor Jackson and/or Adam Rosales would likely handle first base.”

Bottom line is that Barton will have to somehow get himself out of this chopping block situation by focusing on the game and not so much on the contractual issues at hand.  He just needs to step it up.