Bye, Bye Bartolo?

As the World Series is coming close to an end, you expected the rumors on what players the A’s would be picking up options on, re-signing, and letting go of. This morning, Susan Slusser said in a story for the San Francisco Chronicle, that the A’s will more than likely be picking up options on Coco Crisp and Brett Anderson and will be letting Chris Young and Kurt Suzuki pack up and hit the road. But more importantly, to me, Slusser reported what pitcher Bartolo Colon will more than likely be seeking, contract-wise – and it ain’t cheap.

"At 40 years old and off his best season since 2005, it’s likely he [Colon] will seek a one-year contract similar to the one Hiroki Kuroda signed with the Yankees last winter ($15 million)."

Now, let it be known, 40-year-old fastball pitchers don’t come around every day, but that is a lot of burritos for the big man. And that is a large number for the Athletics, considering their highest paid player in 2013 was Chris Young, coming in at $8.7 million. With the A’s pockets typically short on cash and wallets tending to be tightly gripped, this report probably raised many fans’ eyebrows.

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After coming off his 50 game suspension in 2012, the A’s were able to snatch Colon off the market for a steal at $3 million, but after his ridiculously consistent 18-win 2013 season, there’s no way the A’s will have that luck again. According to Slusser, the A’s will have to make a qualifying offer of $14.1 million just to receive compensation for Colon, should he decide to go to another team.

I don’t see the A’s touching those numbers, but I do see the A’s pushing for Bartolo and maybe even Brad Pitt – I mean Billy Beane – could use his charm to entice Colon into returning to the team that gave him another shot after most teams would have written him off.

I assume the A’s will continue to reach into their talent pool of minor leaguers for the 2014 season, but there aren’t many players who I feel could fill the shoes of Colon, for Oakland. Also thinking the A’s attempt to make a splash in the free agent market is almost laughable as I see them aiming for some more low-risk high-reward “Moneyball” talent to hopefully take them to the playoffs for a third straight season.

After looking at the roster there’s only a few players (Yoenis Cespedes, Crisp, Anderson) who are poised to make more than $7 million for next season, so with that said, it’s not impossible that the A’s overpay for Colon but I wouldn’t hold my breath, but I will cross my fingers.