Show Me The Money: The A's are putting their spending on hold until a stadium decision is made (Photo Credit: www.jimvesting.com)

The title above shouldn’t surprise anyone. The A’s head into the offseason with some serious, and I mean serious, questions regarding the team’s spending on free agents this winter. A’s fans shouldn’t expect a repeat of last winter, where the A’s went all crazy and made several attempts at landing 3B Adrian Beltre. Spending money, so it seems, is not on Oakland’s agenda this winter.

General manager Billy Beane and team co-owner Lew Wolff will be busy waiting around for a decision from MLB and Commissioner Bud Selig regarding the team’s request to build a stadium in San Jose. No one is holding their breath, though. Beane and Wolff have been waiting nearly three years for a decision that, in mind, won’t benefit the A’s organization. I just don’t see MLB or Selig being gutsy enough to allow the A’s into San Jose, which falls within San Francisco’s “territorial” rights.

All of this waiting, as most of you can probably imagine, is not doing Beane or the rest of the A’s front office any good. The longer the A’s sit around and wait for a decision that’s never going to come, the more and more they fall behind the rest of the teams actually taking part in this year’s free agent market. Oakland have not made any offers to its five free agents, and now guys like Josh Willingham and Coco Crisp are free to chat with other teams.

The A’s simply took a “pass” on their five free agents, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle so eloquently puts it in a recent article about team’s failure to offer contract extensions. In the article, Slusser notes that the A’s missed out on their window of exclusivity with their five free agents and that it now appears highly unlikely that Willingham and Crisp will return to the team next year. (more…)

Cahill went 18-8 last year with a 2.97 ERA, and so far Oakland’s young ace is proving that last season was no fluke. He ranks 2nd in baseball in ERA (1.79), just behind Florida’s Josh Johnson (1.68) and he’s been solid in most of his starts this season.

The A’s definitely made the right decision to lock up the young right-handed pitcher earlier this season, as his value seems to be increasing after each start. Oakland also has fellow youngster Brett Anderson locked up as well. I’ve said it many times in the past, but I’ll say it once more: Oakland has the makings for yet another “Big Three.” (more…)

Kouzmanoff is batting .182, and has four errors through 14 games. (Photo Credit: Evri.com)

The Athletics made several attempts at trying to land 3B Adrian Beltre, but eventually fell short as Texas ended up signing the third-baseman to a six-year, $96 million deal.  The A’s were left with Kevin Kouzmanoff as their starting third-baseman after missing out on Beltre.

Kouzmanoff was coming off a down year in 2010, hitting just .247/.283/.396 with 16 HR and 71 RBIs. The year before that, in 2009, Kouzmanoff hit .255/.302/.420 with 18 HR and 88 RBIs while with the Padres.

This season, Kouzmanoff has not gotten off to a good start. Through 14 games, Kouzmanoff has a .182/.188/.318 line with one homer and five RBIs. Defensively he’s even worse, as his four errors lead all active third-basemen. (more…)