LAS VEGAS — After a quiet opening day of winter meetings, the A’s activity at winter meetings began to heat up on day two.
— Chris Herrmann was signed to a one-year to possibly serve in a platoon role with Josh Phegley at catcher next season. A’s GM David Forst did not rule out the possibility of adding another catcher in addition to Herrmann, but said he’d be comfortable entering the regular season with the current platoon.
— Rumors about how the A’s might address the second base opening currently vacated by free agent Jed Lowrie also began to swirl. There is reportedly interest in Ian Kinsler, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, and the potential to add five-time All-Star Troy Tulowitzki materialized after he was released Tuesday afternoon by the Toronto Blue Jays.
A’s not forcing anything on starting pitching front
The main need for the A’s this offseason has always been thought to be starting pitching. That is still the case, but it may not be as dire as we once thought it was.
During Tuesday’s media availability, manager Bob Melvin wasn’t exactly in panic mode when discussing the current state of the rotation. Daniel Mengden, Chris Bassitt, Paul Blackburn, Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes, and super prospect Jesus Luzardo are the current healthy pitchers who figure to be in the mix, but Melvin brought up the several pitchers who the A’s expect to eventually return from injury next year.
It’s a group that includes Jharel Cotton, A.J. Puk, James Kaprielian, and Daulton Jefferies, all young pitchers whom the A’s still have high expectations for.
Melvin’s message was basically this — the A’s will sign starting pitchers, but don’t expect any huge multi-year deals.
“You have to balance what you think is the need for now and what the need is down the road as far as signing a guy,” Melvin said. “We want to bring in some starters, but I don’t think we’re in a hurry to go out and be like a market maker and have to dole out some three-year deals.”
Expect the opener role to continue
If the A’s bringing back Liam Hendriks on a one-year, $2 million deal wasn’t enough evidence that the opener role is here to stay, Melvin cleared up any doubt.
“I think we’re a little bit — we’re used to it, so to speak,” Melvin said. “And you’re seeing other teams do it, too. And I think you’ll see more of it next year.”
Time is now for Barreto
The A’s have been excited about Franklin Barreto’s potential since the day they acquired him in the Josh Donaldson trade of 2014. He’s done nothing to lower that wave, putting up great numbers at each level of the minor leagues, but it’s getting to the time where the A’s need to find out what type of major league talent they have with the 22-year-old second baseman. The only way to find out? Playing every day, something Barreto has never had a chance to do in his short big league stints the past two years.
“I thought even last year or the year before, earlier in the season, he was on the verge of being ready,” Melvin said. “The strikeouts, commanding the strike zone is going to be — kind of tell the tale where he goes. But we’ll never know until he has an opportunity, and an opportunity to potentially struggle and stick with him and get through it.”
Barreto is swinging the bat well in winter ball, even trying his hand at some outfield, a position in which Melvin said the prospect looks like a natural at when playing it during warm-ups. If the A’s don’t make Barreto the every day second baseman, the potential to play the outfield will also be one they strongly consider.
Positive news on Manaea
The chances of him pitching in 2019 are still grim, but Sean Manaea recently met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache for a follow-up appointment to his arthroscopic shoulder surgery that was described as “positive” by Forst. The left-hander’s next step will be plyometric exercises, which will begin in January.
