anyone know the current sox/oakland Foulkestatus

[Sox FANatic001]

Who looks like the front runner?

I read both had offered contracts, anyone know where foulke is leaning?

[Madison]

All of the current articles are in this thread:

http://www.fantasybaseballcafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26099



Edit: Hit quote instead of url.

Oops.

[Jivedude]

Keith Foulke
The agent for Keith Foulke indicated Tuesday that Foulke expects to decide within 48 hours whether to sign with the Red Sox or A's, according to the Contra Costa Times. The Red Sox have offered a three-year deal worth $21 million, while the A's have offered a four-year deal worth $24 million. Foulke's agent suggested that the A's need to increase their offer in order to keep him

[Lofunzo]

I expect him to stay in Oakland. From what I have seen, his temperamant is more Oakland than Beantown.

[Greenrider]

Foulke has said that, all things being equal, he would stay in Oakland, but it seems as though the A's will not be able to sign him for what they're offering right now.

I don't think Beane will overpay to keep Foulke, because he's already proven that he can pull cheap closers out of nowhere and make them effective, and since he's offered Foulke arbitration, he now has to weigh the opportunity cost of not getting Boston's draft pick for signing Foulke if he ups his offer...

[Lofunzo]

Foulke has said that, all things being equal, he would stay in Oakland, but it seems as though the A's will not be able to sign him for what they're offering right now.

I don't think Beane will overpay to keep Foulke, because he's already proven that he can pull cheap closers out of nowhere and make them effective, and since he's offered Foulke arbitration, he now has to weigh the opportunity cost of not getting Boston's draft pick for signing Foulke if he ups his offer...

That's what I don't get. He claims to be able to pull a closer out of a hat. O.K. Then why the $21 million offer then? Why not pocket the money and use it on offense?

[jayinet]

Why not pocket the money and use it on offense?

I've got to agree with Lofunzo, they've got to get a stick or two so they can build leads to hand to a closer.

I have a theory as to why the A's can keep changing closers and still get great results. The hitters are still baffled from facing the big three for seven or eight innings.

This may be giving Beane too much credit— All the moves he makes have to be in line with keeping enough payroll $ around to keep at least two of the BIG THREE in the future. Could it be that he's offering arbitration and making just low of market value offers with extended years to Foulke and maybe Tejeda to drive up the payrolls of teams that may be in the market for a Mulder or Zito in a year or two?

The thing that makes Beane great is that he's the only GM in the league with enough guts/arrogance/hype to think he could pull that off and would consider trying it.

[Lofunzo]

I agree with some of that, Jay. I am interested to see how many people still worship him for his contributions to Moneyball when he doesn't have the Big 3. I doubt that he will get the same love. Those 3 have made a lot of his moves look better.

[Area51's]

I agree with some of that, Jay. I am interested to see how many people still worship him for his contributions to Moneyball when he doesn't have the Big 3. I doubt that he will get the same love. Those 3 have made a lot of his moves look better.

Yes, people forget how much coin was going to Dye , T.Long, and the extension to Hatteburg. It seems like whenever they FINALLY do sign a guy to a decent contract they don't do so hot. They're really really careful raising stars, but then....when they finally open the checkbook......ick!

[PresHabib]

Foulke has said that, all things being equal, he would stay in Oakland, but it seems as though the A's will not be able to sign him for what they're offering right now.

I don't think Beane will overpay to keep Foulke, because he's already proven that he can pull cheap closers out of nowhere and make them effective, and since he's offered Foulke arbitration, he now has to weigh the opportunity cost of not getting Boston's draft pick for signing Foulke if he ups his offer...

That's what I don't get. He claims to be able to pull a closer out of a hat. O.K. Then why the $21 million offer then? Why not pocket the money and use it on offense?

Thats a great point Lofunzo. It does seem silly to drop that much money on one guy if you have the ability to pull another closer out of nowhere. The only thing I could say to it though is that they would hate to lose a quality arm from that pen, which is great, ESPECIALLY when they need all the pitchers they can get to shake that post season monkey off their collective back. Maybe they are thinking that they already have a closer-capable guy in that pen in Chad Bradford and wouldn't mind giving him a shot? I don't know though.

I'm surprised in a way that I didn't hear anything about the A's making a push for Vlad. I understand that it's wayyy out of Billy's ideal price range but you would think that a team that so desperately needs offense would at least TRY, and its not like they spend a lot of money on the team as it is so I imagine theres a little financial wiggle room. Plus Vlad would probably put some butts in the seats...or maybe I'm just an idiot for even suggesting that, lol. Either way, the A's need some lumber, no doubt about it...sure pitching wins championships, but you're not gonna win the necessary 95 games to top Seattle and Anaheim in that division if you don't have the bats to make up for the times Hudson/Zito/Mulder are injured or don't have their "A" game for a day ya know? If they could keep Tejada and sign another bat, theyre SERIOUS AL pennant contenders...without that i just dont see it.

As for the original thread and who has the better chance...well I'm trying not to be a homer but I would think Boston because he'll get more money from them, as all reports I've heard are that Oakland is not giving Foulke enough. Plus, Boston in '04 seems like a very exciting place for players to be.