A’s Notes: Beltre, Iwakuma, Matsui, Sweeney & More!

It’s been a very busy offseason for the A’s so far, but despite Billy Beane’s efforts to upgrade the team’s offense, the lineup remains “punch-less.” The A’s missed out on Adam Dunn, Lance Berkman, and according to the SF Chronicle, the A’s have taken back their offer to free agent 3B Adrian Beltre.

The offer to Beltre was believed to be worth about $64 million over five years. This marks the second time now that Beltre has showed very little interest in playing for Oakland despite the A’s aggressive efforts to land the slugger.

The team also missed out on Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. The team failed to reach a deal, and Iwakuma is headed back to Japan. The A’s will get their posting fee of $19 million returned to them as a result.

With the team still lacking considerable power in their lineup, possible targets now include Hideki Matsui, Derek Lee, Nick Johnson, Vladimir Guerrero among others. Matsui, who hit .274 with 21 HR and 84 RBIs this year for the Angels, appears to be open to playing in Oakland. Other than Matsui, however, the A’s are having a difficult time recruiting top-talent.

Let’s just say that the spacious or cavernous Coliseum is not a favorite destination for most free agents. This in itself has become a very serious problem for the A’s, who have failed to land top talent despite offering players decent contracts in terms of length and salary.

In other A’s related news:

OF Ryan Sweeney reached a one-year deal with the team worth $1.4 million. Sweeney, who was acquired from the White Sox in the Nick Swisher trade, has been a strong defensive player in Oakland’s outfield. He was placed on the DL for the second-half of the season, but he did manage to hit .294/.342/.383 with one homer and 36 RBIs in 82 games this year. He is currently recovering from surgery, but no major setbacks have been reported.