Is Daric Barton In Oakland’s Future Plans?

According to a recent post by MLBTraderumors.com, A’s first-baseman Daric Barton is thinking about his multi-year contract negotiations. This season, Barton, 25, is batting just .207/.346/.287 with five RBIs through 26 games.

He still gets on base for Oakland, but he doesn’t offer much else on offense. Once considered one of Oakland’s top young hitters, Barton has not really lived up to the expectations that once surrounded him. He enjoyed a solid season last year, hitting .273 with 10 HR and 57 RBIs, but he’s off to a very slow start.

Oakland’s offense in general is off to an extremely slow start. The A’s rank 28th in runs (88), 24th in batting average (.237), and are not providing the pitching staff with much run support.

The A’s went with Connor Jackson last night at first, and gave Barton the night off. Jackson is currently performing better than Barton, batting .280/.357/.420 with a homer and 8 RBIs through 16 games. However, it’s still expected that the A’s will continue to go with Barton, as they apparently view him as part of their future.

Why else would they talk about a multi-year contract?

Oakland values Barton’s ability to get on base, and his solid defensive work at first. He doesn’t have much power, but he can get on base, and he plays solid defense. The A’s apparently value those two things more than they do his ability to drive in runs and be productive on offense.