Report: A’s Sign Pitcher Bartolo Colon

You can never have too much pitching. Well, at least that’s what the A’s believe. According to several reports, including one featured on the team’s official site, the A’s have come to terms with free agent pitcher Bartolo Colon on a one-year deal.

The deal is reportedly worth about $2 million and possibly includes a signing bonus as well. The club has yet to actually confirm the deal, though. Still, the two sides are expected to finalize things soon.

With Colon, the A’s have yet another viable option for the back-end of their starting rotation. The Athletics scored a few good names in their recent dealings of Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez, but the team isn’t expected to rush their newly acquired prospects.

Given the fact that 2012 isn’t going to be Oakland’s year, young pitchers like Brad Peacock, Jarrod Parker, and Tom Milone aren’t going to be pressured to deliver big results this season.

No. Instead, a guy like Colon gives the team some added depth to help in the development of those young pitchers. The A’s are in no position to rush their young players, so adding a veteran guy like Colon to help fill out the starting rotation makes sense. At least to me, anyway.

Colon, 38, is coming off his best season in nearly six years. Last year, the veteran righty went 8-10 with a 4.00 ERA as a member of the New York Yankees. He proved to be a valuable presence in the back of New York’s rotation last year.

He also posted a 7.4 K/9 and a 2.2 BB/9 last year, too. He also managed to post a 2.9 WAR last year with the Yankees, after failing to produce a WAR above 1.2 in the four seasons before that. Colon also posted an encouraging 3.83 FIP and a 3.57 xFIP last year, too.

He didn’t pitch in 2010, but the year before that Colon posted a forgettable 3-6 record with a 5.49 ERA in 12 starts with the White Sox. When compared to those numbers, Colon’s 2011 season wasn’t too bad, was it?

He won’t win 21 games ever again, but the 38 (soon to be 39) year old Colon is a decent pickup for the rebuilding A’s. He adds a little more depth to the pitching staff and could ultimately help fill the back-end of the rotation this year for Oakland.

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