Saying that signing Matt Joyce would have been a good decision for the A’s this offseason was not something easy for me to admit, at least that was until two days ago.
Actually I considered a number of free agent veterans for the job, from former member of the Oakland Athletics player Brandon Moss to Adam Lind to Logan Morrison.
The conclusion of my personal investigation was that Sean Rodriguez, who like Joyce also was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, would have been the addition I thought the A’s would have needed, at least that was back in early October.
More from Oakland A's News
- Zach Logue yet another disappointing Oakland A’s trade return
- Luis Barrera heading to familiar foe in Los Angeles Angels
- San Francisco Giants showing Oakland A’s offseason could be worse
- Lucas Luetge what Oakland A’s need in bullpen
- Oakland A’s bring Deolis Guerra back on minor league deal
Rodriguez, well this one at least, may not be a household name around the nation but he’s a super-utility man who had a career-year in 2016 with Pittsburgh.
The 31-year-old hit .270/.359/.510 with 18 homers and 56 RBI in just 140 games.
His on-base percentage alone was something that would have been attractive to the Athletics who suffered greatly in that area in 2016.
They needed someone who could play a multitude of positions, was a left-handed bat and could get on base. Naturally, that guy seemed to be Rodriguez.
Instead the A’s signed another former-Pirate Matt Joyce, who also played in 140 games last season but hit just .240/.403/.463 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI. He did have a better on-base percentage than Rodriguez but played at just three positions, while Rodriguez did just about everything but pitch.
This Matt Joyce signing, however, has been working out much better than, at least I, expected. Granted we are just two games into spring training but the A’s fortunes could have been much worse.
Rodriguez, who signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves, was recently in a serious car accident. Thankfully, he along with his wife and children all made it through the accident but Rodriguez required a shoulder surgery that, according to ESPN, will render him out for the entire season.
This may sound callous and I don’t mean it to be at all. I am grateful that Rodriguez and his family are all alive and fairly well, but the A’s dodged a bullet here.
I don’t know if they ever even considered Rodriguez for the 2017 squad but I did, and things would not have been going as well as they currently are.
Yes, the season is in it’s second or third spring training game for all 30 teams, including split-squad games. Still, Joyce has already homered twice which is even with the number of games he has played in.
He helped the Athletics hold their own against the reigning World Champion Chicago Cubs with his first home run of the spring and assisted them in defeating their cross-bay rivals the San Francisco Giants with his second homer in as many games on Monday.
"“Man, I wish it was the regular season,” Joyce told MLB.com. “It’s one of those things, both times were 1-2 counts, both were heaters in, and just really trying to shorten things up with the two strikes and kind of dropped the hands, dropped the barrel in there and squared them up pretty good. I feel great right now.”"
I may have been right about how the A’s should have been going after Sean Rodriguez earlier in the offseason, but despite Rodriguez’s unfortunate accident, it appears that perhaps going after Joyce was the best choice for the team after all, at least thus far.
Next: John Axford takes on the Oscars
Sure, the Oakland Athletics may have an old stadium that they share with the NFL’s Raiders, but a new baseball-only ballpark is on the horizon, according to team president Dave Kaval.