Beane, Forst and the Oakland A’s front office: A mid-term grade for 2023
By Bill Felber
Free agency
The A’s big free agent play was the signing of Japanese League pitcher Shintaro Fujinami to a one-year, $3.25 million deal. So far, it has backfired loudly. Shelled in his first four appearances, all starts, Fujinami has spent most of the past two months in the Oakland bullpen, where things have not gotten markedly better. He’s 3-7 in 38 innings with a 10.57 ERA and a -2.4 WAA.
Overall, Beane and Forst signed, re-signed or extended 12 players, almost all to low-budget contracts and almost all yielding sub-par results.
Alone among the 12, backup catcher Carlos Perez has produced a positive WAA..but it’s only +0.3. Utility infielder Aledmys Diaz is batting .206 with a -1.8 WAA, starter Drew Rucinski got bombed in four starts before going on the IL, and first baseman Jesus Aguilar batted .221 before losing his job and being released.
Journeymen Trevor May, Jace Peterson, Spencer Patton, Pablo Reyes, Zach Neal, Garcia, Jeurys Familia and Tyler Wade all fit that description.
Beane and Forst also fell short in deciding which players to release, although when all is said and done the losses of Domingo Tapia, Cal Stevenson and Adam Kolarek are likely to have done only minimal damage.