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Jan 25, 2006 

Which Old Slugger Will Play More? Thomas Or Bonds?

New Athletic Frank Thomas

LITTLE RISK IN SIGNING INJURY-PLAGUED THOMAS

The A's signed the once-mighty Big Hurt, Frank Thomas today. It's quite probable that his contribution next season will equal his paltry $500,000, one-year contract.

Thomas is not the savior that the folks over at AthleticsNation believe him to be. According to their carpetbagging leader, Blez, this signing makes the A's contenders to the American League pennant.

Ridiculous, unless we're talking about a time machine that brings the Frank Thomas of the early 90s back to Oakland.

Billy Beane is not a genius or he would have won a pennant by now. He is smart, though. There is no risk in bringing in Thomas, bad knees or bad attitude, at a half million dollars with incentives.

You can't say Thomas puts the A's over the top in the American League when they may be the third best team in their division. The Angels are still intact and Texas looks like they finally have a coherent plan in place. Even the White Sox had little problems winning the World Series without Thomas for most of the season.

The best the A's can look for is a facsimile of another aging slugger with major mobility issues: Dave Parker.

In 1988, the once-formidable rightfielder with a rifle arm lumbering speed came to Oakland armed only with a big bat and a fatherly clubhouse demeanor. That's a combinations that the perennial low-budget A's have never had in their sights.

Thomas, despite his aloof and strained relationships in Chicago with Jerry Manuel and Ozzie Guillen, may be ready to allow his seniority and leadership shine with the much younger A's. Nothing humors a superstar more than knowing his team can win the whole thing without him.

In 2006, the A's won't lean on Thomas nearly as much as those A's of the late 80s did with Parker. The A's will be very careful with Thomas' health and its very likely that he will again spend a good percentage of the season on the disabled list. If that's the case, Beane has assembled this team with a slew of interchangeable parts. Dan Johnson can move from first to DH and the same with Nick Swisher.

The real race is who will play more this season; Barry Bonds across the Bay or Thomas in Oakland. I'll say Thomas, although come September the story of the A's season will barely mention the contributions of Frank Thomas.

Two things:

Texas still has pitching issues, and problems with a lineup that has a road OPS more than .100 points below their home OPS. They traded Chris Young, a young pitcher who makes 300k a year and put up an ERA of 4.26 in that Arlington launching pad of a park in Arlington, for Adam Eaton, a $3 million pitcher who put up an ERA of 4.27. In a pitchers park. In the NL. That's a horrible move.

Also, when the A's signed Dave Parker, it was not like the Frank Thomas signing. They were both 37, but that's where the similarities end. Look at their career lines at age 37.

Parker .297/.347/.486/.833 273 HR
Thomas .307/.427/.568/.995 448 HR

Not even close.

Texas better than Oakland? You lost all credibility right there.

Indeed- your arguments are undeveloped, and more importantly, WRONG. You must have no concept of the AL West teams and what they did/didn't do if you think the A's even have to worry about Texas.

Your knowledge of the A's history lends you no credibility either, as the A's of the late 80's were under completely different management, with a completely different philosophy- something you should know, no?

What a bunch of cranky bitches. They must be experiencing a collective period.

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