Elephant Rumblings: Agents offer opinions on A’s owner John Fisher, front office

MLB news roundup

Good morning afternoon, Athletics Nation!

The Oakland A’s offseason is actually turning out alright in the end, as the team was able to get creative enough to address it’s major needs without spending any extra money in 2021. As usual, the front office came through regardless of the constraints they had to work with.

But that doesn’t mean fans have forgotten how disappointed we are in club owner John Fisher and his longtime pattern of cheapness. As you might expect, we aren’t the only ones with gripes about him.

On Sunday, Alex Coffey of The Athletic shared the opinions of four anonymous player agents, on a wide range of topics regarding the A’s. You’ll need a subscription to read the whole thing, but suffice to say they don’t speak highly of Fisher either.

On the issue of the team’s reported revenue loss, one agent speculated, “I don’t buy that. I know they didn’t make all their profits, but I’m not so sure how they could have lost as much money as they claim, because they’re not a team that relies on the gate. … The ownership group, the billionaire that owns the Gap, if he wants to be a small market, that’s his choice.”

Another agent, talking about Fisher: “He’s the classic dude who ends up on third base and thought he hit a triple. I don’t know why he still owns the team.” The same agent called the team’s lack of spending this winter “embarrassing.”

Of course, agents should be expected to have some bias against cheap team owners who won’t pay their clients as much, and they have a vested interest in calling that out in the media. But that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily wrong in this case.

While the agents have plenty of criticism for Fisher, they mostly praise the front office. There’s some curiosity about the secrecy behind which Billy Beane and David Forst operate when making moves, but otherwise mostly positive feedback, especially for assistant GM Dan Feinstein.

Click the link to read all the details!

A’s Coverage

• AN: A’s re-sign reliever Yusmeiro Petit
• AN: A’s sign reliever Sergio Romo to one-year contract
• Coffey: Anonymous agent survey: A’s offseason, financial claims, front office perception ($$$)
• A’s plus podcast: Host Matt Kawahara joined by A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson
• Shea: Former A’s ‘designated runner’ Herb Washington to sue McDonald’s ($)
• Didion: A’s farm director identifies pair of prospects to watch
• Nico: “Now Leading Off For Oakland…”
• AN: Who plays DH for the A’s with Khris Davis gone?
• AN: Who will go to make room for Yusmeiro Petit and Sergio Romo on 40-man roster?

MLB News & Interest

• McDaniel (FanGraph): The Way Out (a story about mental health)
• McCullough: Workload woes: Increased innings for pitchers in 2021 present dilemma for GMs ($$$)
• Fegan: The things he carried: A.J. Pierzynski on playing 19 years with an edge ($$$)
• Dierkes: Trading A Cy Young-Caliber Starting Pitcher
• Dierkes: The Luxury Tax Boogeyman
• Today in Baseball History

MLB Transactions

After years of being buried behind Matt Chapman in Oakland, Sheldon Neuse spent less than 36 hours not being blocked at 3B in his new organization … and then the Dodgers brought back their star third baseman on a new free agent deal

Paxton will look for a bounce-back in his old stomping grounds, after a rough 2020 for the Yankees

Mets found the CF defender they’d been looking for

The lefty had a solid year for the Giants in 2020

You know what else comes in twins? Shoes. The only more appropriate destination for Shoemaker would be either the Red Sox or White Sox.

Looks like Brett Anderson won’t be re-joining the party in Oakland after all

… Another former A’s lefty finds a new home

… and also a former A’s catcher

Confirmed: Bruce will bounce back and hit at least 30 homers this year (he hit 26 in just 98 games in 2019)

… Although this should be even scarier for A’s fans, given Chirinos has hit more homers against Oakland (13) than any other opponent

Mathis surged to a 50 wRC+ last year, his highest mark since 2017

The A’s bullpen is looking pretty full now, but let’s still keep an eye on the remaining reliever market

Also keeping an eye on any last-minute potential lefty 2B options

Minor trade

It’s not with the A’s, but at least Bartolo is still going to pitch in 2021

Best of Twitter

Reminder that sometimes there’s some intangible value to simply keeping a couple of your own free agents instead of turning over the roster every year or two

Accurate depiction