Athletics to sign Fuentes?

[Rios15]

Despite agreeing to sign Grant Balfour, the Athletics still aren't done trying to upgrade their bullpen. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that Oakland is "pushing" to sign Brian Fuentes, and he reiterates that the Blue Jays are a serious suitor for his services as well.

A multitude of teams have expressed interest in the free agent lefty this offseason, and with Balfour and Rafael Soriano now off the board, Fuentes has emerged as arguably the best free agent reliever available. Oakland already has two effective left-handers in its bullpen (Craig Breslow and Jerry Blevins), but there's no such thing as too many quality relievers.

We've also seen young, cost-controlled relievers traded quite a bit this offseason, including in deals for J.J. Hardy, Mark Reynolds, Jason Bartlett, and Cameron Maybin. Oakland could turn around and deal Blevins, Joey Devine, or Brad Ziegler for help at another position now or before the deadline. The market is certainly there, and adding Fuentes would help maintain the team's relief depth.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/01/athletics-pushing-to-sign-brian-fuentes.html

 

[Lake Louise]

I don't have anything against Fuentes but I don't see anything outstandingly great about him. The way he throws it is different. He's not horrible, but Tigers always seemed to get the best of him when they played the Angels, and if I remember he didn't appear in any games against the Tigers, when the Twins had him. Not 100% on that. I just don't see anything that great out of him.

 

[Mexi]

^vs lefties, he's great, and thankfully he wont be closing for the A's if they sign him

A's pen with him is superb
their pitching is awesome as is

i like them to win the West
Beane will get one more bat midseason

 

[The Guid]

Ziegler, Blevins, Devine, Breslow, Fuentes, Balfour...that's nasty.

Though I fully expect Beane to trade one at the deadline, it's still a great bullpen

 

[Mexi]

dont forget Bailey

 

[The Guid]

Oh shit, I did lol

Damn, now it's all but certain someone's going to go. Question is where do the A's look to upgrade? Corner infield maybe.

 

[Mexi]

i dont think they do anything yet
mid season i can see it

 

[The Edge]

Fuentes numbers remind me a lot of John Rocker's. All signs point to him being a little better overall in peak but having prolonged luck over a few years. I could easily see this guy blow up at any point. Might be best to attempt to make him the LOOGY in the pen over trusting the back end of games to him. But overall he's getting lucky on the outcome as his K rate decreases and his groundball rate kinda fell off the map this year

 

[Lake Louise]

^vs lefties, he's great, and thankfully he wont be closing for the A's if they sign him

A's pen with him is superb
their pitching is awesome as is

i like them to win the West
Beane will get one more bat midseason

That makes sense why I didn't see him do well against the Tigers. I didn't see a whole lot of him, except when they played Detroit.

 

[A.E]

The A’s sign Brian Fuentes

A person with knowledge of the deal says the Oakland Athletics and free-agent lefty reliever Brian Fuentes have agreed to terms on a two-year contract.

he 35-year-old Fuentes, who grew up in the Northern California town of Merced, was 4-1 with 24 saves and a 2.81 ERA in 48 appearances and 48 innings with the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins in 2010.

-NBC Sports

 

[Rios15]

I was hoping we'd get him on the Jays but who knows how much he was looking for.

 

[cruzg24]

^vs lefties, he's great, and thankfully he wont be closing for the A's if they sign him

A's pen with him is superb
their pitching is awesome as is

i like them to win the West
Beane will get one more bat midseason

Your on drugs if you think they are going to win the West. Their offense is just so anemic and awful, they cant compete with the Angels and Rangers. No one on that team hit 20 HR's or 90 RBIs, or even hit .300+ BA.