Bay Area News

The A’s are reported to have reached an agreement with Jack Cust on a $2.65 million 2010 contract after all.  It didn’t look good for Cust after they non-tendered him and then acquired Jake Fox, the  player most likely to be the next Jack Cust.  In fact, given his age (27) and low salary, Fox is more likely to look like the 2007-2009 Jack Cust over the next three seasons than the real Jack Cust.

Re-signing Cust didn’t make a lot of sense to me at first, but I noticed that unlike Cust, Fox bats right-handed.  You can afford to carry to players of this type if they bat from opposite sides of the plate.  Cust, in particular, should probably be used largely as a platoon player batting mainly against right-handed pitchers at this point in his career.

Former Giant Scott Eyre announced his retirement today.  Scott would have been 38 next year, and he said in his announcement that he wanted to spend more time with his kids, but I think the decision was largely made for him by the current economy.

Scott wanted a $2 million 2010 contract, the same money he made last year, but the Phillies were only willing to offer him a minor league deal.  On Eyre’s side of this, he really did pitch well for the Phillies since they acquired him in 2008, posting a 1.62 ERA in 61 appearances and 44.1 innings pitched as a left-handed short man.  On the Phillies’ side of this, $2 million is a lot to pay a left-handed relief specialist who averages less than an inning pitched for each appearance in the current economy.

Also, the Blue Jays claimed former Giant minor league SS Brian Bocock off waivers.  Giants fans will remember Bocock as the player who played 32 games for the Giants at the start of the 2008 season, when Omar Vizquel started the season on the DL.

Bocock was completely over-matched at the plate hitting only .143 in 77 ABs with a puny .414 OPS.  He has a career minor league OPS now of .614, the vast majority of it compiled in A+ or lower leagues.

Bocock is strictly a glove-tree shortstop, but the Blue Jays love their glove-tree shortstops, as the recent signings of  Alex Gonzalez and John McDonald to a combined $4.25 million in 2010 contracts demonstrate.