Coco Crisp rips the A’s for benching him to keep his $13 million option from vesting

By Aug 16, 2016, 9:02 AM EDT
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Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics outfielder Coco Crisp is unhappy with the A’s for what he believes to be their intentionally benching him in order to prevent his $13 million option for 2017 from vesting. In order for it to vest, Crisp has to play in 130 games. He’s played in only 93 despite being healthy. He says he is hurt by the way the A’s are treating him and that “this is shady.”

Whether it’s “shady” or just one of the risks you face when you agree to a vesting option with a team with a history of being budget conscious is open to personal interpretation, but Crisp is absolutely right that the A’s are intentionally keeping him on the bench. Slusser quotes Bob Melvin as saying that they’re just keeping Crisp away from lefties. Tim Eckert-Fong of Athletics Nation noted, however, that once the A’s got into the righties of the Rangers bullpen last night, Melvin used utilityman Max Muncy against righty Matt Bush despite the fact that Crisp homered off of Bush the first time he faced him. We can argue about the utility of batter vs. pitcher matchups, but it’s hard to imagine any explanation for not using Crisp in that situation other than a desire to simply avoid using Crisp at all costs. Just about every manager not under orders from his front office to prevent Crisp from playing in 130 games would use Crisp there.

But, like I said: that’s a risk of a vesting option. Just about every team has found itself in that situation over the years. If anything, you hear more about it when a manager LETS an option like that vest rather than snuffs it out. Anyone remember Jimy Williams giving Steve Avery a gift start in 1997 to let Avery’s $4 million option vest despite the fact that Avery was beyond cooked? That was a fun.

Crisp will probably get a gift start or three now that he has voiced his displeasure with his treatment. But I’d be shocked if the A’s let him get anywhere close to 130 games in the 2016 season.

Trevor Bauer pulls on No. 96 for Yokohama’s BayStars

Associated PressMar 24, 2023, 12:35 PM EDT
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YOKOHAMA, Japan – Trevor Bauer apparently was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Before about 75 reporters in a Yokohama hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform – No. 96 – on Friday and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don’t believe that’s accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said the suspension dealt technically with matters of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He said he would have been eligible, but did not say if he had offers.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers before the 2021 season and was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on paid leave.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph – hence his uniform number. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch.

He said he hoped to play by mid-April – about two weeks after the Japanese season begins – and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,” he said. “I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.”

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

“First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,” he said. “That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions – you know – share my knowledge with them.”

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young – and also immediately after.

“The Tokyo Dome was sold out,” he said. “I’d never played in front of that many people – probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.”

He said he’d been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

“But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.”

Other teams in Japan have made similar controversial signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna – who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy – signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.