Billy Butler to Oakland A's - 3 yrs, $30 Million

[Eye Black]

Billy Butler signs a three year, $30 million dollar deal with the A's.

 

LINK

Free agent Billy Butler has agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal with the Oakland Athletics, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

 

The Kansas City Royals previously paid Butler a $1 million buyout rather than exercise their $12.5 million option on his contract for the 2015 season, making him a free agent.

 

Butler, 28, hit .271 with nine home runs and 66 RBIs this past season, his seventh with the Royals.

 

Butler, an All-Star in 2012, helped Kansas City reach the postseason for the first time since 1985. He hit .262 with 8 RBIs in the Royals' 13 postseason games.

 

Butler played first base in 37 games this past season, but was predominantly a designated hitter (108 games).

 

The career .295 hitter also won a Silver Slugger Award in 2012.

[SRB]

The inverse of Adam Lind gets $30M, except Lind can actually play 1B (and OF in a pinch) and is the strong side of the platoon not the weak side.

 

Good trade, Doug.

[3and2Fastball]

Kind of a bizarre signing for Oakland, I think. They weren't a team I'd expect to sign Butler

[joepepsi]

Tremendously overrated player. There must be a dozen late 20's poor defense, RH sluggers in AAA who could do his job just as well. But of course they weren't 1st round draft picks.

[Eye Black]

File this in the category of hindsight being 20/20, but based on the contract Butler signed I am surprised the Royals weren't able to pull off a sign and trade by picking up the $12.5 mil option and finding a team willing to trade something for Butler. It's not likely it would not have returned a big haul, but still it seems like they should have been able to get something for one year of Butler at $12.5 mil.

[superfly]

The inverse of Adam Lind gets $30M, except Lind can actually play 1B (and OF in a pinch) and is the strong side of the platoon not the weak side.

 

Good trade, Doug.

 

Adam Lind for 7million (15mil) is an immensely better deal. DM's deal looks better by the day.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm guessing Corey Hart ends up in KC.

[reillymcshane]

This confounds me. The guy had a .702 OPS last year. I could see a one year flyer on Butler, hoping he'd rebound. But three years seems a big risk.

 

In Oakland's defense, I can't say I've seen Butler play much the last year or two, so maybe they see something in him that says he's not in decline. They're getting him for his age 29-31 seasons, so a rebound is not out of the question (although he has that body type that screams early decline). Even if he hits like 2013, when he had a .786 OPS, he'd be worth the contract.

 

Also, Oakland DHs hit .215 last year - so even last year's Butler is better than that.

[jerichoholicninja]

Oakland is probably hoping he rebounds to even an .800 OPS, at which point his contract is quite reasonable and he can be traded for younger cheaper players.

 

I mean there really is no reason for a guy who puts up an OPS well north of .800 for 4 straight years to suddenly become terrible in his prime years.

[trwi7]

http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season13/wants5.mp3

[bill hAll Star]

Oakland may have had the odd issue of being short on LHP-mashing corner/DH guys. Still seems like an overpay but he's a good pinch hitter to have and will crush lefties.

[pacopete4]

I feel as though baseball will eventually lose my interest with the silliness of mediocre players being paid like kings. Billy Butler being given $30 mil makes my stomach turn. I am all for people making money in life but baseball is just getting stupid. First Martin, now Butler.

 

[jerichoholicninja]

I will agree that Butler was pretty terrible last year. However, from 2009 to 2013 he put up a 128 OPS+ and averaged 20 HR a year. Those are very good numbers.

[reillymcshane]

I will agree that Butler was pretty terrible last year. However, from 2009 to 2013 he put up a 128 OPS+ and averaged 20 HR a year. Those are very good numbers.

Very true. He's only 29 - you have to believe he can rebound.

 

But I'd still be wary. He's an awful base runner and bad defender. It really limits him to DH. Oakland has done well using a lot of versatile players.

[danzig6767]

I feel as though baseball will eventually lose my interest with the silliness of mediocre players being paid like kings. Billy Butler being given $30 mil makes my stomach turn. I am all for people making money in life but baseball is just getting stupid. First Martin, now Butler.

Would you rather that the already super wealthy owners just pocketed even more of the money they are making instead of it going to the players, even if the contracts on the surface seem crazy?

 

Guys like Zack Duke and Butler aren't getting these big contracts even though they aren't difference makers because owners just have lost their minds. They are getting that money for the same reason the Reds will owe Votto 25 million per until he walks to the plate with a cane, baseball is awash in revenues unlike ever before. So as baseball revenues climb substantially, so will salaries for players. Five years from now, players like Butler will make 12-15 million per.

 

Advertisers love pro and college sports because it's a show that most viewers watch live vs recording on their DVR and fast forwarding through their commercials. I'm one of those viewers. Besides sports, pretty much everything else i watch is recorded and i fast forward through commercials. There are also so many channels now vying for sports content, not just the three major networks, so leagues and teams are getting huge huge money for broadcasting rights. Never been a better time to be a pro sports owner as evidenced by what crazy sums teams are selling for. The players in turn also get their sizable cut of those billions.

[brewcrewdue80]

I'm a Butler fan. He's helped my Fantasy teams quite a bit prior to last season.

Yes he didn't have a great season this year. But taking his worst previous 5 seasons triple slash line not including 2014 and you get: .289/.361/.412 that's the worst of his triple slash lines. A .773 OPS. Being a DH with a .289/.361/.412 slash is he a bad deal for 3/30?

 

Looking at the A's OB players last season it would go D.Norris-.361, Josh Donaldson-.341, John Jaso-.337, Coco Crisp .336, Brandon Moss .334, Jed Lowrie .321, Josh Reddick-.316

 

Seems to me Oakland now has someone to fit in their Cleanup/#5 spot after Donaldson or Moss. Seems like a perfect A's player and deal to me.

Oakland doesn't have to use him on the field just be a DH and his bat which is above average over his history. It's scary to think how good Oakland was with a bad DH this season and then upgrading that spot with Butler? Far less likely to falter late in the season with him.