A's pick up Payton's option, Yabu is gone

The Oakland A's today announced that they have picked up Jay Payton's option for 2006 while declining Yabu's :

Payton was acquired by the A's from Boston at the All-Star Break for Chad
Bradford and ended up hitting .269 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI in 69 games with
Oakland after batting .263 with five home runs and 21 RBI in 55 games with the
Red Sox. His 13 home runs tied for second most ever in one season by an
Athletics player with 70 games or less and the RBI were fifth most. The 32-year
old Payton combined with the A's and Red Sox to hit .267 with 18 home runs and
63 RBI in 124 games. The home runs and RBI were the second best totals of his
career.

Yabu was 4-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 40 relief appearances in his
first season in the Major Leagues. He previously pitched 11 seasons in the
Japanese Leagues with Hanshin. The 37-year old Yabu allowed a .287 opponents
batting average and tied an Oakland reliever record with eight hit batters.

Picking up Payton's option was a good low risk decision. He can play any outfield position and seems to be a pretty good defender. He was a huge help when Kotsay was having back problems and I have a feeling we'll be seeing more back problems from Kotsay in 2006 as well.

As for Yabu, well, you all know how I felt about him, another Billy Beane gamble down the drain who really struggled during his most important outings.

Am working on a post to discuss the tentative 2006 roster, be patient.