A's get a steal in Jason Giambi

January 6, 9:06 PMMLB ExaminerAlex Brown

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The Oakland Athletics have signed free agent first baseman Jason Giambi to a one-year contract worth $4.5M.  The deal also features a $5M option for 2010 with a $1M buyout.  This is a very affordable deal for Oakland, and they get the type of player they typically covet – Giambi has big power and gets on base frequently.  He’s logged an on-base percentage of over .350 in all but one of his 14 major league seasons.

Giambi came up with Oakland in 1995 as a long haired, cutoff shirt wearing 25 year old prospect.  He hit for power and average in each of his six seasons in Oakland before being signed away by the New York Yankees in 2002.  Giambi was great for New York in his first season there, but his batting average dropped significantly in 2003, and he hasn’t hit over .275 since.  His career since leaving Oakland has been tainted by off-field issues (an admission to using performance enhancing substances), serious illness (an intestinal parasite), and even rumors of a release in 2004.  He should find Oakland to be a bit more relaxing – he’s always seemed like a California guy anyways.

Though I referred to Giambi as a first baseman above, you can use the term loosely (hard to believe he actually came up as a third baseman!).  He will be the designated hitter in Oakland and hit behind newly acquired righty slugger Matt Holliday.  For his career he’s not terrible against lefties, coming in at a .268 batting average and a home run per about 20 at bats.  As I also mentioned above, Giambi is noted for his willingness to take a free pass, drawing over 100 walks in seven of his 11 full seasons of play.  If the can hit 30 homers and post a .370 or higher OBP, he will be worth every penny of his new deal.

As many predicted, yesterday’s signings of Pat Burrell and Milton Bradley jump-started the market for outfielders and designated hitters.  Giambi’s only other serious suitor appeared to be Tampa Bay, who obviously dropped out when they signed Burrell.  All in all, I wonder why a team like Toronto didn’t pursue this guy a bit harder, but their loss is Oakland’s gain – very solid move in my book.