Morning Rundown: A's sign Brent Rooker, Justin Verlander to the Giants, Pirates interested in Randall Grichuk
A's sign Rooker to extension, Verlander heads to Giants on one year deal, Pirates linked to another outfielder.
The Athletics have signed OF/DH Brent Rooker to a five-year extension worth $60 million.
Rooker, 30, has hit 69 home runs the past two years combined for the A’s. He hit .293/.365/.562 with 39 home runs, 112 RBI, and 11 stolen bases last year. He also put up a 5.1 fWAR despite playing 131 games as the team’s DH.
It adds to the offseason that the Athletics haven’t been shy about dishing out money, including their record-setting contract for Luis Severino.
There has been plenty of trade speculation with Rooker, mostly generated by fans, as the Athletics never gave any indication he was available.
The San Francisco Giants signed right-handed pitcher Justin Verlander to a one-year contract worth $15 million.
Verlander has over 19 years of service time in the majors and has 262 wins, pitching for the Tigers, Astros, and Mets.
In 2024, he posted a 5.48 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 90.1 innings pitched.
MLB Network started their Top 10 players at each position show, and Oneil Cruz came in ninth among center fielders heading into the 2025 season.
Cruz moved to center field during the 2024 season, his first full season in the majors, after missing most of 2023 due to an ankle injury.
He hit .259/.324/.449 with 21 home runs and 22 stolen bases last year and posted a +2 OAA on Baseball Savant defensively.
As the Pirates’ search for a right-fielder continues, two names have surfaced that they are reportedly interested in.
Robert Murray of FanSided mentioned Alex Verdugo as an option the other day, and Mark Feinsand added Randal Grichuk to the mix on Tuesday.
Grichuk, 33, played for the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2024 season, hitting .291/.348/.528 with 12 home runs, 20 doubles, and 46 RBI. He’s been noted for heavy work against lefties; he posted a 151 wRC+ against them in 2024 but did well against righties as well (116).
For his career, Grichuk has a 121 wRC+ against lefties, compared to a slightly below-average mark of 93 against righties.
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Grichuk seems like a good fit. But he declined a $6 million dollar mutual option so figure it will take something in the two year $20 million range to get him signed. This would be the biggest contract handed out to an outside free agent by Cherington in both years and dollar value. So probably not happening, even though no reason why it shouldn't or couldn't happen. The team should have the ability to spend $30 to $40 million more on payroll this year at the least. But no sign they are going to spend even a half or a quarter of this.
In 2009, the Angels used their 2 first round picks by taking Randal Grichuk first followed by a player named Mike Trout. If that is the only variable we look at, Grichuk needs to get paid over 200 million through the year 2030. Anything less would be a bargain.