Billy Beane made a splash yesterday when he signed Yoenis Cespedes, but it looks like the Oakland general manager isn't done making moves yet. Buster Olney tweeted on Monday that the A's remained in talks with the Rangers about reliever Koji Uehara. Olney also said that Oakland is interested in Mike Gonzalez as well, who still remains unsigned.
↵Uehara was acquired by the Rangers last summer, and didn't seem to adjust that well to Texas. Though his WHIP was excellent with the Rangers, .78, he surrendered five homers in just 18 innings. His strikeout to walk ratio was excellent, though, as he struck out 23 in those 18 innings while issuing just one walk. Uehara was left off of the World Series roster after struggling in the postseason, giving up three homers in an inning and a third, while walking two as well.
↵The sample size of Uehara's struggles with the Rangers is pretty small, and his SO/BB ratio was excellent. If the Rangers are moving him to clear salary (he'll make four million in '12) just to sign Roy Oswalt, that's likely a mistake. The Rangers certainly don't need Oswalt, and bumping Matt Harrison to the bullpen in favor of the oft injured Oswalt doesn't seem like the best move the Rangers could make.
↵Jon Daniels has pressed all the right buttons lately, so he'll always get the benefit of the doubt from me. Still, I wouldn't write Uehara off as an excellent reliever from such a small sample size.
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