The A's Will Give You Bobby Crosby if You Want to Pay for Him

It should've been clear when the A's entered the Rafael Furcal sweepstakes that they weren't entirely happy with Bobby Crosby manning the shortstop position for them. When the A's lost out on Furcal, everyone assumed the A's would press on with Crosby for the 2009 season. That's likely what will happen, but it doesn't mean the A's are just blindly accepting that path.

Today, Jon Becker is reporting that the A's placed Crosby on irrevocable waivers, meaning that any team in the league can claim him so long as they're willing to pay his $5.25 million salary next year for a guy who is injury prone (he's only played 150 games once in his career), a terrible hitter, and has really only been a decent fielder over the last three years.

If Crosby is claimed, the A's have a few options outside of the system to play short for them in 2009. They could always trade for the eternally available Jack Wilson, who's a similar hitter to Crosby but has a better glove. He's even more expensive than Crosby, though the Pirates would likely be willing to pay some off his salary to get a deal done. Beyond that theres's David Eckstein. Can you imagine what would happen if Billy Beane signed David Eckstein? Heads would explode. I don't even want to think about that.