The A's Are Interested in Orlando Cabrera

The A's really don't want Bobby Crosby to be their starting shortstop. Already this offseason they've tried their hardest to sign Orlando Cabrera and Rafael Furcal and placed Crosby on irrevocable waivers.

In the past month, they seemed resigned to sticking with their former shortstop of the future, but today John Heyman is reporting that the A's are again poking around the Cabrera market.

Heyman says that Cabrera's price would likely have to drop to about $5 million a year for Oakland, and that's a huge bargain given the upgrade he'd be over Crosby.

Crosby's .645 OPS in 2008 was the best he's put up in the last three years, and his defense was only average. Cabrera hit .281/.334/.371 and is, of course, known for his glove.

So will he take the paycut? Crosby's due $5.25 million next year while Cabrera made $9 million. It seems like a bit of a travesty to cut his pay by $4 million while asking him to come in and be the starter. Maybe Billy Beane is just trying to infuriate Crosby into playing well by surrounding him with these rumors all winter. We'll know for certain if that's his plan when the Jack Wilson trade rumors start.

Then again, Cabrera's gotta sign with someone and the A's make just as much sense as anybody. At what point in the offseason does a player like him consider nearly halving his pay just to have a job? I don't really know, but I'm guessing the answer is "pretty soon" with pitchers and catchers reporting in two weeks.