The most stereotypical Oakland Athletics player is heading to the Bay Area. The A’s have reportedly agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract with former Royals DH Billy Butler.
The 28-year old Butler had arguably the worst year of his career in 2014, hitting .271/.323/.379 with just nine homers for Kansas City. However, he did thrash lefties to the tune of a .321/.387/.460 line, continuing a trend that has been prevalent throughout his career. Even with that decreased production level, he’ll be a massive upgrade at DH for the A’s, who got just a .215/.294/.343 line from the position, largely manned by Alberto Callaspo and John Jaso. The only AL team that got less production from the position was the Seattle Mariners.
As for the Royals, they’re now left looking for a DH. Josh Willingham, who was acquired down the stretch and is considering retirement, could be an option to return and man the position for a full year. Those Ryan Howard rumors will probably start picking up steam once again. Maybe Nelson Cruz or Michael Morse is going to get linked to Kansas City for no real reason. The Royals will end up with a suitable replacement for Butler this winter, and I doubt they’ll end up paying the $10 million average salary that Butler is getting from the A’s.
