in MLB Betting Trends

A's get Thomas

With the heat being turned down on the Hot Stove now that we are getting ready for spring training to begin, there were several moves of note this week.

Due to the emergence of centerfielder Grady Sizemore (22HR, 22SB .289) in Cleveland, the Tribe saw fit to trade Coco Crisp to the Boston Red Sox.

Crisp, who has improved every year since his debut in August 2002, will take the centerfield spot of Boston fan favorite Johnny Damon.

I must say than when I was covering the Angels in 2002 and saw the name Coco Crisp in the line up for Cleveland I didn’t know what to expect, but this guy can play. He hits to all fields, he had 42 doubles and stole 15 bases last year in 21 attempts and finished with a .300 average.

If the Boston fans give him a chance he will do well in Fenway. Johnny Damon was well liked in Bean Town and the fans will want results in a hurry from Crisp. Fenway Park is made for a spray hitter with speed and Crisp is just that.

The Red Sox also get reliever David Riske and catcher Josh Bard. The Tribe acquires a good-looking third baseman in Andy Marte, reliever Guillermo Mota, and a catching prospect Kelly Shoppach.

The Oakland A’s tried to put some punch in their lineup by signing Frank Thomas. The 16-year White Sox vet was a bit bitter about they way the World Champs handled the entire matter. Thomas signed for a mere $500,000, with incentives for another million.

Living now in the Chicago area, I got to see all the Sox games last year, and Frank still had some life left in him. He hit only .219 but he had 12 homers in 105 at bats, that’s one every 8 trips to the plate.

Thomas is just 52 homers shy of 500, and is a lifetime .307 hitter. He should help if his troubled left ankle is OK.

With Mark Kotsay, Jason Kendall, and Eric Chavez in the 1-2-3 spots and Thomas and Euribel Durazo sharing the DH spot, and a healthy Bobby Crosby at shortstop, the A’s should be able to score, which was their main concern last year.

And by the way, don’t feel sorry for Frank, he also received a 3.5 million dollar buy out from the Sox.

Finally on Sunday New York Mets catcher and 12 -time All-Star Mike Piazza signed a two million dollar one- year deal with the San Diego Padres. Piazza a native of Philadelphia turned down an offer from the Phillies and returns to SoCal where he once played for the Dodgers.

The deal has an option for 2007 of 8 million dollars.

Piazza 37, hit .251 with 19 homers last year in New York, 19 would have lead the Padres,

PETCO Park is not a long ball park, so Piazza may have to go back to his early years as a gap hitter and raise his average up to be effective in San Diego.

Mike holds the record for homers as a catcher with 374 and has 397 overall.

His life time average is .311, last year was his lowest average ever in a full season, he

Played 113 games in 2005.

The NL West champs said they would like Piazza to catch about 90 games, play some first base, and DH in interleague games.

Stay tuned, just four weeks to opening day…

I’ll preview some clubs the next three weeks…

Contact me at jrclemente@hotmail.com for baseball picks.