The A’s yesterday traded 1B Brandon Moss to the Indians, and in San Jose, John Hickey notes the team has “spent the last five months exiling their most frequent 3-4-5 hitters of the last three years from their roster.” A’s GM Billy Beane said of the roster turnover, “We did it three years ago; we have done it before.” However, Beane alluded that he was a little surprised at “how hard the fan base is taking” the moves based on e-mails and tweets (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/9). CSNBAYAREA.com’s Ray Ratto wrote the Moss trade “makes its usual level of sense,” but it is “too familiar a message to please a fan base that is too small for ownership’s pleasure and too patient for its own good” (CSNBAYAREA.com, 12/8).
SANDY BEACHED: Mets GM Sandy Alderson yesterday said that the Mets' payroll, which was around $85M in '14, had now pushed up to about $100M -- "largely because of raises to players already on the roster" and the $21M, two-year deal with free agent RF Michael Cuddyer -- and that "it was likely to stay at that figure right into the start" of the '15 season. Alderson said of the $100M figure, "Might be a little lower, might be at that level. I don’t expect it to go up too much, if at all." In N.Y., Tim Rohan writes Alderson was "letting it be known that the Mets, with a growing pool of young talent, hope to finally contend in 2015 but are not about to start spending a lot more money in order to do so" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/9).
SWEET '16? Padres President & CEO Mike Dee yesterday said that the team is "'focusing on 2016' in their bid for an All-Star Game." The Padres last month “submitted an official bid” to host an upcoming game. Dee said, “If we got 2017 or 2018, it’d be great, but our first priority is 2016.” The Reds are hosting the ’15 game (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/9).
SOX KEEP SPENDING: The Red Sox remain in the bidding for free agent P Jon Lester after already signing 3B Pablo Sandoval and LF Hanley Ramirez this offseason, and MLB Network's Harold Reynolds said, "I love what they’ve done already and I think they’ve got a real good idea of what they’re going to continue doing." Reynolds: "The thing that makes it interesting is that they’re loaded. They have an overload. … They can not only spend money but they can make trades and go get guys” (“MLB Tonight,” MLB Network, 12/7).
