The A's know what they have in Brett Anderson. Two scoreless starts into his second season, Anderson was granted a four-year extension with two option years, effectively buying out Anderson's first year of Free Agency.
Multiple sources reported the extension quickly, but as far as I could tell, it was ESPN first reporting the annual salaries:
2010: $500,000, 2011: $1,000,000, 2012: $3,000,000, 2013: $5,500,000.
Oakland also included club options for Anderson for $8,000,000 in 2014 and $12,000,000 in 2015.
If Anderson proves to be the ace he's becoming the A's won't think twice about exercising those options.
For the A's, this is clearly a seized opportunity for cost control with Anderson's contract. But the average fan will see this extension and applaud GM Billy Beane for signing a possible franchise player to a long-term contract.
One can only hope that the stadium drama for the A's is settled by the time this contract expires and the A's are able to make Anderson a life-time Athletic. Eric Chavez and Mark Ellis are the only players in recent memory who've played their whole careers in Oakland. We all know how well Eric Chavez' contract worked out. Nevertheless, it'd be nice to see some pitching stay around long-term.
Who's the next player the A's will lock up with a long-term deal? I'd place bets that Catcher Kurt Suzuki may be next in line. Andrew Bailey couldn't be far behind either. Bailey's rise to early MLB success is very similar to Huston Street's and I suspect Bailey will get a similar deal.
We're all so very happy to see the A's intend to keep Anderson around, at least until the promising bats of Chris Carter, Michael Taylor, Grant Green and more are present to back up his performance.
I'm also happy to see that Anderson will have the financial security for some time so that he can focus on baseball instead. The kid is a future perennial All-Star and Cy Young candidate. Let's hope he achieves those in an Oakland uniform.
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