A's claim 3B Encarnacion, 3B Kouzmanoff headed for non-tender...

[Providence A's]

Edwin Encarnacion

A's claimed 3B Edwin Encarnacion off waivers from the Blue Jays.
Toronto got nothing for Encarnacion, but he was a non-tender candidate after an uninspiring 2010 season. The 27-year-old is not a good defensive third baseman and could earn close to $6 million via salary arbitration this offseason.

There is no room at DH (unless Cust is non-tendered, but even then) or OF. I doubt the A's got him to stick in AAA. One can only assume he'll be at 3B and Kouz is gone. I'm not sure what to think of this. E will give more offense, but his D at 3B is worse than Kouz's. Kouz's D is better, but his offense left a lot to be desired.

I'm sure the A's aren't done though

[K-Zone]

The A's sure are making a splash early and often in this off season.

[love_that_reefer]

All I can say is this is good news for the rest of the league. The market for 3b is weak and Kouz is one of the better fielding third basemen in the league. He has some pop but his on base skills are very poor.I hope the Giants take a look because we could use that defense at the hot corner. Bad move for the A's.

[Providence A's]

They haven't non-tendered Kouz yet and there's no guarantee that they will. It's just speculation at this point. And they still could non-tender Encarnacion depending on what other moves they make. We'll just have to wait and see.

[love_that_reefer]

Why claim Encarnacion only to non-tender him? Makes no sense.

[Providence A's]

Potential insurance if they can't sign / trade for a better option (DH,3B, backup... whatever they may have planned) and prevent other teams from claiming him through waivers (if anyone was going to). It makes plenty of sense because there's no risk in claiming him. They don't have to tender him a contract if they choose not to and they don't lose anything. They can keep him and then they will be on the hook for whatever salary he gets through arbitration for next season.

[Foster]

I would hope for your sake arby is less than the 5 million he made this past season.

[Providence A's]

I don't think a player can earn less than what they made the year before when it comes to arbitration. It has to be greater than or equal to the previous year's salary. Who knows what they they've got planned. Offer both arbitration and trade Kouz? Keep both? Non-tender both if they sign someone better? Time will tell.

[Providence A's]

Encarnacion was non-tendered today along with Travis Buck and Jack Cust. Kouz was tendered a contract and is sticking around for now.

[love_that_reefer]

Smart move keeping Kouz. His defense is too valuable to just let go for nothing.