Oakland Athletics sign outfielder Seth Smith – MLB News
The Oakland Athletics have acquired outfielder Seth Smith from the Colorado Rockies sending two of their potential players Guillermo Moscoso and Josh Outman.
Athletics' general manager Billy Beane stated after signing Smith successfully, “He hits right-handers very, very well, which has been a weakness for our club. He'll have the opportunity to play more against left-handers, which probably will help. It's hard to hit lefties when you don't play against them.”
Later, Smith also said, “I welcome it. I don't really see it as a challenge as much as an opportunity. I know what the numbers. I know it's not as bad as the numbers look, and there's room for improvement, and it'll show up on the field. From what I hear, there's a lot of green grass in Oakland. My job is to find it.”
Smith’s deal adds a clause that will avoid his arbitration for the next season. Though, still no official statement has come out in the media about the other details of the contract but inside MLB sources are reporting that Smith will be making approximately $2.415 million in 2012.
This is a clear reflection of an increase of 462.9 percent over his $429,000 last season’s salary. In the Athletics roster, he will be earning almost double combining his salary of $1.239 million that he earned over his first three seasons in the league with the Rockies roster.
In Athletics' roster, Smith, will be a key player in Oakland Park’s outfield giving a strong backup to Ryan Sweeney, Andrew Bailey, Josh Reddick, Miles Head and Raul Alcantara.
Smith, who is coming in the Athletics roster with consistent .284 hitting average along with 15 home-runs, 59 RBIs and .347 OBP, certainly possesses some huge responsibility ahead of the next Major League Baseball season.
Last season, playing offensively he also managed to post a .284/.347/.483 batting line with 15 home-runs in 533 plate appearances winning plenty of games due to strength in the regular season.
Talking about his overall four year career where he achieved a .275 hitting average with 51 homers, 181 RBIs and .348 OBP also makes him a good player in the outfielder.
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