San Jose A's?

The San Jose Mercury News believes the "San Jose Athletics" has a nice ring to it. Now that the A's Fremont move has fallen through, the team will restart it process to find a place for a new stadium.

Does MLB want to have two strong and healthy franchises in the Bay Area — or will it continue forcing one team to play in an outdated, mutated multi-purpose stadium in the wrong area code?

I realize that's not how the fundamental question about the A's future is usually framed. Instead, it goes this way: Will the Giants allow the A's to build a ballpark in Santa Clara County, where the Giants own territorial rights?

Wrong. As I have noted, those "territorial rights" do

not "belong" to the Giants. Those "rights" are the property of Major League Baseball, which permits the Giants to claim them. But the "rights" can be overturned with one swift vote by MLB owners.

I think the "territorial rights" argument will be a tough sell: see Orioles/Peter Angelos vs. proposed Washington Nationals. It's a complicated process, however, moving the A's. This will probably play out a while.

On second thought...

Given his reduced production over the past few years in New York, I'm convinced Jason Giambi's return to Oakland is fueled by one thing: he thinks BALCO is still open.

A's get a C for this move

I'm not quite sure what the A's are thinking bringing in both Jason Giambi and Matt Holliday as it seems a divergent path from GM Billy Beane's "Moneyball" philosophy, but hey, it's interesting to see Oakland acquire veterans rather than trade them away. Here's one explanation from the San Francisco chronicle on the Giambi move:

The Giambi signing, though, is as useful for the team's twin goals in 2009 - to score four runs per game and to actually have recognizable human beings doing so. There is, as Lew Wolff will tell you, nothing worse in the game than players you don't know doing not enough to make you care.

And because he costs one-fifth the current asking (but not taking) price Ramirez is demanding, Giambi can fail in Oakland by being only one or more of the following three things:

-- Finished as a hitter.

-- Nostalgic for the Yankees.

-- Caught wearing the gold thong in front of his locker.

We're not sure if the signing is fully and solely Beane's idea, although it does have that Frank Thomas/remainder bin feel to it.

Ah, yes. Frank Thomas. I forgot Beane brought Fading Frank to town, too.

Fantasy Impact: It's a stretch to say Giambi is no longer productive, but an even bigger stretch to believe he's still a top fantasy performer. He's productive, but he can really hurt you in batting average. An even further slide by the 34-year-old-to-be could be disasterous if taken too early in a fantasy draft. Giambi is probably most safely taken just outside of the first 8 rounds.

No Holliday heading to Oakland

Beyond the Boxscore asks that we not assume Matt Holliday's production will falter now that he's leaving Coors Field for a more pitcher-friendly home park in Oakland. Among them:

Players perform better at home than on the road, all else being equal. That's what causes a home-field advantage! Across MLB in 2008, the average home OPS was .770 while the average road OPS was .730.

I think Holliday will do fine away from Coors, but his fantasy stats will not likely be those of a first-round pick like they have in the past. Holliday is not just switching parks, he's switching leagues, which means he's adjusting to seeing a lot of new pitchers, too.