Tulowitzki might fill a need for A’s
LAS VEGAS — Troy Tulowitzki is one of the top baseball players ever to come from the Bay Area — and now that the five-time All-Star is free to sign with any team he likes, he wouldn’t mind coming home and playing for a winning team.
Considering the A’s are coming off a playoff appearance and the Giants finished 18½ games back in the National League West, Oakland appears to be a potential destination for Tulowitzki, who is from Sunnyvale and grew up an A’s fan.
“Location is one of the factors, and obviously he’s from the Bay Area — that would have a lot of interest for him,” Paul Cohen, Tulowitzki’s agent, told The Chronicle on Tuesday. “Winning is very important, and geography is an issue.”
In a surprise move, the Blue Jays released the two-time Gold Glove winner Tuesday, absorbing
the remaining $38 million on his deal. Any team can sign Tulowitzki for the majorleague minimum of $600,000.
When asked about Tulowitzki, A’s general manager David Forst continued the team’s policy of declining to comment about specific free agents but joked, “I do like minimumsalary players.”
If the A’s cannot re-sign Jed Lowrie and decide against promoting Franklin Barreto, they would have an opening at second base. Tulowitzki has stated a strong preference for remaining at shortstop in recent years, but Cohen said his client would be open to moving.
“Troy would be willing to change positions,” Cohen said. “He still sees himself as a shortstop and he grades out as a shortstop, but we did talk about the possibility of moving positions if he became a free agent.”
Tulowitzki, 34, missed last season after surgery for bone spurs in his heels, but Cohen said Tulowitzki will be healthy in time for spring training.
Since news of Tulowitzki’s release broke, the reaction around the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where the winter meetings are held, has been substantial, Cohen said.
“I’ve bumped into so many people from teams who say, ‘Oh, my gosh, we have to talk,’ ” Cohen said. “I had one GM who was like, ‘Really? We can get Tulo for $600,000?!’ I finally just had to go back to my room.”
The A’s remain in the hunt for Lowrie, 34, who is coming off a career year. “He’s a free agent and it’s a two-way street,” Forst said. “There are a lot of possibilities at second base.”
Barreto also is in the picture, and the team has inquired about free-agent second baseman DJ LeMahieu.
“Jed Lowrie is still a bit of a priority for us,” manager Bob Melvin said. “And if that’s not Jed, then how do we go about the Franklin situation? Do we want to platoon with him? Do we want to give him the job? He’s athletic enough to play other positions, too.
“I think once we figure out where we’re going with Jed, then we’ll have a little better idea where the needs are with Frankie.”
Melvin said that he has considered Barreto “on the verge of major-league ready” for some time, and he believes Barreto also could handle playing the outfield.
“The strikeouts, commanding the strike zone is going to kind of tell the tale where he goes,” Melvin said. “But we’ll never know until he has an opportunity, and an opportunity to potentially struggle and stick with it and get through it. I think that’s when we’ll see what Franklin Barreto has to offer us.”