Brandon Inge Signs With Oakland A’s
It has been confirmed that Brandon Inge has agreed to sign with the Oakland Athletics. Due to the fact that Brandon received his unconditional release from the Tigers last week, he is eligible for the lowest salary a MLB player can possibly receive, the pro-rated major-league minimum. Brandon will go straight in as starting third basemen. The decision makes sense for Inge as Oakland has the greatest opportune third base position for a player who wants to play every day and show he still has some fight in him, SFGate.com reported.
Originally the catcher of the Tigers, he struggled to keep up his offensive guard in his first three seasons. The Tigers signed Ivan Rodriguez in 2004, Brandon played the outfield, catcher and third base. With a batting record of .287 with 13 homers in that season. In his 2005 season, he showed what he was made of by leading all AL third basemen in errors with 23, 378 assists, and 42 double plays. He exceeded this record substantially in 2006 while simultaneously breaking the Detroit Tigers single season record for assists by a third basemen with 398 assists.
The soon to be 35 year old player was an All-Star in 2009, as he hit 21 home runs in the first half, but since then his numbers have decreased as he’s hit only 23 total home runs since the first half of 2009, including the second half of 2009 and continued into the past two seasons. Brandon has been a part of some very good teams due to the fact that he’s not only a good fieldsman, but also very versatile with a good amount of MLB experience under his belt, including playoff and World Series experience.
Inge will essentially be taking the spot filled by former Tiger, Scott Sizemore, whom the Athletics assigned third base last year with excellent results. Sizemore’s season ended with a knee surgery on the first day of spring training of this year. He left the team searching for a third basemen to fill his cleats. The A’s have no intention of releasing any additional information prior to the finalization of all paperwork pertaining to their new contract with Brandon Inge.
