Contract Leads To Big Hurt's Return To A's

"The Big Hurt" Frank Thomas probably didn't leave the Blue Jays on the best of terms after he and the GM of the Blue Jays, J.P. Riccardi, came to a mutual agreement for a release.

It was said that they weren't willing to wait for Thomas to come out of his early season slump, where he was batting .159, with an OB% of .312, smashing three dingers and driving in eleven.

Thomas made an accusation as the team only wanted to play him a few times a week, saying that the team didn't want him to play every day because he would reach his near 400 at bats that would automatically kick in an option for 2009 that would pay him $10 million.

It is hard to imagine that a team wouldn't want a veteran who provided for them last season, where he batted .277 nailing 26 homers and driving in 95 runs.

On the other hand, they do have a descent team and could possibly be in the playoff hunt come seasons end where every game matters and have other players that may be able to step up faster than an aging Thomas could.

Whatever the truth is, fact of the matter is that he is no longer a Blue Jay. After a short few days on the free agent market, his former team, the Oakland Athletics picked him up. He played for the A's in 2006, where he seemed to rejuvenate his career, hitting 39 homers and driving in 114 runs.

Thomas will somehow platoon the DH roll with with a struggling Jack Cust who is currently batting .161 with one homer and six batted in and Mike Sweeney who is currently batting an impressive .322, but only has one homerun and seven RBI's himself.

MLB.com states, "Oakland must pay Thomas only a pro-rated portion of the Major League minimum of $390,000, while Toronto must absorb the rest of what's left on Thomas' reported 2008 salary of $8 million."

So, was it really worth it for the Jays to let The Big Hurt go? Probably not, but both parties seem to have gotten what they wanted. The Jays don't have to pay Thomas $10 million next season and Thomas is back to where he never wanted to leave, stating in a MLB.com article on 4/24/08, "I never wanted to leave here (Oakland)." Thomas also stated in the article, "The finances didn't work out a couple of years ago, but I wanted to stay, sincerely. So when Toronto released me, this was my first choice, to come back here."