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The Oakland Athletics lost star closer Keith Foulke and MVP shortstop Miguel Tejada to big-money teams in the same weekend. They dealt All-Star catcher Ramon Hernandez to San Diego and traded starter Ted Lilly to Toronto.
The ``Big Three'' pitchers are back, but aside from aces Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito, the A's have undergone quite the offseason facelift.
And they still have key holes to fill. Even Oakland's bench coach and pitching coach bolted for better jobs -- Terry Francona was named manager of the Boston Red Sox and Rick Peterson took the pitching coach job with the New York Mets under former A's manager Art Howe.
With so many new faces, can Oakland win its third straight AL West title and finally get past the first round of the playoffs after four years of failure?
``I'm not concerned at all as long as we have Billy (Beane),'' said Zito, the A's lanky left-hander who won the 2002 AL Cy Young award. ``I'm confident he's going to do the right moves. Come the middle of February, they always put it together for the season.''
Last Sunday during baseball's winter meetings, Tejada -- who signed with the A's at 17 out of the Dominican Republic -- agreed to a $72 million, six-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles. A day earlier, Foulke agreed to a deal with Boston that could guarantee him $24 million over the next four years. Foulke, who led the AL with 43 saves this year, was wooed by Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who took the pitcher to a Boston Celtics game.
Tejada's departure was inevitable. The low-budget A's said during spring training they couldn't afford to give him the long-term deal he wanted and the two sides didn't negotiate during the season.
This is nothing new for this franchise.
Tejada became the second MVP to leave Oakland in three years.
Jason Giambi, the 2000 MVP, signed a $120 million, seven-year contract with the New York Yankees after the 2001 season. Gold Glove third baseman Eric Chavez could be the next to leave -- he can become a free agent after the 2004 season.
``I think the focus should be on the players we have, not what we lost,'' said manager Ken Macha, who will begin his second season in 2004.
The A's sent disgruntled outfielder Terrence Long to the Padres with Hernandez in the swap that brought outfielder Mark Kotsay to Oakland. Kotsay is a player Beane has been eyeing for years, and the deal provides more payroll flexibility over the next two seasons for the A's, who began last season with the eighth-lowest payroll in baseball and finished the year with a payroll of about $50 million, not including bonuses.
With Kotsay and new outfielder Bobby Kielty, Beane believes Oakland has upgraded its outfield both offensively and defensively.
Yet Tejada's knack for late-game heroics with his glove and his bat will be tough to replace. Zito just hopes someone will evolve into the team's clutch hitter. Bobby Crosby, who appeared in 11 games for Oakland last season, will take over at shortstop.
The A's also have added pitchers Mark Redman, Arthur Rhodes and Chris Hammond. Redman is likely to be the No. 4 starter behind Hudson, Mulder and Zito. Rich Harden, another starter coming off a successful rookie season, has added 15 pounds of muscle to his frame with a strict training regimen this offseason.
``It's going to be strange to see all these new faces around,'' Harden said. ``The guys we got can help us out, but it's unfortunate to see some of those guys go. I'm sure everything is going to work out. Billy really knows what he's doing.''
Rhodes, formerly a set-up man for Seattle, is likely to be the closer.
``We've added some good guys and I'm sure we're not done adding,'' first baseman Scott Hatteberg said. ``One thing this group and this front office can do is fill holes. I have a lot of faith in them.''