OAKLAND http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-josh-bell-jersey , Calif. (AP) — contract worth more than $14 million to stay with the Oakland Athletics, who were determined to find an experienced starter this offseason to help lead a young rotation.They brought him back less than a month after not tendering him a contract. Fiers will earn $6 million in 2019 and $8.1 million in 2020.Oakland would like to add another starter, too, realizing it must provide depth given all the injuries last season. Ace Sean Manaea is recovering from shoulder surgery and not expected back until at least the All-Star break.“We were pretty clear, and it’s pretty obvious, starting rotation was an area we absolutely had to address,” Billy Beane, A’s executive vice president of baseball operations, said on a conference call Monday after the team announced Fiers’ deal. “… It’s all about the starters right now. We have to be opportunistic and patient.”The A’s acquired Fiers in August from Detroit Ivan Nova Jersey , and he helped the club reach the playoffs for the first time since 2014. He went 5-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 10 outings with nine starts after joining Oakland, which lost the AL wild-card game at New York.Beane credits the 33-year-old Fiers for being “a reliable guy throughout his career,” which is key for the A’s given all the injuries to their rotation.“He did a great job for us after the acquisition,” Beane said.Jharel Cotton had Tommy John surgery in March, followed by three others who also underwent the elbow ligament replacement surgery: opening day starter Kendall Graveman, Daniel Gossett and top prospect A.J. Puk.Fiers provided some much-needed stability.He was 12-8 with a 3.56 ERA in 30 starts and 31 overall appearances and 172 innings in 2018 between the Tigers and A’s.On Friday, the A’s added second baseman Jurickson Profar in a trade from Texas and signed reliever Joakim Soria to a $15 million, two-year contract. Beane likes how the roster is shaping up, with starting pitching still the area to address.“We feel pretty good about the position players’ side at this point and feel pretty good about the bullpen certainly with the acquisition of Soria http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-josh-bell-jersey ,” he said. Not a huge surprise here."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Red Sox StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Red Sox NewsYahoo Red Sox Team PageYahoo Red Sox ReportYahoo Red Sox Depth ChartYahoo Red Sox TransactionsYahoo Red Sox PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁昍ed Sox NewsChris Sale named Opening Day starterNew,5commentsNot a huge surprise here.EDTShareTweetShareShareChris Sale named Opening Day starterGary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY SportsLast week I wrote a piece arguing that one Nathan Eovaldi or David Price should be given the Opening Day start, a designation typically reserved for the best pitcher on the staff. Everyone would agree neither of them are better than Chris Sale — there may not be more than one or two pitchers in the entire sport better than Chris Sale — but the argument from me was that it is more of a ceremonial designation. Eovaldi and Price were two of the faces of last year’s World Series run, and an Opening Day nod would have been a nice gesture to acknowledge that.Well, Alex Cora disagrees with me. On Sunday, before the team participated in a pair of split-squad games, the manager announced that Sale would indeed be making the start on Opening Day in Seattle.Cora didn’t really think twice about the decision. Even when I was talking myself into my own proposal, it was a good guess that this move would be the one that was made. Sale is, again Brad Hand Jersey , one of the very best pitchers in baseball and starting on Opening Day is a definite statement on status for a pitcher. It would have been a little weird if he hadn’t made the start. I still wish Cora followed my advice, but there may be a chance he is smarter than me at baseball strategy. The jury is still out.As for the rest of the rotation after Sale, that order is not clear. Price was the obvious number two, but he was scratched from his scheduled start on Sunday due to an illness. It shouldn’t be too serious and hopefully won’t alter things, but Cora wants to wait until the southpaw is ready to go again before he makes any decisions. As such, we probably won’t learn of plans for the order after Sale for at least a few days. For now, though, we know March 28 is going to be a Sale Day.