Oakland signs Shannon Stewart to a Frank Thomas deal

The A's signed former Minnesota and Toronto outfielder Shannon Stewart to an incentive-laden 1-year contract worth $2.5 million today.

I see this as great news ... with a catch (namely, the A's perennial catch-all: Can Stewart stay healthy). His plantar fascia have been acting up since summer of '06, but it's not an insurmountable injury. Maybe playing on grass will help? Maybe Oakland's top-notch medical staff will be Stewart's cure-all? (I jest.)

If this does pan out, you can either lead of with Jason Kendall or Stewart, who has a great on-base percentage and hits for just a tad under .300.

I do feel bad for Dan Johnson, however, because if this move does in fact pan out, you're going to be seeing a lot of Stewart in left field and, conversely, Nick Swisher at first.

I imagine that Johnson will start the season at first, but that if Stewart gets healthy and starts hitting my June, you might see Johnson as trade bait.

That Billy Beane, always working something ...