Leave it to Oakland general manager Billy Beane to shake things up already. The A's dealt middle infield regular Cliff Pennington and a prospect Saturday. It shouldn't be a surprise the Diamondbacks were the trading partner. Beane must have a radar station somewhere near Flagstaff honing in on Chase Field down the mountain in Phoenix. Oakland received outfielder Chris Young from the Snakes. He seems like a perfect fit for this club: a decent baserunner with power who strikes out a lot.
As it stands now, the deal apparently didn't cost the A's an extraordinary bounty, unless 22-year-old Single-A outfielder Yordy Cabrera, a .232 hitter in the offensive-friendly California League in 2012, turns out to be a late bloomer (and it won't be with Arizona, who quickly sent him to Miami to obtain reliever Heath Bell). Pennington is a gamer and he filled in nicely at second at the end of the season when Jemile Weeks' struggles lost him his job and the arrival of Stephen Drew from -wait for it, Arizona- took over Pennington's usual shortstop position. But Pennington is replaceable, particularly if as the above linked story by the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser suggested Drew returns to the A's for 2013.
The interesting angle with this trade is if Young was acquired to be the new center fielder. There's no way Beane would break up his corner outfielders Josh Reddick or Yoenis Cespedes, right? Center fielder Coco Crisp and his $7 million price tag for next season could be more expendable despite his veteran presence; underrated pop; speed as a leadoff hitter; ability to leap tall fences in a single bound and rob Prince Fielder of playoff home runs; and his status as one of the instigators of prompting Terry Kiser of "Weekend at Bernie's" fame to become one of the Athletics' new No. 1 fans and spawning a new pastime in the Coliseum stands.
At first glance, I'd rather keep Crisp in center and look for help elsewhere if it meant Young, who does play a solid defensive center field himself, was going to replace him. But Slusser's followup this afternoon cited Beane's desire to not move any of his outfielders. What does that mean for Young? A right-handed hitting DH to split time with Seth Smith as I first thought and Slusser hinted at in her report? Replacing clubhouse mentor Jonny Gomes as the fourth outfielder? A HGTV-style flip to another zip code?
The way Beane shrewdly put together the 2012 roster with the so far outstanding trade return for pitchers Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey, A's fans should be willing to trust his judgement for now. Young hit 130 big-league home runs and stole 110 bases in his first six full seasons and sports a .755 career OPS (not bad overall numbers for a center fielder). Hey, this move gives A's fans something to talk about while the team that knocked out their team in the playoffs waits in the World Series and their cross-bay rivals try to make another improbable postseason comeback.
As it stands now, the deal apparently didn't cost the A's an extraordinary bounty, unless 22-year-old Single-A outfielder Yordy Cabrera, a .232 hitter in the offensive-friendly California League in 2012, turns out to be a late bloomer (and it won't be with Arizona, who quickly sent him to Miami to obtain reliever Heath Bell). Pennington is a gamer and he filled in nicely at second at the end of the season when Jemile Weeks' struggles lost him his job and the arrival of Stephen Drew from -wait for it, Arizona- took over Pennington's usual shortstop position. But Pennington is replaceable, particularly if as the above linked story by the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser suggested Drew returns to the A's for 2013.
The interesting angle with this trade is if Young was acquired to be the new center fielder. There's no way Beane would break up his corner outfielders Josh Reddick or Yoenis Cespedes, right? Center fielder Coco Crisp and his $7 million price tag for next season could be more expendable despite his veteran presence; underrated pop; speed as a leadoff hitter; ability to leap tall fences in a single bound and rob Prince Fielder of playoff home runs; and his status as one of the instigators of prompting Terry Kiser of "Weekend at Bernie's" fame to become one of the Athletics' new No. 1 fans and spawning a new pastime in the Coliseum stands.
At first glance, I'd rather keep Crisp in center and look for help elsewhere if it meant Young, who does play a solid defensive center field himself, was going to replace him. But Slusser's followup this afternoon cited Beane's desire to not move any of his outfielders. What does that mean for Young? A right-handed hitting DH to split time with Seth Smith as I first thought and Slusser hinted at in her report? Replacing clubhouse mentor Jonny Gomes as the fourth outfielder? A HGTV-style flip to another zip code?
The way Beane shrewdly put together the 2012 roster with the so far outstanding trade return for pitchers Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey, A's fans should be willing to trust his judgement for now. Young hit 130 big-league home runs and stole 110 bases in his first six full seasons and sports a .755 career OPS (not bad overall numbers for a center fielder). Hey, this move gives A's fans something to talk about while the team that knocked out their team in the playoffs waits in the World Series and their cross-bay rivals try to make another improbable postseason comeback.
No comments:
Post a Comment