The Oakland Athletics acquired Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young in a three-way trade Saturday that sent shortstop Cliff Pennington from Oakland to Arizona. Reliever Heath Bell is also on his way to Arizona via the Miami Marlins, who acquired infielder Yordy Cabrera from the A’s.
What seems like a major coup for Oakland has caused a logjam in the outfield. The A’s have, arguably, the best defensive outfield in MLB in the form of Yoenis Cespedes, Coco Crisp and Josh Reddick. They also have Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes to think about as fourth/fifth OF and DH options.
What does this mean?
Billy Beane hinted Gomes, who was a clubhouse leader for their surprising 2012 squad, might not return. While Gomes does leave a lot to be desired in terms of making contact at the plate and fielding, he was a popular veteran leader.
Assuming that Gomes doesn’t return, the logjam isn’t solved quite yet. Young will play center with Cespedes staying in left and Reddick in right. This seems to indicate that Crisp, who wasn’t happy with playing left early in 2012, might be on the way out as well. He isn’t a true DH candidate and won’t be happy as the fourth outfielder.
There is definitely a market for Crisp, however. Jim Bowden over at ESPN seems to believe that the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners could be possible suitors. That being said, Beane indicated that he doesn’t plan on moving any of those four outfielders. Of course that could just be a PR game in order to up his value, which seems to be relatively high after a stellar 2012 performance.
Pure conjecture, but someone like Justin Masterson with the aforementioned Indians could be a good fit in Oakland. He has a ton of starting experience over the last couple seasons and fits that veteran type starter Oakland will most likely look for in the offseason.
Meanwhile, trading away Pennington could mean that Oakland is going to attempt to retain Stephen Drew, who they acquired from Arizona in August. The veteran shortstop has a mutual $10 million option for 2013. They could probably work out a long-term deal that is mutually beneficial. Scott Sizemore, who missed the entire 2012 season with a torn ACL, will move back to his natural position at second, leaving the door open for Josh Donaldson to remain the starter at the hot corner. Sizemore will most likely be battling it out at second with Jemile Weeks, who could also find himself on the trade block following a disastrous sophomore campaign.
Either way, Oakland started out their offseason with a major bang by acquiring Young. The 29-year old outfielder fell out of favor with Arizona after compiling his worst statistical season. He is still a five-tool player that has averaged 22 homers, 18 steals and 32 doubles over the course of the last six seasons.
Young is a major upgrade at the plate over Crisp and provides a much needed thump with Cespedes and Reddick in Oakland’s lineup. It appears that Billy Beane pulled the wool over yet another general manager counterpart. Pennington and Cabrera is little to give up for someone of Young’s caliber.