Rockies Acquire Matt Murton

Seems like a solid deal for both sides.

Murton has some upside as a corner bat, especially in Coors, and should help to supplement an outfield that before essentially was Hawpe, Spilborghs and Gonzalez.

As for the A's, they get a potential leadoff hitter type that likely could end up becoming a valuable bench piece, because of his on base skills and versatility. The lack of power is obviously a big red flag though.

The Rockies already have a logjam in the outfield (Hawpe, Spillborgs, Smith, Fowler, Gonzalez, Stewart). So, I'm not too sure why this was done. Maybe they plan on moving Atkins soon and shifting Stewart back to 3B where he belongs.

Trading Garrett Atkins would be a smart follow-up to this trade.

via Fangraphs: "Wimberly has almost zero power but he can run like the wind and has stolen 181 bases in 354 career games. He hit .291 in Double-A last season and showed a willingness to get on base via the walk - at least more so than in other seasons."

isnt this Jemile Weeks MO? and he's mostly a 2B? Hope the A's plan on moving him to SS/3B to give that side some depth, because Oakland has so many 1B/2B depth in the system its ridiculous.

Beane is really stacking 2Bmen and relievers, interesting.

Murton never was going to have a real chance in Oakland with Buck, Sweeney and Cunningham all in front of him, so its a nice move for both sides. Kind of wish Wimberly was a natural SS/3B though...

a trade to the Twins with Atkins would be a good match. they have dispensable young good pitching and are in dire need of a 3B. any kind of 3Bman!

Corey Wimberly can FLY and has a very solid bat. great trade for the A's, who almost always seem to win with the trades

MLB.com: "Playing almost exclusively at second base over the previous two seasons, he gained versatility this summer at Tulsa by spending time at second, shortstop, third base and the outfield."

Hopefully, the plan is to have Wimberly at SS and move Cardenas to 3B until the Ellis contract expires. I don't think there is much power between those two though.

It seems like they could get on base a lot though.

As a Cub fan, I'm pulling for Murton. He hit a lot of line drives off the bricks that would probably be gone at Coors. A stand up guy that had no place in Oakland and definately not in Chicago. Best of luck Murt.

murton is a young bobby kielty at best

limited to lf defensively
can only hit lefties

wimberly can play everywhere and offers speed at least a valuable bench guy

this opens up a 40 man roster spot to add another player

"Horrible trade. They could gave packaged Murton up with a few throw-ins and gotten Brian Roberts."

I almost thought you were serious, then I remembered he was a Cub..

It's okay though, the A's still have Eric Patterson to be the centerpiece of any Roberts deal.

And I agree that Mark Ellis is a very solid second baseman, considering his defensive prowess. He's a truly elite defensive player, not quite on par with Utley, but definitely in that tier right below him.

Mychael Urban, the A's beat writer for MLB.com, said this recently about Mark Ellis:

"I'd love to say Mark Ellis will be ready for Opening Day, but I've been hearing a lot of qualified hedging about him lately, so that's a wait-and-see deal."

Ellis missed the last two months of last season due to cartilage damage in his shoulder.

Doesn't sound good for Ellis.

Wow I didn't realize Murton had a career .288 BA. He had some good days in Chicago, but yeah, it didn't really seem like he was gonna have a chance in Oakland's OF. Looks like a good move for both sides, but as an A's fan, I like it a little more.

If he's still sticking to the Moneyball theory, Billy Beane got Wimberly for his .370 OBS more than for his 59 stolen bases.

Stealing bases is not valued under Moneyball and is considered "self-defeating."

So the A's open up a spot on the 40-man huh???

Perhaps a signing or trade is imminent??

I like Murton. It would be nice to see him go to a team that will actually give him a chance to play full-time to see what he can do, not sure he will get that in Colorado.

I think Murton was acquired to package with some other players in a trade. He has value as a backup and the Rockies have plenty to trade away. Depending on how the Rockies play it in the upcoming month I'm still not sure what I think.

Moving Spilbourghs to starter opens up the 4th outfielder which Spilly had controlled for a few years. This seems to add to that competition which is good.

Stewart has a few options, left or third, but rumor is he may be asked to give 2nd another try again in the spring.

If Helton can play 120+ games at 1st and Stewart moves to 2nd then it definately pays to bring another OF into the mix.

But if Stewart simply doesn;t work at 2nd then yes we are overloaded. But its certainly a good problem to have.

murton is most likely always going to be a AAAA kinda guy... jw do oakland fans mind that rich harden threw a 1.77 era for the cubs?? or does it not really matter cause you werent contenders anyway?? idk but i think gallagher will be a solid 3 pitcher some day

"The Rooster" is moving to Colorado. I hope his power numbers go up, and everyone loves him there.

Also, I am a cubs fan and I was upset when he was traded to Oakland. He is a good stand up guy and can hit. I met him in Chicago one time and he really was a cool guy. Coors Field is going to be a good place for him as long as he gets a chance. He has decent OBP and a nice average. Look what he did in 2006 when he was given ABs. Nice pick up Colorado. You wont be disapointed...

I like this deal for the Rockies. Murton's warning track power will get a boost in Colorado and he needs a chance to get some consistent AB's. Wimberley? Considering he had 19 extra base hits in his second year at AA...and at age 25, I think they got themselves a pretty nice...well, pinch-runner. Then when you add in the A's have a better version (with pop) in Eric Patterson. It's hard to see why the A's made this trade.

I think this was a really good trade for the A's and from what I know from this guy he could be a future lead of hitter and starting shortstop as early as next year. The end of Crosby is near. Crosby needs a healthy huge year to save his job!

That the A's got anything for Murton is a win. I followed the guy very closely after he came to the A's. All he does is hit slow rolling ground balls. Even in AAA, he was grounding into DPs often. Guess how many HRs he had in 321 ABs in AAA last year? 2, and I am somewhat surprised, since I have rarely seen him hit the ball hard, or in the air.

Looking at his 2006 stats, you Rockies fans are probably thinking, "wow, this guy can hit, he will hit even better in Coors." Then once you start watching him, you realize that there is a reason he has spent so much time in the minors the past couple years.