A’s Won’t Trade Young Players

The A’s aren’t looking to make major changes this summer, but they won’t deal their young players even if they do make trades, GM Billy Beane told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The A’s haven’t ruled out making moves, but they want to build up a base of young talent.

"That's one of the reasons we acquired Conor Jackson,” Beane said. “Not just for right now, but he's a younger player and his age makes him very attractive."

Two A’s veterans, Ben Sheets and Coco Crisp, have been tabbed as potential trade candidates, but Slusser says Sheets “isn’t stirring up interest” and points out that Crisp has barely played. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported that the A’s can afford to cover some of the $5.4MM remaining on Sheets’ salary in order to obtain better prospects. The right-hander has a 3.79 ERA, less than one hit allowed per inning pitched and twice as many strikeouts as walks since the Blue Jays lit him up for nine runs on May 2nd.

Even contenders are hesitant to deal young players, so it would be surprising if the A's, who are 10.0 games out of a playoff spot, decided to trade young talent away.