SUNDAY, 12:51am: The Brewers will receive right-handed reliever Fautino De Los Santos in the trade according to Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle. The 26-year-old pitched to a 7.25 ERA in 36 Triple-A innings this year and owns a 4.21 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 36 1/3 big league innings with Oakland over the last two seasons.
SATURDAY, 3:05pm: The Brewers and Athletics have agreed on a trade to send catcher George Kottaras to Oakland, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. It's not yet known what the Brewers will receive in return.
Kottaras, 29, was designated for assignment by Milwaukee on Thursday. The catcher has a .209/.409/.360 slash line in 116 plate appearances this year for the Brewers. In parts of five big league seasons, Kottaras owns a .221/.326/.402 batting line. The Brewers replenished their catching depth this afternoon when they inked Humberto Quintero to a minor league deal.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter) first reported that the two sides were nearing a deal for the catcher.
Whether I buy season tickets next year or not hinges on what was sent to the Brewers in return.
So, if they sent a bag of peanuts you will be buying? But prolly not if it’ cashews?
Precisely
Looks like they got almonds…
How bout getting a shortstop billy.
.188/.249/.288 from shortstops, .198/.250/.269 from catchers.
I’d say both positions were in equal need of an upgrade.
This allows the A’s to either trade Suzuki or send Norris down for some more seasoning. Or keep three catchers.
Good deal.
Upgrade or another walk-troller like Barton who will end up playing for Sacramento? The A’s don’t need to regress to the latter days of Jack Cust.
Looks like Suzuki is on the way out for sure.
no, he’s a definite upgrade, no doubt about it
I have doubt about it.
I think Norris gets traded before Suzuki.
If you are an NL team, especially in the NL East, you probably have scouted him pretty well.
You’re insane. Norris is the future. Suzuki is making a ton of money and has no future in Oakland.
George can’t hit though.
this move doesn’t prohibit or reduce the chances of the A’s getting a SS or Chase Headley.
They got one if the manager would just play Erik Sogard.
Goodbye Kurt Suzuki.
One can only hope
I really hope this is just a small trade that is being made before a much bigger splash, this is such a huge letdown for A’s fans
This isn’t a letdown at all. It’s an upgrade to a position that desperately needed one.
Glad to get rid of George, hopefully he gets a chance to play more in Oakland, and hopefully we get some low level prospect in return for George.
Why are you glad he’s gone?
.400 obp that screams billy beane
It’s not in his career norms though. Career .326 OBP
A’s fans, you’re getting a nice player in Kottaras. He’s got some serious pop if he plays everyday, and he gets on base at a .400 clip. He’s actually walking more than he’s striking out this year.
Wondering what we get in return for Georgey… Probably not much, but ya never know.
What do we get when he only plays 1-2 times per week?
Well, that’s what I meant by “probably not much.” I’m not expecting more than either some kind of utility player, maybe a bullpen arm, or just a low-level minor leaguer. Probably that last one is more likely.
I thought by probably not much you were referring to the player the Brewers will get in return. I was wondering what kind of player he is as a backup catcher.
Yeah, I was referring to what we’re getting in return when I said that. As a backup catcher, you’re getting a guy who will get on base a lot and hit some HR’s. Defense is about average, but he calls a nice game. Only reason he didn’t play more often for us is because we have Jonathan Lucroy.
Could even be a decent DH against righties.
Fautino De Los Santos is the return. As I expected, not much, just a bullpen arm. But, boy do we ever need bullpen arms. Expecting to see this guy up very soon, and hopefully it means we’ve managed to trade (somehow) one or multiple of our current bullpen arms. I approve of this deal, though I’m sad to see Georgey go. Good deal for both sides.
De Los Santos is more than “just a bullpen arm.” He has the potential to close. Huge upside.
All the Brewers closers have been “just another bullpen arm” untill they have 1 good season then flop.
Great pickup for the A’s, he should really help out their Catcher position.
.409 OBP? Welcome to Oakland!!!!
Hoping the A’s are gonna include Zuks in a trade for Yunel Escobar. Makes sense since Arencibia is out 6 weeks. However, I heard that Toronto has interest in Brett Anderson and A.J. Griffin. I wouldn’t want either of those guys traded but we need a shortstop.
Except they have Mathis and Gomes to catch and Suzuki makes way too much money. Kottaras would have made sense for the Jays.
The brewers receive yoenis cespedes in return
Its crazy to think that a couple seasons ago Suzuki was one of the best catchers in the league and an up and coming catcher. Oh well
So according to Susan Slusser, in an article just released, Milwaukee Brewers are receiving Fautino De Los Santos in return. That guy has closer/very good set up man potential (he was a key piece in the Swisher trade with Chicago). He just needs to keep his fastball under control a little bit. It has so much movement sometimes it moves out of the strikezone.
Good luck FDLS!
I’m convinced, Chris Stewart and Russel Martin must have dirty pictures of Brian Cashman somewhere. As far as the Yankees are concerned, they’re still a very good team, but Kottaras would have been an excellent way to improve what has otherwise been a black hole in the line up for next to nothing.
This is outright robbery by the Brewers, Fautino should help that bullpen.
it’s robbery if FDLS develops any kinda command. If not, it could end up being a pretty even trade
He’s 26 and has a 7.25 era in AAA. Maybe if he can control his pitches he could be a good pickup, but he’s also had his fair share of injuries the past few years.
with a 3.03 FIP
His walks will of course lead to the occasional implosion (not that unlike any reliever, just in a different manor), but his unbelievable K rates and ability to keep the ball in the yard will produce good to great results overall. He is a Carlos Marmol clone (with better control), really, and I would hardly complain if my club acquired him.
Only if he reaches an absolute best case scenario. and, even then, he’s a reliever with injury issues so his value is incredibly limited.
Fautino De Los Santos>every other reliever for the Brewers
if he has control
Short Relievers with huge swing-and-miss stuff dont need the control as much, and his lack of it is way overblown here.
this year he is not even good in AAA because of the control. But I do think there is a very good chance he would become a good RP at some point
His control has almost nothing to do with that. He is not “good” in AAA this year merely because of a .423 BAbip and short sample size – his FIP is 3.03 though, which I am sure any fan would embrace from a short reliever on their club.
Haha this is a Moneyball move, Kottaras has a .409 OBP. Oh Billy Beane
Right. Beane just can’t help himself and quite can’t let go of his failed theory. Any A’s fan who watched yesterday’s game in Baltimore had bad flashbacks to the 2007-2011 A’s teams of watching “hitters” taking strike after strike in hopes of drawing a walk.
That said—Kontras is an upgrade to either Suzuki or Norris at the plate. At least he gets on base and unlike Suzuki has some power. At this point Norris gets sent down until Sept.
Seems like a win/win trade minor trade that looks good for the A’s. DLS was buried at AAA because of his failure, and the A’s needed the 40-man roster spot. The A’s improve their catching and give up a pitcher who isn’t in their plans.
(On a side-note for A’s fans: Chris Carter is not a major league 1Bman. 4 errors in 15 games at 1B! He’s a DH only. And, were talking ball glancing off his brick glove twice yesterday, one an easy catch if he jumps 2″ to properly catch said ball. Brutal lack of effort.)
It amazes me people still think Moneyball is about OBP.
It sounds like aroldis chapmon when he was up and down from the minors and majors he had problems controlling his fastbball and after he got that problem fixed he has been a good ball player he shuts the brewers down everytime so maybe the brewers got could maybe turn the player that the brewers got in return for kottaras into a good closer if he fixes his pitching issues.
Also kottaras has a little pop in the bat not much he hasnt hit a home run in awhile and an so what he has 29 walks and only 24 strike outs well he has struck out like everytime he comes up to bat in a big spot when i see him pinch hit in the 9th i just think here comes a strike out and he is only batting 209 thats shacky.
The Braves do what they do year after year, wait until all the number one players are gone and then they get the leftovers. I’ve seen it year after year..way to go Frank Wren…you have less than 24 hours to find a top pitching prospect that you were out to get..GOOD LUCK