5:27pm: Davis is indeed in the prospective deal, Slusser tweets.
5:06pm: The Athletics appear to be nearing some kind of trade, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Twitter links). It appears to involve the Brewers, she suggests, with outfielder Khris Davis a possible target. Slusser also notes, though, that there’s “nothing official” and that the team has previously had interest in southpaw Will Smith.
That’s obviously not much to work from, but it certainly seems as if some kind of transaction could be going down this evening. We haven’t heard of any particular connection between these two clubs, but it’s not surprising to learn of one now. Oakland has been actively seeking to put a winning roster on the diamond for 2016, of course, while Milwaukee is headed in quite the opposite direction.
Oakland’s deluded. Worst team in the AL, and not by a small margin. Khris Davis is not gonna help.
As a Brewer fan, I’m a little unimpressed with Oakland’s farm system. But who really knows. It’s always interesting when these articles come out even though really nothing is known other than there may be some sort of match between the two clubs
Yeah and Davis replacing Sam Fuld or Coco Crisp is going to help them be not the worst.
Gotta disagree. Every team in the AL west should be competitive this year and with the A’s built up bullpen there’s no reason to doubt them putting a winning team on the field any more than Seattle or LA. They had more blown saves than any other team last year.
Meanwhile the rangers still have a suspect rotation and the Astros, who I would choose to win the division, strike out an obscene amount.
Should the Hill deal work out and graveman/Hahn keep moving forward the A’s could compete fairly easily.
oakland wont be competing their rotation is junk behind gray and their hitting is laughable
I’m with you. Flipping prospects for cheap controllable hitting like Davis is just what we need. We bolstered the terrible bullpen last year now got a new young LF to replace coco
Agreed. Billy would do better trading Sonny Gray for 4 or 5 top prospects
Strongly disagree with that assessment. They had one of the best run differentials in baseball last year despite their bad record which signifies a lot of bad luck for them. They’ve improved their biggest weaknesses that were the bullpen and first base and if they add a player like Davis they would definitely be competitive. Their only real worry heading into the season should be rotation depth but they’ve been fairly successful at getting the best out of their starters. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish in the top 3 of the AL West
“Wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish in the top 3 of the AL West”
That’s the problem, that might mean no postseason ergo, not even a strong contender, and I’m with you, Beane normally has really strong opening day rosters who get decimated by injury or underperformance. Its just that this season, Houston and Texas are so much better than them it’s kind of been a while since Beane’s been this far back on day 1.
Now if they also get Davis, Kemp, Lucroy and Cliff Lee, they might have an outside shot of catching either Texas team, if those teams get like, devastated by injury. But as of today, they really aren’t looking too hot.
I don’t think Texas and Houston are at all the obvious front runners for the AL West. Texas overachieved significantly offensively last year and their rotation and bullpen are nothing special, especially if Darvish is not ready for the beginning of the season. The Astros for all their power potential have significant problems with OBP as well as in the rotation. I’ll agree that Houston is the favorite in the AL West, but they are by no means running away with the division. All the teams are fairly evenly matched and all contenders to win the division
Texas overachieved, but they’re getting Darvish back and will have a full year of Hamels. That’s a lot more important than you think.
Houston and Texas are absolutely clear frontrunners over the other three teams in that division right this second. A lot can change between now and opening day however.
In order to contend the Rangers need Choo, Fielder, Moreland, and Odor to replicate their output from last year which were based largely on unsustainable BABIPs. They also need Darvish to pitch at least 28 games and for their bullpen to keep ignoring their terrible peripheral stats. The odds of them achieving all of that and getting lucky two years in a row doesn’t seem too likely. They’ll definitely still compete but I’d be shocked to see them sit atop that division.
Good call alt2tab, very smart fan indeed.
I agree with nearly all of what you said. And if 2012-2014 retaught the world anything, it is NEVER count out the OAKLAND A’s. They had no business, especially with a bottom 5 payroll, leading the league in WINS for that 3 year stretch.
2015 was an anomaly, as their amazing and historically unlucky 1 run loss record, highlighted by a horrible bullpen and an injury plagued season, buried them.
An anomaly, or a regrettable Josh Donaldson deal?
Barreto could very well turn into a stud and make that deal look fair by next year. He has been climbing the rankings for the past year.
oakland not being smart again they wont even be close to winning games
Looks like same old “doubting the A’s” narrative you used back in 2011. Next thing you know, from 2012-2014 the Oakland A’s lead the AL in WINS, add 2 more Division Titles to their crowded trophy case, and make the playoffs for 3 straight years, all with a bottom 5 payroll. An amazing run and core built by Beane. That was fun.
But hey, you got 2015 right! The A’s finally had their first season winning less than 74 games since 1997. Yep, consistent (74+ wins every year from 1998 to 2014, only the STL and NYY can say the same) and 8 playoffs since 2000, 5th most in MLB, all with 0 payroll to work with. Congrats, the A’s had their first truly bad year in 2015 since 1997,
NEVER doubt this team. Historically great, consistently good, and recently great. Their bullpen is vastly improved and their Starting Rotation is sneaky good. A few classic Beane moves away from competing yet again, a la 2012, when experts predicted 100 loss season yet the A’s went on to win the AL West. Also, the revamped Farm System is very nice! So, lets see what Beane does here.
Never doubt this team. You should have learned that by now!
Zero World Series wins in that same period.
Its for Nottingham and Bubby Derby, Beane’s record in trades keeps getting worse and worse.
Precursor for a kemp deal? Kemp for Jarod Parker possibly?