The Athletics and right fielder Josh Reddick have not restarted contract talks, thereby increasing the likelihood of a trade by the Aug. 1 deadline, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The A’s offered Reddick a three-year, $36MM contract extension during the spring, but his camp countered with $56MM over four years and might have been amenable to $50MM to $52MM, according to Slusser. As of now, Oakland is unwilling to give a four-year commitment to Reddick, who will turn 30 next February.
In the event the out-of-contention A’s do shop Reddick prior to the deadline, there should be no shortage of interest in the left-handed hitter. The Bay Area-rival Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Nationals are among the potentially playoff-bound clubs that have scouted Reddick, but the defending World Series champion Royals are following him the closest, per Slusser.
The 45-42 Royals, who are seven games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and 3.5 out of the Wild Card, entered Saturday ranked 26th in the majors in runs scored (342) and tied for 19th in wRC+ (92). They’ve primarily relied on Paulo Orlando and Brett Eibner in right field, and both have posted above-average batting lines this year across a combined 264 plate appearances. Their track records fall well short of Reddick’s, however, so replacing them with Reddick and getting standout center fielder Lorenzo Cain back from a hamstring injury to team with left fielder Alex Gordon would give Kansas City an enviable trio of starting outfielders on paper.
Dating back to his first year in Oakland, 2012, Reddick has hit a solid .255/.320/.437 with 81 home runs in 2,300 plate appearances. Reddick has also graded out well on the base paths and (for the most part) defensively throughout his time with the A’s, though Ultimate Zone Rating has assigned him negative marks in the field going back to last season. A broken thumb suffered in May kept Reddick out of a large chunk of games earlier this year, but he returned late last month. Overall, he owns a .296/.371/.429 line with five homers and nearly as many walks (23) as strikeouts (25) in 213 trips to the plate this season.
It’s important to note that the A’s don’t necessarily have to trade Reddick, to whom they could extend a qualifying offer after the season ends. The A’s would then receive a first-round pick as compensation if he declines the QO – which should be worth in the $16MM to $17MM neighborhood – though they seem likely to land more enticing assets via trade from an outfielder-needy contender. Reddick is on an affordable $6.575MM salary this year, which could help to drive up the A’s potential asking price for him as Aug. 1 approaches.
If the A’s trade him they will want a OF back in return. The A’s farm system is lacking any OF depth for the future. My bet is the give him a QO unless some team offer a good young outfielder in return.
CHC should acquire him along with Hill and maybe M. Repzk?
Why does Chicago need Rich hill?
You watch the Cubs lately? They need quality pitching bad.
Hill has pitched over 100 innings one time in his career. He’s old and has already thrown 70 innings this year. If you want quality pitching then you shouldn’t trade for hill.
We had hill when he was young now he’s 36 he’s got 1-2 years in the tank it’s not worth
Hahahahahahaha, you’re a moron. You’re a White Sox fan and you think you know what quality pitching is? You’re funny!
Cuz Theo won’t splurge and go for it with Chapman or Miller
I’d be pretty happy if we resigned him for 4/56. Realistically though I think it’s a longshot at this point, he’s most likely dealt with a small chance he stays and gets a QO. I would love to know what other teams are willing to give up for him or some of our other players
What if they get an OF in a another Trade?
Could do a 3 team trade. My money is on the A’s just offering Reddick a QO. There are some teams with good outfield prospects but those team need pitching more than Reddick so Hill might be the player they want instead.
The Royals had better hope Reddick can be converted to a starting pitcher..they need it.
Why on earth would the Cubs trade for him? Fowler is about to come back to be the everyday CF again. Meaning then that Almora and Szczur can share the duties in LF until Soler gets back which shouldn’t be too much longer. Unless the deal is Reddick for Soler straight up and Reddick is just a rental, the idea of acquiring him makes no sense to me. He’s only 9 for 44 since coming off the DL though which is good for a .205 BA over his last 12 games. IMO though he would essentially just be a White version of Jorge Soler. A guy who has a hard time staying healthy all year, but when he is healthy he is pretty good. They already have that in Soler……. why get the older, white guy version of him? This black model is fine, hahaha. I’ll sit here waiting now for the hypersensitive race police to jump on my butt now and call me a racist……. despite my comment in no way being racist. Racial, yes. Racist, no.