The Athletics have acquired veteran left-hander Sean Newcomb from the Giants in exchange for minor league outfielder Trenton Brooks, per the teams’ transaction logs at MLB.com. It’s a rare post-deadline trade that sees a player going each way (as opposed to the more common cash trades in August) and an even rarer trade between the two Bay Area clubs. Both Newcomb and Brooks were eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that they have not appeared on a 40-man roster or Major League injured list in 2023.
[Related: How to Acquire Players After the Trade Deadline]
Newcomb, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Giants over the winter and has primarily worked out of the bullpen in their system, pitching to a 3.16 ERA in 31 1/3 innings with Triple-A Sacramento. The command issues that have long plagued Newcomb persist (15.3% walk rate in Triple-A), but he’s fanned an impressive 30.5% of his opponents and has clearly changed up his repertoire a bit, based on a career-high 59.4% ground-ball rate. The left-hander posted a combined 35.2% grounder rate in 73 2/3 innings from 2020-22 — his most recent MLB work.
Early in his career, Newcomb looked like a budding mainstay on the Braves’ roster. Acquired from the Angels in the trade that sent Andrelton Simmons to Anaheim, Newcomb posted a 3.87 ERA and 23% strikeout rate through his first 332 1/3 big league innings — splitting his appearances roughly evenly between the rotation (2017-18) and bullpen (2019).
The 2020 season was a disaster for the former first-round pick, however, as he was tagged for 17 earned runs in just 13 2/3 innings spread across four starts. Newcomb walked 18% of his opponents the following year while pitching 32 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, and he yielded 27 runs in 27 2/3 innings between the Braves and Cubs last year.
Overall, Newcomb has a 4.52 ERA in 406 big league innings, but the vast majority of that success came upwards of five years ago at this point. He can be a free agent at season’s end if he’s not added to the big league roster, so it stands to reason that the A’s wouldn’t have given up a minor league player if he weren’t going to be selected to the Majors sometime soon. In the event that Newcomb can reestablish himself as a viable big league arm — presumably out of the bullpen, given his ’23 usage — the A’s would be able to control him through the end of the 2025 season via arbitration.
Brooks, 28, is in his first season with Oakland after spending the prior seven season in Cleveland’s system. The former 17th-round pick signed a minor league deal with the A’s after reaching minor league free agency, and he’s turned in a stout .299/.405/.529 output (125 wRC+) in 412 plate appearances in Triple-A this year. He’s turned in career-best marks in home runs (16) doubles (29) and stolen bases (five) — all while walking at a career-high (in a full season) 13.8% mark against just a 14.6% strikeout rate.
Defensively, Brooks has rotated between first base (816 innings), left field (1460 innings) and right field (1469 innings) throughout his professional career. He’s played all three spots in 2023, though this year’s usage skews more toward left field. He’ll give the Giants a left-handed-hitting corner option at a time when outfield options Mike Yastrzemski, AJ Pollock, Mitch Haniger and Mark Mathias are all on the injured list.
Should have bought at the deadline, now they are paying the price. Good news is Gabe is gonna get fired when we miss the playoffs.
AJ Pollock…
another Zaidi move out of desperation. Zaidi & Kapler can’t be fired soon enough.
Nope.
Ha ha. Of course he is. Funny how fans think there is fans running the show.
Bought who? The one guy people kept saying was dejeong and the Giants got him without having to trade anything. Nicky Lopez was inquired about but went to the braves but there were no other bats in the market. This trade was a minor but smart.
A deal of little consequence.
that you commented on
A sack of wet mice for a sack of wet rats.
Well, it does not hurt the A’s to have another left hander pitcher. If only Newcomb could figure things out!
Surprised the Swingin’ Double A’s didn’t give him a shot with their offensive woes and recent 1B need
Could end up being a win-win trade.
It’s a meh meh trade
Still can’t believe the Braves traded Simmons for him.
I think this Is this the first trade between the A’s and Giants in decades.
Mattress firm !
Condolences to the Newcomb family.
Sean Nuke ‘Em
If you’ve never seen Sean Newcomb pitch, what’s not to like, big left handed who throws hard, but the Braves and Cubs cut him because he walks at least one batter and inning, it’s awful
Hes better than almost every reliever on the Mets, another Billy Eppler blunder. I will say this though, I like the bullpen a lot more now then i did 2 months ago. I like what I’ve seen out of Coonrod and Bickford (despite his ERA), Kolarek seemed servicable in his one inning with the team. Otto is solid, Raley is around average. If the Mets could just release Drew Smith and call up Nate Lavender I’d be content with the bullpen. All we are missing is a closer and an 8th inning guy
Both Coonrod and Bickford were originally in the Giants system. Neither stuck.
This guy is still around?!
I want FZ and Kapler both fired, but listened to a podcast last week where ownership indicated that both WILL be back next year. C’mon at least get rid of Kapler!
That’s not happening. Besides what would you expect any manager to do with this roster?
In other news, Buster Posey is returning to California with his family. Maybe he will assume an active role in team management before too long. #DareToDream.