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Thursday August 23rd, 2012

Bernie Olshansky:  Before the trading deadline, it was thought that the Oakland A’s were going to make a move. With the extra wild card in play this year, the team seemed to be a contender. Their weakest position though was at shortstop. There were a few options out there, some reasonable and some not, among those were Hanley Ramirez and Stephen Drew. Ramirez was very unlikely to be acquired by the A’s due to the nature of his contract, but he would’ve provided the most boost for the team. The story goes that the A’s almost had Ramirez all but acquired, with the Dodgers eating at least of his contract. But the A’s hesitated, and the Dodgers swooped in and agreed to take on all of the remaining dollars on his deal. With Ramirez ending up on the Dodgers, Stephen Drew seemed to be the most viable option left. Drew missed a large portion of the 2011 season with a broken ankle sustained on a slide into home, and made his 2012 debut around the time of the All-Star Break. In his short time with the Diamondbacks this season, Drew hit just .193 and was pretty disappointing. With the teams hierarchy going public with their displeasure, the writing was on the wall for Drew. It looked like Arizona would be able to get at least the same amount of production from a replacement, so a trade seemed imminent. For some reason the trade never got done, but the A’s kept at it.

Oakland was the perfect candidate to acquire Stephen Drew. So it was no surprise that Billy Beane finally got his man this week. Without a producing shortstop, the A’s had a very little chance at the playoffs. Sure, Drew only hit .193 this year, but he carries a career .266 average over his seven-year career. Plus he walks a ton. A stereotypical A’s hitter characteristic. In 2008, Drew hit .291 with 21 homers and 67 RBIs. If the A’s could get anything close to this production, they would be in very good shape. Drew will most likely keep hitting in the two-hole of the lineup, behind Coco Crisp. Once Drew gets settled and regains form, the A’s should get some good production from the top of their lineup, setting the table for the monster bats of Josh Reddick, Yoenis Cespedes, and Chris Carter. Even if Drew were to continue hitting .193, he would still be an improvement from the overall batting average of A’s shortstops at .190. As long as he can walk and hit with some power. Drew will most likely be taking time away from Cliff Pennington and Adam Rosales. Given their combined numbers, that is a very good thing. The A’s also just sent the struggling Jemile Weeks down to Triple-A Sacramento to make room for Drew.

One aspect that makes this trade so beneficial for the A’s is that they didn’t have to give up their farm. They sent a Single-A shortstop to the D-Backs. The main point general manager Billy Beane made at the trade deadline is that he didn’t want to give up any MLB-ready prospects. These prospects are namely outfielder Michael Choice and starting pitcher Dan Straily. Note that Straily has already debuted this year and is known for his minor league strikeout lead. Choice may be up as early as next year and is projected to be a five-tool player. The A’s got Drew without giving up their two top prospects, so this trade has the potential to be a huge success. Even if Sean Jamieson develops into a solid MLB player one day, that will still be in a number of years. 

If the pitching manages to hold up, the A’s should have a good shot at taking one of the wild cards. They have a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend, so if a team ends up sweeping another (highly unlikely), it could prove to be pretty decisive. Expect Brandon McCarthy and newly-returned Brett Anderson to carry a good portion of the workload down the stretch. Over his past few starts, it seems like rookie Jarrod Parker has tired a bit, but he hasn’t completely lost it. Possibly skipping a start or two of his could make a difference. The loss of Bartolo Colon to a 50-game suspension doesn’t help things, but the A’s appear strong enough to adapt and recover.

Acquiring Stephen Drew was a bit different from some of Billy Beane’s past moves. Previous moves included trading Carlos Gonzalez for Matt Holliday—proving to be a disaster after Holliday turned out to be unproductive and Gonzalez jumped to the next level, having MVP-caliber seasons. Another move that still haunts the A’s and their fans is the trade that sent Andre Ethier to the Dodgers for Milton Bradley. Bradley—like Holliday—was also unproductive and spent some time on the disabled list. This doesn’t seem like the type of move that will affect the A’s in a negative way, especially if Drew stays with the A’s beyond this season. 

Hopefully for the A’s, Drew will provide the boost they need to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Oakland needs this move to pan out in order to strengthen their case for a new stadium and to expand their fan base. It’s playoffs or bust in Oakland this year. Moneyball Version 2.0.

(*The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com*)

***Today’s feature was prepared by Bernie Olshansky, Baseball Writer & Facebook Administrator.  We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers.  You can also follow Bernie on Twitter (@BernieOlshansky)***

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