Posts tagged ‘trades’

Hello again A’s fans, its Jordan here, and I have some sad news for all that liked Nick Swisher. He was traded today to the Chicago White Sox for three prospects. The A’s did acquire the top two pitching prospects in the Chicago White Sox’ farm system, as well as a former top prospect outfielder.

The three that the A’s received in exchange for the fan and clubhouse favorite Nick Swisher were left handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez, right handed pitcher Fautino De Los Santos, and outfielder Ryan Sweeney. Just so everyone knows a little bit more about each of these three prospects, here is some information:

Gio Gonzalez

He is a 22 year old left hander who led the minor leagues in strikeouts last year at AA Birmingham with 185 in just 150 innings of work. He started 27 games for the Barons and went 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA. He was also a Southern League All-Star, and was the 38th overall pick in the 2004 Draft.

Fautino De Los Santos

He is a 21 year old right handed starter who pitched at A level Kannapolis and A level Winston-Salem. He was a collective 10-5 in his time last year, with a 2.65 ERA, and was a South Atlantic League All-Star, and was named the league’s best prospect. He has a low to mid 90s fastball with late movement and good command and a pretty good breaking ball, this according to Baseball America. He will most likely be in the minors for another year or two, probably popping up some point in 2009, unless he is rushed.

Ryan Sweeney

This young left handed outfield prospect will be 23 in February, and was regarded in 2006 as the best prospect in the White Sox system. He played at AAA Charlotte, where he was a .270 hitter with 10 HR and 47 RBI. He did get some time in the big leagues with the White Sox where he hit .200 with one homerun with 5 RBI in 15 games.

The information on these prospects comes from espn.com, oaklandathletics.com, and baseballamerica.com.

Nick Swisher will certainly be missed by A’s fans everywhere, myself included. He was the heart and soul of this team, and arguably the face of the franchise. The White Sox made a great move for their franchise in getting a hard-working, fun-loving guy to help their team. Swisher hit .262 with 22 HR and 78 RBI last season, and his career numbers in Oakland through his three years of service included a .251 average, 80 HR, 255 RBI and a .361 OBP. We here at Athleticscast wish the best of luck to Swish in his new city. I am sad to see Nick go, and thought that Nick was going to be the centerpiece of this franchise for at the very least the remainder of his very affordable contract. I was shocked when I learned of this trade, and quite frankly, I believe that more could have been had for a player the caliber of Nick Swisher. I am not upset at the trade of Nick Swisher as much as I am at what the return was. He was my favorite player on the A’s, but hey, as I’ve reiterated in the past, it is a business, and this was a business move by the front office. Only time will tell the fate of this trade, maybe we will get lucky and we can make out well in this trade. At the very least, we have clearly improved our farm system with these prospects on top of those we received in exchange for Dan Haren. I still right now have a sour taste in my mouth from this trade, but I will be wishing for the best out of these young players and maybe it will all work out well for all parties concerned. Stay tuned for a new episode coming soon with all of the Swisher discussion you could ever want.

How do you feel about this trade? How do you feel about this rebuilding process? We want to know. Hear your ideas discussed on the show. Contact us by phone (415-691-6185), email us at hosts@athleticscast.com, or get at us on our Myspace at myspace.com/athleticscast. Hopefully everyone had a Happy New Year and a great holiday season.

That’s how I see it…Let’s Go Oakland

Hello again A’s fans, its Jordan here again, and this has been an eventful Friday afternoon. According to multiple sources, the A’s have traded their ace, Dan Haren, along with right handed pitcher Connor Robertson to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for six, count ‘em six prospects. The prospects include outfield prospect Carlos Gonzalez, Aaron Cunningham, infielder Chris Carter, and three pitchers; Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland, and Greg Smith. This officially looks like the beginning of the rebuilding process in Oakland, and I must commend General Manager Billy Beane for having the courage to make this deal, because he will undoubtedly face some scrutiny. I wish the very best of luck to Dan Haren, and both his ability and presence will be missed however, I do believe the time was right.

Here are some information and statistics for the players that the A’s have acquired.

Brett Anderson

2nd Round pick in the 2006 First Year Player Draft. 19 years old, played at A level South Bend and Visalia last
season. He was 11-7 in 23 starts with a 3.07 ERA, with 125 strikeouts and just 21 walks in 120.1 Innings Pitched.

Dana Eveland

Spent the majority of his season at AAA Tucson dealing with an injury to his finger. He did have a few appearances with the
Diamondbacks, and was 1-0 with a 14.40 ERA in just 5 games. He was 1-0 with a 1.65 ERA in nine appearances for Tucson.
He is 24 years old and has 6 career starts in the big leagues. Eveland also spent some time with Milwaukee. He was placed on the A’s 40 Man Roster

Greg Smith

Split time last year with AA Mobile and AAA Tucson, and was 9-5 and a 3.54 ERA in 22 games, which were all starts. He was a 6th Round selection in the 2005 Draft, and through his brief career, he is 31-14 with a 3.27 ERA in 62 appearances, almost all have been starts. He is a left handed starting pitcher.

Carlos Gonzalez

He spent the majority of last year in AA Mobile. He hit .286 with 16 HR and 75 RBI in 120 games played. Was promoted to AAA Tucson late in the year and hit .310 with a HR and 11 RBI in just 10 games. Gonzalez is 22 years old and has a .286 career average with 74 HR and 354 RBI in 540 career games over a five year period. Gonzalez has been placed on the A’s 40 Man Roster

Aaron Cunningham:

He is 21 years old, and split time between A and AA level ball last season at A Winston-Salem, A Visalia, and AA Mobile he combined to bat .308 with 16 HR and 77 RBI in 127 games. Was a 6th Round Pick in the 2005 Draft by the White Sox.

Chris Carter:

Was originally drafted in the 15th Round by the Chicago White Sox. He played in A Kannapolis where he batted .291 with 25 HR and 93 RBI in 126 games played. He is 20 years old, and was a Southern League All Star last year.

All of these statistics were provided by the Oakland Athletics’ press release of the transaction. We shall see down the road whether or not this move by Billy Beane pans out, but we all hope it does. I hope everyone is having a Happy Holidays, and make sure you all give us your input on the deal because we really want to know what other A’s fans are thinking. There are a variety of ways to do so, you can email us at hosts@athleticscast.com, call us at 415-691-6185, or get a hold of us on our Myspace page, www.myspace.com/athleticscast. Make sure you guys shop through us for your late holiday gifts by clicking the Overstock.com links from our sites. We will definitely be discussing this trade in our next episode, so stay tuned!

That’s how I see it…Let’s Go Oakland!