Reddick’s heart goes out to ex-teammate
OAKLAND, Calif. — Josh Reddick thumbed through the Twitter app on his phone Thursday morning on the bus ride from the Astros’ hotel in San Francisco to Oakland’s Coliseum. When he came across the surprising news concerning his former team, his heart sank.
“Heartbreaking” was the word Reddick used to describe the Athletics designating catcher Stephen Vogt for assignment before Thursday’s series finale against the Astros. Like Reddick before he signed with the Astros in November, Vogt had been a franchise fixture and fan favorite in Oakland.
“It’s kind of hard to imagine a clubhouse without him over there,” said Reddick, who played with Vogt from 2013-16. “Although I’m gone, I feel like I’m still hurting with those guys over the move.”
Vogt represented the A’s in the All-Star Game in each of the last two seasons, but he had just a .217/.287/.357 batting line in 157 at-bats this season. His removal from the roster — the A’s have a week to trade, waive or release him — leaves Sean Doolittle, Sonny Gray and Jed Lowrie as the only holdovers from the 2014 playoff team.
Reddick called Vogt “a crucial part of that team” and a “great” team leader who kept players “in the right spirits and the right mind.” He sent Vogt a text message upon hearing the news to let him know how he felt about the move.
“Considering where they are right now, you figure you want to have at least somebody to keep your team in line and with the struggles that they may be having he’s the perfect guy to have that can control those things and (knows) how to handle a lot of situations,” Reddick said. “But I wish nothing but the best for him. Hopefully for him, he gets picked up and hopefully he turns things around.”