A’s trade Manaea, leaving a huge hole in rotation
The decimation of a oncepromising Oakland A’s roster continues.
After the A’s traded AllStars Chris Bassitt, Matt Chapman and Matt Olson at the beginning of the spring, Sean Manaea is the next fan favorite on his way out of town.
The A’s traded Manaea and 21-year-old prospect Aaron Holiday to the San Diego Padres Sunday morning in exchange for infielder Euribiel Angeles and pitcher Adrian Martinez. The deal was first reported by MLB. com and later confirmed by the teams.
Just hours after the trade, Manaea started Sunday’s game at Hohokam Park for the Padres, facing his old A’s teammates. He went 3 2/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits, while taking the loss in the A’s 8-2 victory.
He led off the game by striking out Chad Pinder swinging. One inning later he fanned another longtime teammate, Stephen Piscotty, and Kevin Smith, one of the newest A’s on the roster.
The trade leaves Oakland with a massive hole in its rotation less than a week before Opening Day, but accomplishes owner John Fisher’s grim objective of slashing payroll. With Manaea off the books, the A’s current payroll drops below $33 million, according to Spotrac. There are 10 MLB players scheduled to make more than that figure this season.
Angeles is ranked as the Padres’ No. 12 prospect by MLB.com while Martinez, a right-handed starter, is ranked as the Padres’ No. 26 prospect and will be a candidate to make starts for Oakland this year, especially considering the A’s have lost two of their projected top three starters in spring trades.
The lone veteran remaining in Oakland’s rotation is right-hander Frankie Montas, who is almost certain to start on Opening Day in Philadelphia now that Manaea is headed to San Diego. Montas, who is set to make upward of $5 million in his penultimate arbitration year, has also been the subject of trade rumors this spring, but the A’s are running thin on rotation options and could use at least one reliable arm.
Behind Montas, the A’s expect Cole Irvin and Daulton Jefferies to start, but Irvin has made just 35 major league starts while Jefferies has made only two.
In San Diego, Manaea will reunite with his old manager, Bob Melvin, another prominent figure in the A’s organization who departed this offseason. Melvin
replaced former Padres manager Jayce Tingler and is trying to help San Diego overcome the Giants and Dodgers in the National League West.
Melvin, the only manager Manaea has played for in his six big-league seasons, is thrilled his big lefthander followed him to San Diego.
“He’s a terrific teammate. I’ve always called him the world’s best teammate . ... He’s got an infectious personality,” Melvin told reporters Sunday. “He supports everybody on the team. He’s always got a smile on his face, yet when he’s on the mound he’s a competitor.”
The A’s acquired Manaea, 30, in a deadline deal during the 2015 season from the Royals for Ben Zobrist. By the next season, he joined the A’s rotation, and when healthy has been a staple ever since.
In April 2018, Manaea no-hit the Boston Red Sox at the Coliseum.
Manaea, like Chris Bassitt, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman and Frankie Montas, was the subject of trade rumors the entire offseason. Manaea, 30, is eligible to become a free agent after this season. He’ll earn $9.75 million this season.
The left-hander started at least 24 games in four of his six seasons with the A’s, missing most of the 2019 season recovering from shoulder surgery and making only 11 starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Manaea is one of 18 pitchers to win at least 50 games in Oakland A’s franchise history. He went 50-41 with a 3.86 ERA.
The former No. 34 overall draft pick, last season set career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts, finishing in the top 10 in the AL in ERA, strikeouts and WHIP.
Angeles is a 19-year-old natural shortstop who’s played some second and third base. He was named an organizational All-Star by the Padres in 2021 after hitting .329 at the LowA and High-A levels. Despite batting right-handed, he hit .354 against righties last year, an indication that he may be a tough matchup for pitchers.
Martinez was promoted to Triple-A El Paso midway through last year after pitching well at the DoubleA level (2.34 ERA). He ran into more trouble at the higher level, registering an ERA of 5.28 over nine starts and allowing a batting average of .291.
Holiday was the A’s 13thround selection in the 2021 draft out of Old Dominion and only appeared in three games at the rookie level last season, throwing 5 2/3 shutout innings.