Alonso emerges ... as trade candidate
Yonder Alonso is enjoying a career year and leads American League first basemen in All-Star votes, but does he fit in with the A’s?
So far this season, absolutely. He has been a steady force and inspirational presence on a struggling team, a .300 hitter with more pop than he exhibited in any of his first seven big-league seasons.
As far as long term, though, no. The A’s are rapidly turning over their roster and jumping into an all-out youth movement, and Alonso plays a position, first base, that figures to be occupied full time eventually by Ryon Healy or Matt Olson.
It would make an awful lot of sense for the A’s to deal Alonso before the July 31 deadline. His trade value has never been higher, and this year’s team is going nowhere. The focus isn’t the present but the future.
Healy has been a trouper, adjusting to several roles. After he excelled in the second half last season at third base, the A’s signed Trevor Plouffe to play third, and Healy was forced to rotate between designated hitter and both corner infield spots, not an ideal way to develop a promising hitter.
Plouffe struggled and was designated for assignment Thursday — then traded to Tampa Bay on Saturday — clearing the way for top prospect Matt Chapman’s arrival (power arm, power bat) from the minors as the new third baseman.
The next big promotion figures to be Franklin Barreto as the new second baseman, which could mean a Jed Lowrie trade, and catcher Bruce Maxwell will figure in the mix as well.
As for Alonso, who’ll be a free agent after the season and has said multiple times he’d like to stay in Oakland, he’s a splendid defensive first baseman, a major asset with a team full of young position players and pitchers, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by management. But if a contender such as the Yankees calls, the A’s certainly will talk. It’s their blueprint.
The past two years, they dealt several players on the verge of free agency and got good returns: Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to the Dodgers in 2016 and Ben Zobrist to the Royals, Scott Kazmir to the Astros and Tyler Clippard to the Mets in 2015.
Pujols and Bonds: Albert Pujols isn’t content with 600 home runs. He’s eyeing not only 700 but also Barry Bonds’ record of 762, according to an interview with USA Today.
A nice ambition — but not so realistic.
Pujols is 37, and his OPS has slipped more than 100 points this year, with significant drops in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Yeah, we keep hearing he’s the fourth youngest to reach 600. But only eight other men have gotten this far.
Pujols’ contract runs through the 2021 season, so he’ll get a chance to keep hitting home runs so long as he’s healthy. But 161 more homers over four-plus seasons at this age is farfetched, especially with baseball’s drugtesting program.
Of the past five hitters to reach 600 before Pujols, three were linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Pujols hasn’t been. So he’ll get a heap of support if he gets anywhere close to the record. But that’s a big if.
Manfred on A’s: Commissioner Rob Manfred continues to believe in Oakland as the long-term fit for the A’s, a far cry from predecessor Bud Selig.
“I think Oakland is a really strong — not just viable, but strong — baseball market,” Manfred said on Sirius XM radio. “I think if we left Oakland, we’d regret it down the road. And I remain hopeful they are going to get a new stadium.”
Manfred said it’s important the A’s pick an Oakland ballpark site this year. With momentum for putting teams outside the country, in Montreal and Mexico, the A’s need to create their own momentum by securing a site.
A’s fans can feel comfort in Manfred’s stance that he doesn’t currently envision the A’s or Rays relocating. Instead, he sees MLB expanding by two teams, making it 32 in all, perfect for scheduling.
“I think it is very, very difficult for us to go to 32 until we get Oakland and Tampa resolved,” he said. “Just too many moving pieces all at once. I’m hopeful that both of those get resolved in a positive way. And if they do, I believe there are viable expansion markets available to baseball. Baseball is a growth business, and expansion will become a more active discussion at that point in time.”
Two-way draftees: Hunter Greene (Reds) and Brendan McKay (Rays) are terrific pitchers/hitters, and we can only hope the teams that drafted them are open to double-duty careers.
Unfortunately, it might not happen, at least not in Greene’s case.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Reds GM Dick Williams said, “Playing at the highest level is very difficult, and I just wouldn’t ever want somebody to try to focus on both to the detriment of one. So, we think Hunter’s got a great chance to be a major-leaguer as a pitcher . ... We’ll keep the door open to playing the field.”
It’s hard to argue with a 102-mph fastball, which Greene (the second overall pick) threw at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks (Los Angeles County).
The Rays seem more open to letting the lefthanded McKay (taken fourth overall) pitch and hit as a first baseman, which he did extremely well at Louisville.
“Why not?” GM Erik Neander said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “At this point, our plan is to continue to let him explore that, to let him put a cap on what he can and cannot do.” Darren Baker’s choice: Fifty years after the Braves drafted Dusty Baker in the 26th round, the Nationals drafted his son, Darren, in the 27th.
Darren committed to Cal a couple of years ago, but that’s when the coach was David Esquer, who recently accepted the coaching job at Stanford.
Darren still is Cal bound. His dad, the Nationals’ manager, who signed with the Braves out of high school, regrets not living the college life and being big man on campus.
Darren, best known to Giants fans as the 3-yearold batboy who got scooped up by J.T. Snow in the 2002 World Series, played shortstop his senior year at Jesuit High in Carmichael (Sacramento County). Scouts project him as a center fielder.
“His upside and potential are big-time,” Dusty Baker said. “He can go to college and get his strength up and hopefully have a good time and be more mature when he comes out of college. It’s flattering that he was chosen, and it wasn’t a favor.”