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Elephant Rumblings: Welcome to Deadline Day

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MLB: Athletics at Houston Astros
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MLB news roundup

Morning everyone!

Well that was a busy night. We had a whirlwind of moves across the league yesterday with over a dozen major trades happening into the lead up to the July 31st trade deadline, which is 3 P.M. PST for most of us. Things were quiet for weeks on the trade market but now everything is finally happening in one big extravaganza, with contenders loading up for their final push to the playoffs. Championships have been won this time of year.

But the A’s have been silent as a mouse on the trade front. So far. Sure, we’re hearing that there are players on the team that have piqued the interest of other clubs around the league but nothing suggesting that the Athletics are shopping around any particular player, or in fact any player at all.

The biggest trade chip still in the organization’s pocket is flamethrowing closer Mason Miller. The former All-Star would be an obvious boost to every team in the league but yesterday’s trades changed the equation not only for the A’s but for any team interested in ponying up for the 26-year-old right-hander. We’ve heard teams such as the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Phillies, and the Padres have all shown interest in Miller, but a couple of those teams (Mets and Phillies) have now addressed their bullpen needs elsewhere, taking two buyers off the market.

At the same time though that also means that for the other teams interested in a game-changing relief arm, the options have dwindled over the past 24 hours, likely making the cost to acquire Miller go up. With fellow closers Jhoan Duran and Ryan Helsley off the board, Miller is arguably the best closer left on the market. That’s a good thing for the Athletics if they decide to pull the trigger though with four more years of team control over the former top prospect the front office can sit and wait to be blow away by an offer. We saw both the Mets and Phillies give up major prospect hauls to acquire their new closers so look to those trades to get a sense of what the A’s could be bringing back in a trade. As of last night the Padres seem to be the most aggressive towards making a deal for the former All-Star, but their farm system is lacking outside of a strong top two prospects. For what it’s worth, the team held out Miller from a save situation in last night’s game:

And then there’s the other trade candidates. Third baseman/left fielder Miguel Andujar has reportedly come up in talks with teams interested in adding his solid right-handed bat. The 30-year-old makes the most straight-forward sense to trade. He’s only signed to a one-year deal and isn’t likely to be around for the next A’s playoff team. Letting him walk in free agency in two months brings nothing back to that future contending squad. Moving Andujar would not only send a player that put his head down and came to work everyday to a better situation, but it would also free up at-bats for a younger player such as Colby Thomas. It’s a win-win-win all around.

His value isn’t especially high due to that short contract, plus the fact that he only just returned from a mid-level injury and is generally considered a below-average defender (at best) at both third base and left field. But a prospect is a prospect and the farm system could always welcome a lottery ticket type of player, which is what Andujar would bring back. Since returning from his injury he’s slashed a solid .306/.333/551, and if last night was his last in an Athletics uniform at least he went out with a bang:

Another player who has seen his name floated a bit has been second baseman Luis Urias, though his situation has become a bit less straight forward. Urias, whose brother Ramon was traded to the Houston Astros last night, has been having a solid if unspectacular season, slashing .232/.316/.354 with eight long balls as the regular starter at the keystone. Originally expected to be just a fill-in while fellow second baseman Zack Gelof was out injured, Urias instead provided a steady presence at the keystone when there was little depth behind him. He’s struggled massively in July though, tanking what little value he had as another two month rental piece. It could behoove the A’s to hold onto the 28-year-old since it doesn’t seem like Gelof is coming back anytime soon, and possibly even re-sign him this offseason.

There are other players on the team that could be moved but seem less likely to (Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs), and then others that would bring back a nice prospect haul (Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers) but almost certainly won’t be moved. You never know, we could see a surprise swap involving someone like Tyler Soderstrom or JP Sears, but as of this morning there’s no smoke around many other A’s players other than Miller.

Have an excellent day everyone. Let’s see if the A’s get in on the trading action.

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