There’s a lot of excitement brewing in the air amongst the deafening drawl of stale Christmas music. Excitement and promise of trades and acquisitions, but this year with some money backing it, and a promise for a future. A real one.
Sure, this sounds really cool right now. Armchair managers across the Silicon Valley (and remotely as well, as with people like me) are brimming with eager joy at the next tasty morsels of what-will-happen-next moves on the A’s roster.
The real upcoming season is never as exciting as the offseason can make it out to be, but it’s hope, and as A’s fans, we love hope. We lap it up, even if we deny it.
From the discussion brewing, it sounds like the A’s are going to be packing in some more bullpen power, and maybe something else for the starting rotation. A fresh face in left, too, perhaps? A DH that can actually… hit?
There are some problems that need to be corrected first. One of which is the mess of confusion that makes up the infield roster, but some pushing around of pieces and possible trades might clear up what, right now, looks like scrambled eggs. There are things that shouldn’t change, too, one of which I already talked about in my earlier post:
Now, here’s a couple things I’d like to touch on. One… do everything possible to get rid of Billy Butler.
Not an easy task, considering Butler is only about to enter the second year of his 3-year $30mil deal he and the A’s agreed to last November, but he must be stopped. Stomper has put up better numbers (slight exaggeration) than the 29-year-old ex-Royal, who hit a cringe-worthy .251 in 2015 in the DH slot, below the league average of .254.
No, no you’re not.
Finding someone to bite on the Butler deal will not be easy, but there is still time to make him someone else’s problem.
Two. Another name that bothers me in the trade rumors is Reddick. Every season, in many fans’ eyes, is Reddick’s last. A season ends, Reddick’s name immediately is thrust into trade talk. While Reddick has never been a superstar, he’s a character and a good, solid ballplayer with acrobatic defensive skills, which is a package that has been coveted by the A’s organization over the years.
And it’s not like we’re not used to eccentrics.
Okay, so Reddick’s value lies somewhere between Zito and Bobby Kielty’s red ‘fro, but the point is still there. Reddick is a talented and a big quirk, and seems to enjoy being in Oakland where he has a stage he can stand out on.
The 29-year-old Georgian native has improved leaps and bounds over the last three seasons and only hones his incredible fielding skills with every year he tacks on. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Reddick is also like a spider-monkey in the outfield, scaling fences and robbing home runs… while looking like a caveman.
In conclusion, it’s hard to foresee the feasibility of dealing away Butler, but I would personally be ecstatic to see him go. Gray and Reddick stay. The infield must be conquered. The bullpen needs more bodies. How about some arms to back up Sonny? There’s a lot that needs work, but it’s not impossible, we’ve seen the A’s do it before. We’ve seen other teams do it before. And with the organization looking to build a future starting now, only the coming months will give us the morsels of hope we can cling to before everything is put into action next year.
In the meantime, there’s football and there’s entertainment abound on Reddick’s Twitter. Here’s to next time…
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