FanPost

Trade Target: Dayan Viciedo

That's right. Let's bring "The Cuban Tank" to Oakland.

Viciedongers

Look at this pretty face.

At this point, it's clear that the A's are lacking power in the lineup. Alex Hall recently posted a nice article wondering where the A's power is going to come from. How about Cuba?

I can hear your reactions through the internet - "but kyrbyr, Viciedo isn't very good! He has a negative defensive value! He posted a negative bWAR last season!"

Shut your pretty little mouth, and let me explain why Viciedo is a perfect pickup for the 2015 A's clan of misfits.

First and foremost, Viciedo is only 25 years old. Everything that's already been said about current A's players (Lawrie, Semien, Hahn, etc) improving further as they get older also applies to lil' ol' Dayan over here. It's entirely possible that something clicks with his swing, and suddenly he's the powerhouse LF that we've needed since we lost our own Cuban to Boston (and now he's on the Tigers, ew. I keep forgetting that.)

Second, he'll be cheap. White Sox fans have grown tired of watching Viciedo fail to live up to his full potential, and the White Sox ownership apparently feels the same, what with the signing of aging outfielder Melky Cabrera. Combined with the LaRoche/Abreu 1B/DH combo, Viciedo is left without a place to play, making him very expendable. The A's and White Sox have already matched up once this season for a trade that managed to leave both sides happy, why not do it again?

Third, Viciedo has some appetizing career splits favoring LHP, but was never put into a platoon role in Chicago. Viciedo, again, at only 25 years old, has a career slash of .291/.321/.519 against LHP, an ISO of .216, and a career WRC+ of 124. Steamer has him projected for 9 HR in 2015 in 53 games. If only facing LHP as a platoon bat / pinch hitter, it's not unreasonable that Viciedo could become the 20+ HR power bat the A's lineup is sorely missing right now. Especially considering, y'know, that he hit 21 HR last year.

Fourth, Viciedo has 3 years of control left. If he does click in a platoon role in Oakland, he's not gone after the season, a la Zobrist/Rasmus/etc. Either he'd fight for a chance to become an everyday player, or he'd be appetizing trade bait once the A's revival of him has completed.

In conclusion, Viciedo is a cheap, controllable, young, right-handed power hitting outfielder. Literally everything we could ask for on this team at this moment.

A trade for Viciedo could also be combined with a more expensive signing - say, Hector Olivera? The opportunities are endless. Not literally. But Viciedo is a good fit to log time at LF and DH in the Green and Gold, though.