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The Oakland Athletics will receive minor league second baseman Joey Wendle from the Cleveland Indians in trade for outfielder-first baseman Brandon Moss, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
Joey Wendle, as anticipated, goes back to Oakland for Brandon Moss. Final deal. Done.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 8, 2014
Moss, 31, has two arbitration seasons remaining, and was projected by Matt Swartz of MLB Trade Rumors to earn $7.1 million in 2015.
Trading Moss retires the last piece of what had been a formidable middle of the lineup presence in Josh Donaldson, Moss, and Yoenis Cespedes:
Donaldson. Moss. Céspedes. RUNS DMC. #Athletics #runsDMC @BringerOfRain20 @ynscspds @Athletics pic.twitter.com/48oMML1RzH
— Grammarous (@radmadmartigan) June 5, 2014
In 2½ seasons with the Athletics, Moss hit 76 home runs and drove in 220, for a .254/.340/.504 line, an OPS+ of 135. The left-handed batter's power was mostly found against right-handed pitching, hitting 63 of those 76 off of right-handers, though his 2014 slugging percentage of .425 is nothing to sneeze at.
In Joey Wendle, the A's receive a 24-year-old second baseman who reached Double-A Akron in the Eastern League. Susan Slusser was the first to suggest Wendle was a target for the Athletics last week in the SFGate Drumbeat blog:
Wendle, 24, hit .295 with 16 homers and 64 RBIs at Class-A in 2013, .253 with eight homers and 50 RBIs in 87 games with Double-A Akron this past season. He was a sixth-round pick in 2012 out of West Chester (Pa.) University.
Minor leagues follower Chris Kusiolek has this quick-and-dirty scouting report on Wendle:
Joey Wendle arrives in Oakland. Hit tool oriented bat, plays a fringy second base with subpar power. Polished and mature
— Chris Kusiolek (@Oak_AllDay) December 8, 2014
Oakland wasn’t going to get a significant amount for Moss coming off surgery. A’s got the best single prospect they could get for it
— Chris Kusiolek (@Oak_AllDay) December 8, 2014
The Athletics have confirmed:
#Athletics acquire IF Joey Wendle from the Cleveland Indians for 1B/OF Brandon Moss.
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) December 8, 2014
We'll have further analysis in the next few hours.
