We all know, that the A's have a difficult situation and I'm trying to get mentally prepared for some heartbreaking trades. I'm going to look at possible trades involving the 5 best players, that also start getting more expensive: Chapman, Olson, Montas, Bassitt and Manaea. I'm gonna try doing that while still trying to keep the team from being a total disaster. I'm making the Angels pay a bit extra for a reliable still quite cheap arm and I won't trade Chapman for less than 40mln (I think Lee is worth more than 2mln, but Mets are desperate to make the Postseason and might overpay for those 2 guys).
Trades (BTV numbers):
Nr 1 Matt Chapman (24,1) and Sean Manaea (19,4) to the New York Mets for 3B Brett Baty (34) 3B Mark Vientos (17,5), P Tyler Megill (9,6), OF Khalil Lee (2,1)
Nr 2 Matt Olson (45,3) and Chris Bassitt (20,4) for Jasson Dominguez (25), Oswald Peraza (25,5), Luis Gil (10,9),Gleyber Torres (8,4) and 1B Luke Voit (1)
Nr 3 Frankie Montas (39,6) to the Los Angeles Angels for P Reid Detmers (27,4), P Patrick Sandoval (21,9) and OF Jordyn Adams (4,9)
I wanted to get some young arms and we have added Detmers, Sandoval, Megill and Gil. The last 2 don't have good mechanics according to Chris O'Leary, I know that, I would love the team to eliminate those tommy john twists and flat arm syndromes, but I don't really count on that. Gil had a couple of good starts for the Yankees, so the team can be willing to take a risk. The 45mln saved can be used for more pitching. Well, Torres and Voit will not make the league minimum, but still around 35mln surplus give us the trades.
Voit and Torres could use a change of scenery, getting Bassitt could help them spend some of the money on someone like Story. We also add a lot of young bats and create some competition. Torres could take over at second, maybe Peraza could be the shortstop at some time next year, Baty or Vientos take over at third with Vientos probably being the one closer to the big leagues. Hopefully Allen and Davidson also show signs of being MLB ready next year and we would have options.
What would I do with the money?
Sign Jorge Soler 1yr/8mln and Josh Harrison 1yr/5,5mln for offense
Soler had a really good second half of the year and this could be the guy giving 40HR in the heat of the lineup. Harrison was good all around and gives versatility, that will still be needed without a clear 3B.
Sign Bundy 1yr/6mln for the rotation and Ryan Tepera 2yr /16mln, Hansel Robles 1yr/4mln, Andrew Chafin 2yr/16mln and Trevor Rosenthal 1yr/3mln for the bullpen.
I think, that the back-end of the bullpen is solid enough, hopefully it won't be a situation, where all the guys are out of form coming into August and September. Robles could be dominant, maybe Rosenthal comes back healthy, we are paying him money anyways, so make he could actually finally pitch for us.
SP
Kaprielian
Jefferies
Irvin
Megill
Bundy
RP
Tepera
Rosenthal
Robles
Trivino
Chafin
Acevedo
Sandoval
Guerra
Other options: Gil, Detmers, Sandoval, Puk, Romero, Kolarek, some MiLB contract guys
C
Murphy
Allen
INF
Voit
Kemp -likely to play the outfield more often
Pinder
Andrus
Torres
Harrison
OF
Brown
Bolt
Piscotty
Laureano (from May)
DH Soler
Other options: Baty, Peraza, Allen, Barrera, Thomas, Lee, Adams, Davidson
It might be a 2017 situation, where Harrison and Andrus keep the place warm for the young guys coming up. Surely the lineup is missing Chapman and Olson, but I brought in a lot of young guys to make the bottom of the lineup stronger. Bolt is out of options, so April might be the chance to get another good look at him before Laureano is back. And there is nothing to worry about in terms of the 40 man roster.
Does this team look like a Postseason contender? Probably not one of the main ones. Is there talent in this team to make a surprise run? For sure! Can this team can get better in the future? No doubt! Will the fans get mad with those trades? Yes, for sure. But the more I think about this, the more likely I am to accept this. I like to move for MLB ready prospects and that is exactly what I did in my simulation. Maybe that would be the next wave of talent? What do you think about these trades?