There was a time when teams were apprehensive about making trades with the Oakland A’s for fear of being fleeced by Billy Beane and his analytics crew. You may have seen the movie.
Alas, those days are long gone, just like the premise this A’s ownership would fund something truly worthy of your money.
In recent years, the focus of the A’s front office morphed from building contenders to slashing payrolls, as per owner John Fisher’s orders. General manager David Forst has kept the boss happy with a healthy bottom line – Oakland still has MLB’s lowest payroll ($63.3M, per Spotrac) by a healthy margin for the second straight year. But it’s come at a cost.
Despite playing better lately, the A’s aren’t far off pace for their third consecutive 100-loss season for the first time in over 100 years. And the team’s setbacks haven’t been limited to the field. The most devastating losses for the A’s in the past three years have come in the offseason, where Forst’s biggest trades have had disastrous consequences for Oakland’s ongoing rebuilding efforts.
With Tuesday’s 5 p.m. MLB trade deadline approaching, the A’s recent trade history is troubling enough to wonder if they’d be able to get suitable returns by trading their most attractive pieces, fast-rising slugger Brent Rooker or rookie phenom Mason Miller. (For what it’s worth, heading into Tuesday the A’s were the only MLB team that hadn’t yet made a trade this month).
Stars Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy, Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea were all headliners in five separate regrettable trades during the A’s mass teardown of 2022, netting Oakland 17 players. Most of those 17 players, at least those still in the organization, have been huge disappointments. The A’s missed so badly on seven of them that they’ve already been released – that number doesn’t include once-hot prospect Cristian Pache who was traded for a minor league reliever who was released himself by Oakland a few months later.
One indictment of those acquired in the 2022 deals can be found in MLB.com’s minor league system rankings, where the A’s fell three spots from last year to No. 25 of 30 clubs this season. Also, none of those players from ‘22’s busy off-season are among the A’s Top 10 prospects.
The A’s may feel the effects for some time from not getting enough production from their slew of deals that saw Olson, Murphy, Chapman, Bassitt and Manaea leave town. While the younger prospects from those trades who are still around are mostly struggling, just three of the 17 players Oakland received two years ago are on their current roster: catcher Shea Langeliers and pitchers Kyle Muller and Joey Estes. Langeliers is far and away the best performer of all those prospects, and his 2.0 bWAR as of Monday is exactly what an average full-time position player is worth.
Wondering how the A’s recent rough trades stack up among the worst in Oakland history? We’ll get to that. But first, how about some positive news?
BEST TRADES
1. Nov. 29, 1971: P Ken Holtzman from Cubs for CF Rick Monday
Of all the trades orchestrated by then-owner Charlie Finley this was by far his best – and this is a guy who made 19 trades during the 1972 World Championship season!
All Holtzman did after coming over from the Cubs was to help the A’s win three straight World Series titles beginning in 1972. As far as trade acquisitions go, you can’t really beat that for having an impact. The left-hander was a two-time All-Star in Oakland and won 77 games in four years with the A’s, including a career-high 21 games in 1973.
Monday, who was a solid player with Oakland, enjoyed a banner year in 1976 for Chicago – literally. He achieved baseball immortality by saving the American flag from being burned during a game by protesters.
2. April 3, 1987: P Dennis Eckersley from Cubs for 3 minor leaguers (INF Brian Guinn, OF Dave Wilder, RP Mark Leonette)
The trade was transformative for both the A’s and the Oakland-born Eckersley, who resurrected his career to become one of the greatest relievers in baseball history and a Hall of Famer. He won the 1992 MVP Award as well as the Cy Young Award. The cost to Oakland was three minor leaguers – including Berkeley’s Guinn and Wilder — who never made it to the majors.
3. June 21, 1989: OF Rickey Henderson from Yankees for OF Luis Polonia, RP Greg Cadaret, RP Eric Plunk
This mid-season trade bringing Rickey back to Oakland turned the A’s into a nearly unbeatable team in ‘89. Just ask the Giants, who couldn’t get him out during the World Series – he batted a whopping .474 as the catalyst for a four-game sweep. A year later, Rickey had the best year of his 25-year Hall of Fame career while winning the MVP Award. He batted .325 with 28 homers, 65 stolen bases to go with career-best OPS of 1.016 and OPS+ of 189.
4. Dec. 11, 1987: P Bob Welch, P Matt Young from Dodgers for SS Alfredo Griffin,R P Jay Howell, P Kevin Tapani, P Wally Whitehurst in 3-team deal with Mets
Much like Holtzman did 15 years earlier, the arrival of Welch took a dominant A’s starting rotation to another level. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 1990 while setting an Oakland record with 27 wins. Welch teamed with Dave Stewart, Mike Moore and Storm Davis to form a dominant rotation that helped the A’s earn World Series berths from 1988-90.
5. July 8, 2008: C Josh Donaldson, P Sean Gallagher, OF Matt Murton, OF Eric Patterson from Cubs for P Rich Harden, P Chad Gaudin
The A’s saw something they loved in minor league catcher Donaldson, who they converted to a third baseman and helped him develop into one of the game’s biggest stars. He enjoyed a breakout in 2013 with a slash line of .301/.384/.499 while hitting 24 homers and driving in 93. Two years later, Donaldson blasted 41 home runs and won the AL MVP Award … for the Blue Jays. (More on that below!).
6. March 15, 1977: OF Tony Armas, OF Mitchell Page, P Rick Langford, P Doc Medich, RP Doug Bair from Pirates for 2B Phil Garner, P Chris Batton, INF Tommy Helms
This is how you turn an All-Star (Garner) into a haul. The A’s robbed the Pirates’ farm system while getting Armas (two-time AL home run champ, two-time All-Star), Page (’77 AL Rookie of the Year by Sporting News; AL record 26 straight stolen bases in ’77), and Langford (four straight years of 200+ innings, ERA+ of more than 100). Some perspective on Langford’s durability: The A’s have 16 complete games over the past 10 years. Langford had 28 complete games in 1980, including 22 consecutive during a five-month stretch.
7. Feb. 12, 2016: OF Khris Davis from Brewers for C Jacob Nottingham, P Bubba Derby
In this incredibly one-sided trade, all Davis did was become the only player in Oakland history to hit 40 or more home runs in three straight years.
8. Dec. 18, 2004: P Dan Haren, 1B Daric Barton, RP Kiko Calero from Cardinals for P Mark Mulder
Only five MLB pitchers were more valuable than Haren from 2007-11, according to Fangraphs. Haren will always be the answer to a baseball trivia question: Who was the last Oakland A’s pitcher to start for the A.L. in the All-Star Game? (2007).
9. Nov. 21, 1972: OF Bill North from Cubs for RP Bob Locker
North became a catalyst on two World Series championship teams as Oakland’s center fielder. He stole 232 bases during his six-year A’s career and twice led the A.L. in steals.
10. Dec. 9, 2014: INF Marcus Semien, SP Chris Bassitt, C Josh Phegley, INF Rangel Ravelo from White Sox for SP Jeff Samardzija, P Michael Ynoa
Semien came home and grew into a star in 2019 while hitting 33 home runs, driving in 92 runs and finishing third in the A.L. MVP vote. Bassitt turned into an All-Star here. Their biggest impact, though, may have been becoming beloved members was becoming two of the all-time greatest guys to wear the green and gold.
WORST TRADES
1. Nov. 28, 2014: 3B Josh Donaldson to Blue Jays for SS Franklin Barreto, 3B Brett Lawrie, SP Kendall Graveman, P Sean Nolin
Billy Beane stunned the baseball world and angered A’s fans by shipping the popular Donaldson to Toronto for what turned out to be a woefully insufficient return that contributed to three straight last-place finishes from 2015-17. For Donaldson, who developed into an elite third baseman who finished in the Top 10 of MVP voting his final two years in Oakland, the A’s got three huge underachievers and a decent pitcher (Graveman). Meanwhile, the Blue Jays got the 2015 AL MVP.
2. Dec. 12, 2022: C Sean Murphy to Braves, RP Joel Payamps to Brewers for OF Esteury Ruiz, P Kyle Muller, P Freddy Tarnok, C Manny Pina, P Robert Salinas
Murphy was arguably the game’s best young catcher when he was dealt, but here was another case where the A’s desire for quantity over quality in their prospect returns bit them hard. Worst part of the deal was Oakland deciding to make it a 3-team trade by flipping emerging Braves catcher William Contreras to the Brewers because it was enamored with Milwaukee’s Esteury Ruiz a lot more than most teams and scouts. Despite an early stolen base tear, Ruiz doesn’t appear to be an MLB regular. Contreras, though, has become one of MLB’s top 3 catchers and he still has three more years of team control. Oh, and the A’s dumped RP Joel Payamps to Milwaukee, where he became one of the most dependable setup men in the game.
3. July 31, 1997: 1B Mark McGwire to Cardinals for RP T.J. Mathews, P Eric Ludwick, P Blake Stein
Because of this trade, McGwire went from the face of the A’s to the face of Major League Baseball as he smashed HR records while hitting 220 of them in four years with the Cards, including his epic 70-HR year in 1998. He had a 19.3 bWAR in St. Louis. In return, the A’s got two pitchers (Stein, Ludwick) who made a combined 31 appearances and one (Mathews) who was a middling setup man. The A’s trio had a combined -0.4 bWAR.
4. July 31, 2014: OF Yoenis Cespedes, 2015 competitive balance pick to Red Sox for SP Jon Lester, OF Jonny Gomes and cash
Trading star outfielder Cespedes in the middle of a postseason push was even more stunning than dumping Donaldson eight months earlier. Like the Donaldson deal, the results turned out to be just as disappointing. The psychological effect that dealing Cespedes away had on his teammates was said to be not insignificant. While Lester did well during the regular season to help make up for the loss of Oakland’s best offensive performer, the left-handed pitcher had a rough go in a stunning Wild Card game loss to the eventual champion Royals. Lester gave up six runs in the A’s 9-8 defeat.
5. March 15, 1978: SP Vida Blue to Giants for OF Gary Thomasson, SS Mario Guerrero, C Gary Alexander, SP John Henry Johnson, RP Dave Heaverlo, P Alan Wirth, P Phil Huffman and $300,000
The last vestige of the A’s early 1970s dynasty departed when the uber-popular Blue was sent across the Bay to the Giants in a trade that brought seven players and $300,000 in cash to the A’s. Neither the players nor the money lasted very long or had much of an impact. The only player who spent much time in Oakland was Guerrero, who was the starting shortstop. He left after 1980 and his impact was summed up this way by coach Clete Boyer: “We’re better off at shortstop because we don’t have Mario Guerrero.”
6. Nov. 10, 2008: OF Carlos Gonzalez, RP Huston Street, P Greg Smith to Rockies for OF Matt Holliday
The A’s gave up Gonzalez, who turned into a certifiable star while in Colorado while winning three Gold Glove Awards and the 2010 NL batting title. Street became one of the game’s most consistent closers. Meanwhile, Holliday had a hard time hiding his disappointment for having to play in Oakland.
7. Dec. 16, 2004: SP Tim Hudson to Braves for P Juan Cruz, P Dan Meyer, OF Charles Thomas
The first of the Three Aces — Barry Zito, Mulder and Hudson – to leave town, Hudson was traded two days before Mulder went to St. Louis. While Hudson continued to be the same, gritty, bulldog pitcher for years with the Braves, the A’s got virtually nothing good out of the trade. Thomas batted .109 in 30 games with the A’s while Cruz was 0-3 with a 7.44 ERA in 28 games and Meyer was 0-6 with 7.98 ERA.
8. March 16, 2022: 3B Matt Chapman to Blue Jays for INF Kevin Smith, P Zach Logue, RP Kirby Snead, P Gunnar Hoglund
Two days after Olson was sent to Atlanta for a deal headlined by Langeliers, two-time Platinum Glove winner Chapman went to Toronto in a deal that was eerily similar to Donaldon’s eight years earlier in that there was little visible positive return. Smith was a washout, as were both Snead and Logue. However, the A’s best hope for some ROI in this trade – and, sadly, perhaps all five of the 2022 deals – lies with the 24-year-old Hoglund. The former 2021 first-round pick of the Jays was recovering from Tommy John surgery when acquired. He’s finally healthy and is 9-4 at Double-A Midland with a 2.84 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings over 19 games.
9. June 15, 1975: INF Chet Lemon, P Dave Hamilton to White Sox for SP Stan Bahnsen, P Skip Pitlock
Oakland gave up the 20-year-old Lemon to add a veteran back-end starter in Bahnsen,who won 15 games in three seasons with the A’s. Lemon, who was moved to center field in Chicago and later was a key player for the 1984 champion Tigers, was one of the most underrated players of his generation. The three-time All-Star had a .797 OPS in 16 seasons.
10. Dec. 16, 2004: OF Nelson Cruz, P Justin Lehr to Brewers for 2B Keith Ginter
The A’s were allured by Ginter’s power – he hit 19 home runs in 2003 – but wound up giving up Cruz, who became one of the game’s top sluggers over the past two decades. Cruz was a seven-time All-Star who hit 464 home runs and drove in 1,325 runs in a 19-year career. Ginter lasted just 51 games in Oakland while batting .161 with a .497 OPS and hitting just three homers.
