The 2017 MLB trade deadline has come and gone. The Oakland A’s made three trades this month, sending away four of their veteran players — that isn’t as much activity as many of us expected or hoped for, but it’s still quite a bit. There will be plenty of time for further analysis and hot takes, but in the meantime let’s simply check in on what the actual roster looks like for this evening.
First off, here are the three trades:
- Sonny Gray to Yankees (link)
- Adam Rosales to D’Backs (link)
- Sean Doolittle & Ryan Madson to Nationals (link) (July 16)
The A’s mostly got back prospects in these deals, and the only acquisition joining the current active roster is reliever Blake Treinen (from the Nats trade). Monday’s two swaps each sent out an MLB player, which opened up two roster spots. To fill those, IF Chad Pinder was activated from the disabled list and RHP Michael Brady was recalled from Triple-A, the team announced.
The new roster:
| Pitchers | Hitters |
| Starters
Sean Manaea (L) Relievers Santiago Casilla (R) |
Catchers
Bruce Maxwell (L) Infielders Yonder Alonso (L) Outfielders Khris Davis (R) |
10-day DL: RHP Kendall Graveman, C Josh Phegley
60-day DL: RHP Andrew Triggs, RHP Bobby Wahl, OF Dustin Fowler, OF Jake Smolinski
Three things to note.
1. Sean Manaea is now the No. 1 starter
We knew this day was coming, when Manaea would rise to the top of the ranks, but now it’s officially here. He’s sporting a 3.82 ERA, a 3.64 FIP, and a strikeout per inning (and three per walk), and he’s had just one brief blip in his health in an otherwise steady season. He looks ready to take the reins.
After him, Oakland’s collection of prospects is getting their chance. Jharel Cotton (4th), Daniel Gossett (9th), and Paul Blackburn (26th) were all on our Community Prospect List last winter, and they’re all getting full opportunities to sink or swim in the bigs. Cotton is only just back from injury himself and Gossett is giving up too many homers, but Blackburn so far has stood out as a guy who can eat up six efficient innings and put the team in a position to win. The whole trio should be fun to watch for the rest of the year as they roller coaster up and down and toy with our emotions, as young pitchers are wont to do.
As for Smith, presumably he will soon give way to the return of Kendall Graveman, who could be back as soon as this week (link). That means that, even without Sonny, we’ll still be watching a relevant starter at the beginning of every game — with all due respect to Smith, who’s given us a heartwarming story and legitimately quality outings in emergency duty.
Alonso and Lowrie are still here
I figured one of them might still be left over, but I didn’t think they’d both still be here after the deadline. It’s still possible one could go in an August waiver trade, but for now let’s assume they’re here for the long haul.
Last night, Tim Eckert-Fong wrote that it was imperative for the A’s to trade these win-now position players. I agreed with the general sentiment, both because I wanted Oakland to sell high on some present-day stars and because I wanted them to clear playing time for as many rookies as possible these next two months. I’m disappointed neither of those things happened.
On the bright side, I’m in the camp that’s open to re-signing Alonso this winter. That was my preference for most of July, so I’m sticking with my gut and choosing to be happy about that silver lining. Furthermore, Lowrie still has a contract option for next year, so he could yet be traded over the winter. It could be worse.
With Alonso, Lowrie, and Marcus Semien entrenched in the starting infield, the youth movement in that area of the diamond looks like it might be limited to just Matt Chapman at 3B and Pinder in a utility role. Even still, there are four youngsters in the lineup every day (Chapman, Maxwell, Brugman, and the sophomore Healy), so the team is getting younger even if it’s not happening quite as quickly as it could have.
CPL Review
We already glanced at the Community Prospect List in the pitching section, but here’s a full look at how the members are panning out. Includes those who have returned to minors for more development. (Click here for fill list.)
1. Franklin Barreto, SS (back to AAA)
2. Matt Chapman, 3B
4. Jharel Cotton, RHP
5. Frankie Montas, RHP (back to AAA)
7. Matt Olson, 1B/OF (back to AAA)
8. Bruce Maxwell, C
9. Daniel Gossett, RHP
17. Chad Pinder, IF
18. Jaycob Brugman, OF
23. Raul Alcantara, RHP (back to AAA)
24. Bobby Wahl, RHP (DL)
26. Paul Blackburn, RHP
And that doesn’t include Manaea, Healy, and Dull, who all graduated off the CPL last summer. There’s still plenty of room to get younger, as there are currently only 10 players under the age of 27, but the process is clearly going in the proper direction.
