So there I was, just hanging out, painting the seats to a dining room set that is being turned into patio furniture, when I decided to take a break and check out Twitter. This is a regular thing for me, and it is fun to see what new and exciting news is going to lead to the end of civilization as we know it. At least, that’s how the doomsdayers put it, and most of their ranting would have you believe that it’s Obamacare that will be the root cause of the apocalypse. Personally, my money is on it being because John Rocker writes political commentary for a legitimate website.
Lucky for me, there wasn’t much of that going on today, just a shared tweet from Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Interesting. If the A’s are fed up with Reddick, I’m sure the Angels would take him. https://t.co/3cTYk76u19
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) July 3, 2015
Hmmmmmmmm, very interesting. I mean, it sounds insane, right? The idea of Josh Reddick being traded by the Athletics. He’s a fan favorite, he’s a good baseball player, he’s not much for shaving. What could he possibly have said that would bend the A’s and Billy Beane enough out of shape that this became a legitimate idea?
“I have no idea (who makes that decision). It doesn’t come from anywhere in this clubhouse,” Reddick said, per CSNBayArea.com. “Everybody knows what situations our general manager puts up there. I couldn’t tell you what the difference is between me starting against one guy and not starting against another guy. … There’s probably so many numbers they could dig into their computers with and try to find one just to keep me out of the lineup.
“I know (manager Bob Melvin is) in there fighting for me. The other day I was supposed to play against (Jorge) De La Rosa, and Bob texts me at around 1:30 and told me he had been ‘trumped,’ was the word he used. I understood right away. I know it’s not Bob. He’s fighting for me to be in there every night. It still frustrates me beyond belief when I don’t play.”
Well now, isn’t that nice. And it’s not as if there isn’t precedent here for Billy Beane to make a move simply to rid himself of a player that is a dissenter. Josh Donaldson had some choice words for Beane last season, and it eventually got him jettisoned to Canada. But all of these words are meaningless if there isn’t an actual need and fit for Reddick in Anaheim. Do the Angels have the players for it? Hell, is Josh Reddick even worth thinking about?
The answer to both of those is yes and yes. But we’ll start with why Josh Reddick is worth it.
Dude can swing it
Reddick’s seemingly down season in 2014 where he posted a slash line of .264/.316/.446 still translated into a wRC+ of 117. And this season, he has been much better. Up to this point, he has posted a slash line of .287/.348/.469, good for a wRC+ of 132. And he’s not sacrificing power just so that he can get more basehits to drive up his batting average. His ISO sits at a healthy .182, which is the same number that it was last season. He is striking out less and walking a bit more. And he’s a lefty, which is kind of exactly what the Angels need.
Defensive prowess for days
Defeensive metrics tend to get a bad rap, and that is mostly because it take a few years before any sort of defensive information normalizes. But, just a glance at Josh’s numbers show that he is a legitimately good fielder, most notably thanks to his +44 DRS over the last four years. So far this year, it is at -1, but maybe a smaller outfield in Anaheim benefit his abilities.
He has done all of this while playing in Oakland
Most fans are wary of anyone the Angels bring to help the offense. I am one of those. Anaheim is a notoriously tough place to hit in, so whenever a new player comes in, it should be taken with a grain of salt what their expectations are in Anaheim. That marine layer, man. It’s a killer.
But, /fanfare, No one really needs to worry about that with Reddick. Why is that, you say. Because he plays in one of the few ballparks that is even more annoying to hitters than the Big-A. And he hasn’t just succeeded in Oakland, he has excelled. Over the last four seasons, Josh has been worth 11.9 fWAR, and is currently worth 2.1 fWAR so far this season. For reference, Albert Pujols has been worth 2.2 fWAR this season, and the person who Reddick would presumably be taking at bats from, Matt Joyce, has been worth -1.1 fWAR. Yes that’s a minus sign. And before you drop the “but inter-division trades never happen, big guy” on me, remember that it this would not be the first time the Angels hooked up for a trade. The received Grant Green in exchange for Alberto Callaspo. And, might I remind you, Reddick may have already punched his own ticket for his remarks.
This now takes us to the next question, do the Angels have the pieces to make this kind of deal? And they do, thanks mostly to Reddick not being a superstar. Reddick is a good ball player, but not a great one. His impact would be felt in Anaheim, but the reason he is not great is largely thanks to the fact that he simply should never be allowed to face lefties. Like, never. His slash line against lefties is an abysmal .152/.222/.227 in 72 plate appearances. Those 72 plate appearances account for 23% his times at the plate this season, so it’s not as small of sample as you would think. But the Angels don’t really have a platoon option on the roster to compliment Reddick, so he may just get his wish in Anaheim since his problem in Oakland is that he is left out of the lineup against lefties. And, as much as I don’t want to see him flail at the plate, his defensive ability would make up the difference.
So who do the Angels give up for Reddick? And let me get this out of the way now: No, there is no chance in hell that the Angels can get rid of either C.J. Cron, Chris Iannetta of Matt Joyce in this deal. Stop that. It’s not happening. Even if Iannetta would be a seemingly nice platoon for Stephen Vogt, and has qualities that Billy Beane covets.
Luckily, the Angels don’t have to bring any of Andrew Heaney, Sean Newcomb or Joe Gatto to the table. However, pitchers like Nick Tropeano and Nate Smith aren’t exactly safe in this exercise. And Although Tropeano could be a solid bet on this (especially considering the looming deadline and the A’s looking to shed players like Scott Kazmir from their roster), he’s probably not enough. Tropeano and Smith together might be enough as the A’s would receive one big league ready pitcher and a 23 year-old who is carving up AA, but I don’t think that I would want to see the Angels pillage that much of the pitching depth that Jerry Dipoto worked so hard to cultivate. So let’s say that it is one or the other, Billy. You get to choose between the Tropedo and Nate Smith.
Now that we have the pitcher, because one isn’t going to be enough, what position player should we add to the mix? The Angels have said that they would move Kole Calhoun to left field if needed, but I can’t help but to see any trade scenario that doesn’t involve our beloved ginger. The Angels farm system is particularly bare with regard to position players, and even the ones near the top of the list could give the illusion of a trash dump. Alex Yarbrough isn’t hitting as well at AAA as he has in the past, Roberto Baldoquin has a ton of money invested in him, Julio Garcia is hitting .200 in the DSL and Kyle Kubitza is the Angels third baseman of the future thanks to Kaleb Cowart forgetting how to hit baseballs before getting promoted to AAA this season.
In Kole Calhoun, the A’s would get a good player who could slot into Reddick’s position in the outfield, as well as give them more cost control and years under team control. Reddick is slated to become a free agent after the 2016 season, Calhoun is under team control until after the 2019 season. And we all know how much Billy Beane likes his cost control.
After that, it would really be anyone’s guess who could be involved in a hypothetical trade that would involve the Angels, the A’s and Josh Reddick. But, in my mind, as good as Josh Reddick is, he’s not worth a monumental haul. He is worth a haul of players that would be considered an exercise in retooling. On the Angels end of this deal, it is a net gain because Reddick is a better all around player than Calhoun is, but it does not rid them of Matt Joyce. It is still however an improvement in the middle of the lineup, giving Mike Scioscia a little more length in the middle of the order.
Some would probably look at this proposal and say that I am not giving up enough to receive Reddick in return. Maybe I am not, but the reality is, what little depth the Angels do have, they need to try and retain. In reality, the Angels might not have enough to make a play on Josh Reddick. But, in reality, the A’s may have lost a bit of their negotiating leverage thanks to Reddick’s very public comments about Billy Beane. And that could be enough of a window for Bill Stoneman to capitalize on this opportunity.
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