With the Oakland Athletics dwelling in the cellar of the American League West, it should come to no surprise that the A’s will likely begin selling off their most valuable assets at this season’s trade deadline. The A’s, who don’t feature many big names to start with, will likely deal veteran outfielder Josh Willingham.
Willingham, who was acquired this offseason by Oakland through a trade with the Nationals, isn’t having a monster year or anything, but neither is Oakland. The A’s figure Willingham will be a Type-B free agent after this season, so they’ll likely try to get as much as they can for Willingham’s services this month.
Although he’s not having a career year, Willingham has shown signs of improvement recently since coming back from the DL this month. For the month of July, Willingham’s numbers look like this: .385/.448/.692 with two home runs and four RBIs. The A’s would be foolish not to sell Willingham while he’s healthy and productive.
He’s battled an achilles heel problem this season, and health is a major concern for Willingham. You never know if he’ll be bothered by the achilles or not, so Oakland’s window to deal him is closing as the deadline nears.
The A’s are figured to deal him, however, so it’s just a matter of when they’ll put together a deal.