A Closer Look: Ryan Cook

Over the next couple of days Swingin’ A’s will take a closer look at some of the prospects the Athletics scored in the Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey trades. We now take a look at Ryan Cook, a prospect acquired in the Trevor Cahill trade. 

The A’s may have scored pretty big in the Gio Gonzalez trade recently, but their first major shift towards yet another rebuild with the Trevor Cahill trade wasn’t nearly as impressive. Sure, the A’s scored top-pitching prospect Jarrod Parker in the Cahill deal, but other than that the A’s didn’t get much else.

Parker has the potential to be a solid No.2 starter, but the other pitcher Oakland received in the Cahill trade, Ryan Cook, is more of an extra piece than a prized pitcher.

Cook, 24, enjoyed a solid 2011 campaign with Arizona’s Double-A and Triple-A teams in 2011 but isn’t considered a major piece of the Cahill deal. He throws a fastball that clocks in around the mid-90s, but is still working on his control, slider, and his change-up.

In 34 appearances with Arizona’s Double-A team, Cook went 1-4 with a 2.25 ERA over 44.0 innings of work. He also posted an impressive 10.23 K/9 rate and a 2.61 FIP in Double-A as well. Once he moved up to Triple-A, though, his numbers became less impressive.

In 14 appearances with Arizona’s Triple-A team, Cook went 0-1 with six saves and a 2.12 ERA over 17.0 innings. He posted a 6.35 K/9 rate and a 4.24 BB/9 rate as well as a 3.38 FIP.

In the years before 2011, Cook was considered a very mediocre pitcher. Take his 2010 campaign with Arizona’s A+ team for example. In 25 appearances that year, Cook went 4-7 with a 4.32 ERA and suffered even more when he was promoted to Double-A that year as well.

He did appear in 12 games in 2011 for the Diamondbacks, going 0-1 with a 7.04 ERA, a 8.22 K/9, 9.39 BB/9, over 7.2 innings of work. A small sample size, indeed, but even so, Cook’s value to the A’s isn’t exceedingly high.

Parker was the main piece behind the Cahill trade for the A’s, Cook was just an added bonus.

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