A Closer Look: Josh Reddick

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. Next on our list is outfielder Josh Reddick, who was brought over in the Bailey deal. 

The A’s may not have Josh Willingham anymore, but the team recently acquired another Josh, as in outfielder Josh Reddick from the Andrew Bailey deal. Reddick, 24, is described as a true athlete with a quick bat and decent power.

The Bailey deal may not have impressed many A’s fans, but rest assured, Reddick is a player worth watching.

He may not excite everyone, but I’m sticking by Reddick. He’s only got 403 major league at-bats under his belt, so projecting Reddick’s 2012 season might be a little difficult.

Given the team’s situation in the outfield this year, though, I see Reddick starting this season rather than riding the bench. Yeah, his minor-league numbers might suggest that Reddick is nothing more than a fourth-outfielder or another Ryan Sweeney, but I’m a fan of the former 17th round draft pick from 2006.

His minor league numbers show that he’s got decent power, as he posted a .200 ISO in 2010 with Triple-A Pawtucket and a .277 ISO last year with Pawtucket. Eno Sarris of FanGraphs.com, makes an excellent point that Reddick’s power numbers won’t be drastically affected by the cavernous Coliseum, as the park factor for home runs by lefties in the Coliseum is a “reasonable” 89.

He performed well with Boston last season, batting .280/.327/.457 with 7 HR and 28 RBIs in 254 at-bats. Defensively, he showed good range in the outfield.

He’s got a plus-arm with outstanding accuracy and can play all three outfield positions. He’d probably fit in better as a corner-outfield, though.

He’s struggled, at times, with his strikeouts, but he did show improvement last year. He showed a little more plate discipline with Triple-A and the Red Sox, but there are those skeptics out there who remain unimpressed by Reddick.

Reddick posted a 105 wRC+ last year with Boston and definitely brings a little more power to the table than Sweeney would have this year. He’ll definitely find a ton of playing time this year with Oakland, which will open the 2012 season with a completely revamped outfield.

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