Athletics Acquire Jorge De Leon, Release Dunn
Jorge De Leon acquired by the Athletics from the Astros Mandatory Credit: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Athletics have just announced the acquisition of RHP Jorge De Leon from the Houston Astros.
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Jorge De Leon, claimed off of waivers, has spent two seasons with the Houston Astros appearing in 19 games and accumulating a 5.19 ERA in 17.1 innings. He was drafted by the Astros in 2006, granted free agency in 2012 and has spent most of his career pitching in the minors. It is unclear, at the moment, what moves Billy Beane is attempting to make with this acquisition as De Leon has very little big league experience, offers little in trade potential and doesn’t necessarily fill a void that the Athletics currently have but, as we all know, Beane is always playing two or three moves ahead of everyone else and probably has something up his sleeve.
Rumors have been circulating over the past two days that Beane may be interested in grabbing Yasiel Puig from the Dodgers and that they’re looking to boost their bullpen. If these rumors are true, this acquisition could very well be a small piece of that bigger deal but there are no official signs that point in that direction.
Late-night thought: Yasiel Puig might be somebody Billy Beane would secretly target for a surprise deal.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) October 8, 2014
The Athletics have also released designated hitter Adam Dunn. Dunn, who played 2001 games before his first post-season opportunity, has made it clear that this would be his last year in baseball and reiterated that fact after the Athletics’ wildcard loss, for which he did not receive an at-bat. Releasing Dunn is probably a formality in the process of retirement but many fans, myself included, would have liked to have seen the Athletics talk him out of retirement for one more year as his power bat would help keep the Athletics in contention for a 2015 post season run.
This is the first off-season move Beane has made and still gives zero indication of where he’s going with the team next year. Some speculate that he’ll have a fire sale and rebuild the team from scratch while others think that he’ll make small adjustments and go “all in” for one last shot for a ring in 2015. With most of the free agent players being 2014 rentals anyway, it is very possible that the window for the Athletics may have one more season of being open.
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