Joe Sclafani: The Player the Oakland Athletics Should Acquire
By Jason Burke
Joe Sclafani. Think of him as a younger, cheaper, attainable Ben Zobrist. Right now, Sclafani is a member of the Houston Astros farm system, but with a little bit of Billy Beane magic, he could come to Oakland, and fill one of many gaping holes for the A’s.
The 24-year old Sclafani has yet to see time in the majors, partially because he was drafted as a shortstop, and was in the same class as highly ranked Astros prospects, Carlos Correa (#1 overall in the Astros system) and Nolan Fontana (#16), both of whom are also shortstops. Due to the talent ahead of him, Sclafani has learned multiple new positions, including second and third bases, and left and right fields.
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In three minor league seasons, the utility man has hit .295, and in 62 games in Triple-A Oklahoma City, hit .366. Sclafani isn’t necessarily known for his power, but he is a pesky hitter, and a tough at-bat. In his minor league career, Sclafani has walked (138) nearly as many times as he has struck out (147). By comparison, Josh Donaldson, the A’s leader in walks in 2014 (76), also struck out 130 times. Third on the list, Coco Crisp had 66 walks, and strikeouts.
With Jed Lowrie testing the free agent market, and likely to command more than the A’s are willing to pay him, Sclafani is a very viable trade target. The Astros are in need of some bullpen help, as well as some help in the bottom of their rotation. Lucky for the A’s, those are two areas the team has depth.
While Scott Kazmir would be the player that most fans would be willing to part with, he doesn’t make sense for the Astros. Kazmir is due $13M ($11M, plus $2M luxury tax for his signing bonus), and Houston has said that they will be adding roughly $20M to their payroll for 2015. With the team unlikely to go for it all in 2015, allotting over half of their money to one player wouldn’t make sense.
Ryan Cook could be an option to consider. He is in his arbitration years, but won’t become a free agent until 2018. Cook struggled in 2014, with an ERA of 3.42, but his career ERA is 2.77. Drew Pomeranz would be another option, but it would likely take more than one unproven minor leaguer to pry the versatile Pomeranz away from Oakland.
Going after Joe Sclafani could be a risk, since he is unproven, but there is a lot of potential here. Plus, he plays nearly every position, so he sounds like an Oakland A already.