Oakland Athletics Trade Scott Kazmir to Houston Astros For Prospects Daniel Mengden and Jacob Nottingham
After months of speculation, the Oakland Athletics have finally traded Scott Kazmir. The return is a perhaps not as exciting as some had hoped, but the Houston Astros’ made an offer that Billy Beane seems to have been satisfied with.
Catcher Jacob Nottingham and right-handed pitcher Daniel Mengden are the newest members of the A’s organization, and both are interesting prospects.
Nottingham is batting .326/.383/.558 this season, splitting time between A and High-A. He’s knocked in 60 RBIs and hit 14 homers so far, including four home runs in his first 17 games with High-A Lancaster. Nottingham was a sixth round draft pick in 2013, and in addition to catching, he also plays a little bit of first base.
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Mengden is equally intriguing. He was a fourth round pick in the 2014 draft, and he’s currently in his first full season in the minor leagues. For Quad City, Mengden was phenomenal. He had just a 1.16 ERA in 8 games, including six starts, and he struck out 36 batters in 38.2 innings while walking just eight. However, he struggled in High-A, as batters hit .298 against him and his ERA ballooned to 5.26. That doesn’t make his arm any less exciting, though, and A’s fans should be thrilled to get both of these players.
Some may say that Kazmir was worth more than two prospects well outside of the Astros’ top ten, and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. He made 18 starts for the A’s this season, to the tune of a 2.38 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 109.2 innings. While he’s been stellar, he is still just a three-month rental with a potential for injury issues, so the A’s should probably be glad they made out as well as they did.
Houston will be lucky to have the left-hander, as they make a playoff push behind ace Dallas Keuchel. If anyone is going to threaten Sonny Gray for the AL Cy Young Award, it’s Keuchel, but he can only pitch every fifth day. Kazmir will be a much-needed boost to a rotation that contained pitchers like Brett Oberholtzer.