Josh Reddick: Three Trade Destinations For the Oakland Athletics’ Right-Fielder
Jul 19, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (22) reacts after hitting a grand slam home run against the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Three Trade Destinations For Josh Reddick
[Editor’s Note: David Murphy reportedly has been traded to the Los Angeles Angels by the Cleveland Indians.]
Oakland Athletics’ outfielder Josh Reddick is having the best season of his career. The right fielder is batting .282/.337/.451 this year, with 12 home runs in 91 games. Reddick has never performed so well, and he’s exceeding his career averages in nearly every category.
And yet, the best thing that Billy Beane could do would be to trade him.
Reddick is in his fourth season with Oakland, after spending three years with the Boston Red Sox, and he will be a free agent after the 2016 season. The A’s would be better off getting whatever trade value they can right now, especially considering how well he has played this season.
After the trades of Scott Kazmir, Ben Zobrist and Tyler Clippard, it’s clear that the Athletics have thrown in the towel on the 2015 season. The returns that they’ve received – Casey Meisner, Jacob Nottingham and others – have made the High-A Stockton Ports a better team, but they are a long way off from being valuable at the major league level. Reddick will be long gone before either trade can produce results at the big league level.
After his public dispute with the front office earlier this season over his lack of at-bats against left-handed pitchers, any trade of Reddick would likely be viewed as retribution for his comments. However, trading Reddick makes sense from a baseball standpoint, and it is in the A’s best interest to unload him this season, when he’s at his highest possible value.
With that in mind, who would be interested in a left fielder who can only bat well against right-handers?
Here are four possibilities:
Next: Reddick Destinations: The Cleveland Indians