Oakland Athletics Should Promote These Five Players In September
Mar 7, 2015; Mesa, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics second baseman Joe Wendle (52) slides at home plate and scores a run against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training baseball game at HoHoKam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Joey Wendle
Joey Wendle was the return from the Cleveland Indians when the A’s decided to send Brandon Moss to Ohio last offseason. The scouting report on Wendle explains that he has decent power for a middle infielder, and that this makes him a good doubles hitter with occasional home run power. His defensive skills are average, but he has settled into the every-day second baseman role in Nashville.
Wendle is a classic case of a young prospect who showed tremendous potential that was halted by a significant injury. That same scouting report explains that he suffered a broken hamate bone in 2014, which cost him half a season of development time at Double-A.
This season, he is batting .277 with a .718 OPS in Nashville. These are not necessarily numbers that will blow anybody away, but that isn’t the reason that he should be called up this season.
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The actual reason is that the window is closing on Wendle. The A’s are currently in the midst of an infield crisis. Marcus Semien has been rekindling his plate presence in the last few games, but he had a June and July so rough that any other shortstop with his service time would have been sent to Triple-A (we’re not even going to talk about his defense; we all know.). Danny Valencia has notched a hit in every start since he has been an Oakland A, but his presence at third base has booted Brett Lawrie to a somewhat uncomfortable position at second base. Eric Sogard is a tremendous defensive second baseman, but Wendle would have a significant offensive advantage over Sogard.
So that is why the window is open for Wendle right now. But why is the window closing? The answer is that the A’s have loaded their farm system with infielders through trades and draft picks. By 2017, Franklin Barreto, Chad Pinder, and Matt Chapman will all certainly be competing for Major League spots on the infield. By 2018, Richie Martin and Mikey White will be added into the mix. These are all players with much higher ceilings than Wendle. If the A’s want to get any return at all on their trade for Brandon Moss (other than salary relief), then 2016 is the year to use Wendle. He will simply be outmatched by all of the young talent that will be arriving in 2017.
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