The Oakland Athletics Can Benefit From His Hot Start
First and foremost, it’s important to note that Reddick is simply punishing the ball in the early part of 2016. In his last seven games, he’s batting .560/.645/.600, with five RBIs and four runs scored, despite not hitting a single home run.
That’s an accurate depiction of his season. Reddick has just four homers in his first 33 games, but he has still managed to hit .317/.383/.460. His .843 OPS is the highest of his career (albeit with a long way to go in the season).
Perhaps what’s best about Reddick’s start, however, is that it continues a trend. In 2013, he had a .686 OPSin 113 games for the A’s. The following year, he posted a .763 OPS, and last year, it climbed even further to .781. With such a strong beginning to the 2016 campaign, it appears that his pattern of increasing success has continued.
That could be enough to raise his price in a trade deal. Where the A’s might have collected a pair of decent prospects before, they should now be able to pick up some better pieces. There are not a lot of upper-tier outfielders who will be up for grabs on the trade market, making Reddick a valuable pickup. He’s not going to net the same kind of haul as a Ben Zobrist or Josh Donaldson, but he could be about as valuable as Scott Kazmir was.
Next: Why the A's Should Deal Reddick: Reason #2