Oakland Athletics: Should A’s Consider Trading Josh Reddick?

The Oakland Athletics 2016 season started off with a lot of promise, but with every game, it seems more and more like the A’s will be sellers at the deadline. Should Josh Reddick be on the table?

There was a moment, sometime during the Oakland Athletics‘ sweep of the New York Yankees in the Bronx, when it seemed possible that the preseason hate for the A’s 2016 team had gone too far. Had they become a much better team than anyone anticipated? Were the redesigned bullpen and young rotation coming together to create a great pitching staff, supported by a suddenly-successful lineup?

Then, the A’s went to Toronto, and began their descent into sub-.500 baseball.

With a 15-21 record, including losing eight of their last ten games, the Athletics have fallen into…third place.

Third doesn’t seem so bad, but they’re barely beating out the Angels and Astros, while the Mariners have cruised to a seven game advantage. In short, it’s going to take a pretty hot streak by the A’s and a dismal couple of weeks for Seattle and Texas if the Oakland Athletics are going to stay in the playoff race. It may be early, but the A’s are digging themselves a deeper and deeper hole every time they take the field.

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Many fans believed that the A’s would struggle in 2016, so it’s not like this is an unexpected development. The A’s had a brief flash of success that caused everyone to forget about the original projections for a losing season. Even though it’s not even the halfway point in May, it’s time to start adjusting to the fact that the Athletics will more than likely be sellers at the trade deadline.

Outfielder Josh Reddick has been a hot topic in trade talks since 2015, and this year will likely be no exception. Here are three reasons why the A’s should consider dealing their slugger (and potential team-MVP this year:

Next: Why the A's Should Deal Reddick: Reason #1

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

The Oakland Athletics Have Not Negotiated a Long-Term Deal With Reddick

Heading into Spring Training, Josh Reddick made it clear that he wanted any long-term deals with the Athletics to be signed and sealed by the start of the regular season. The A’s front office not-so-subtly told him to quiet down.

At the time, they explained that Reddick’s timeline was not the same as their timeline, and they had no intention of rushing into a lengthy deal. Both sides publicly said that they were interested in reaching an agreement, but there seemed to be no actual activity in terms of signing a deal. At one point, GM David Forst even said that it had been hard to catch up with Reddick and his agent, given everyone’s travel schedules – apparently Forst hasn’t heard of cell phones or email.

Many people speculated that this meant the A’s never planned to sign Reddick past 2016, and the longer he goes without a deal, the more likely this seems to be the case.

Reddick is almost certainly going to test the free agent waters at season’s end, and if the A’s continue on their current trajectory, there’s no reason to keep him until the end of the year, except to appease fans. That’s a poor reason to keep a player as valuable as Reddick, so smarter move would be for the A’s to deal their star outfielder and put up with the PR backlash that will ultimately occur.

Next: Another Perspective: Don't Worry, A's Fans, It's Only May

Don’t worry, A’s fans – there’s almost no chance he’ll be dealt before the Josh Reddick bobblehead giveaway day on May 28. But hopefully, sometime before the trade deadline, the Oakland Athletics will make the move. Reddick is an outstanding player and fun to watch – but it’s more important for the A’s to focus on improving their team for next season and beyond.