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Oakland A’s players generating plenty of interest ahead of trade deadline

By David Hill

Jun 11, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Frankie Montas (47) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 11, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Frankie Montas (47) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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It is not a secret that the Oakland A’s are going to be sellers at the trade deadline. After all, they had traded almost every one of their major league caliber assets in an effort to slash payroll and add more money to John Fisher’s bottom line. Considering that the A’s are unsurprisingly one of the worst teams in the majors, it is a matter of time before anything else with value is sent away.

Those calls are already starting. According to Jon Heyman, teams are already inquiring about Frankie Montas. He also listed Sean Murphy, Chad Pinder, Ramon Laureano, Elvis Andrus, and Jed Lowrie as players with a chance to be traded away as well.

Oakland A’s may as well get rid of almost everyone

Frankly, if any team wants to give the A’s anything for Andrus and Lowrie, they should just say yes and send the paperwork in. It would allow them to avoid Andrus’ $15 million option for next year and the idea that another team can keep Lowrie healthy is laughable. Let someone else take that risk.

It also makes a great deal of sense to trade Pinder. He is a free agent after this season, and despite the A’s reluctance heretofore to entertain trade offers, a deal needs to happen. Everyone knows that the A’s are not going to give him the Qualifying Offer nor are they going to re-sign him considering he would command more than some loose change that Billy Beane found on the sidewalk.

Montas is as good as gone; it is just a matter of when. Considering he has another year of team control left, and has those flashes where he pitches at an ace level, some team will pay the sort of ransom the A’s need for him.

Laureano and Murphy are much more debatable. It seems to be a matter of time until Murphy is sent packing, especially since Shea Langeliers has nothing more to prove at Triple-A. He also has not exactly lived up to being the player that his metrics indicate. Laureano, on the other hand, is the heart and soul of the A’s and the one player they should look to build around. However, as that would be logical, they probably will not do that either.

Next. The Cristian Pache question. dark

The Oakland A’s are already receiving plenty of interest for their players. Now they actually have to pull the trigger on the deals that make sense.