3 under the radar trade candidates on Oakland A’s
By David Hill
Elvis Andrus
This is entirely contingent on the Oakland A’s and New York Mets making another trade.
The Mets have indicated that they are not willing to part with any of their top prospects to improve their roster. They do, however, have Steve Cohen’s bank account and a willingness to take on bad contracts in order to make a deal happen.
Such would be the case with Elvis Andrus. While he could be a viable trade candidate in his own right, there is a matter of his vesting option. Should Andrus receive 550 plate appearances this year, a $15 million player option for 2023 would be triggered. There is no question that he would opt in to that salary for 2023 as he would not receive anything close to that on the open market.
As it currently stands, Andrus will come close to reaching that threshold. He is on pace for approximately 540 plate appearances heading into Wednesday, putting him right on the cusp of that mark. While his performance this year – a 93 OPS+ with five homers and 19 doubles heading into Wednesday – could be enough to warrant a trade on its own, the A’s would likely have to pick up some of his salary should he reach that vesting option. If the Mets want to take on that salary, it would save the A’s enough money that they could be willing to take a lesser package.
Elvis Andrus may be untradeable because of his vesting option. But there is always a chance when a team is willing to take on a bad contact to make a deal happen.