Billy Beane is at it again, but this time, dangling his 1st basemen for trade bait, Brandon Moss. As the Winter Meetings begin on what would usually be a mundane Monday, the hot stove is burning, and teams across the league are rumored to be involved with players such as Jeff Samardzija and Brandon Moss, both of the Oakland Athletics. While Samardzija is tied very closely to the White Sox of late, Brandon Moss is also being tied to an AL Central team in the Cleveland Indians, who were “close” to acquiring the power hitter last week before talks stalled.
#Indians and #Athletics inching close to Brandon Moss deal. Likely to get done at these Meetings. Cle wants power. Oak young middle IFs.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 8, 2014
Cleveland Indians: The third place team in the AL Central was only a few wins away from a wild card spot last season, despite seeing lackluster performances by a few of their highest paid players in franchise history in Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, who have both been injury ridden as well. After finishing 7th in the American League in runs, and 9th in home runs, the tribe is looking for power and pitching stability as the meetings begin.
Oakland Athletics: After dealing their club controlled All-Star third basemen, Josh Donaldson, Oakland fans are hoping to make sense of their recent moves. They will lose Jon Lester to free agency, and Jeff Samardzija is very likely to be dealt this week, so who should they target in a deal for their first basemen? Well, we’ve heard the A’s have prioritized middle infielders, and calls for upgrades in the pitching department have been heard.
The Indians have a few young middle infielders including Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Erik Gonzales, and Joey Wendle. The tribe had 7 different starters make at least 14 starts last season, but don’t have the stability in their rotation to make a significant deal involving one of them. It will be interesting to see what Billy Beane can conjure up for Moss, a power bat who finished last season with 25 home runs, and hit 30 the year before. Moss isn’t going to blow anyone away with his batting average, but his OBP was exactly 100 points higher than his average, which suggest patience and the ability to find ways on base regardless if he is hitting singles or not. Cleveland doesn’t need someone to hit singles. Well, maybe they do, but they want power, and Moss has it. He is also cost-efficient compared to some of their recent contracts for power(Swisher), and won’t be a free agent until 2017.
Stay here for more updates on this possible trade and all rumors this week.
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