Athletics & Twins
Submitted by: andyinfremont
Athletics
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Griffin Jax | Minors | RHP | 2 | 1.6 | 2 | 2.4 | ||||||
| Devin Smeltzer | Minors | LHP | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
Total Value:
2.5
Twins
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robbie Grossman | 29 | Majors | OF | Medium | 1.7 | 7.9 | 5 | 3 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 3.8 |
Total Value:
2.6
Comments
3The Twins need outfield depth with Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton on the IL (although Buxton will apparently be back soon). Grossman gives them a solid corner outfielder and a good pinch hitter against righties. Trading Grossman removes a bit of a logjam for the A's, allowing them to either give Pinder and Canha more playing time, or possibly a AAA guy like Bolt, Fowler or Martini. Personally, I'd fill Grossman's 25-man slot with a hot-hitting second baseman (either Barreto or Mateo), moving Profar to more of a platoon/utility role. The A's get two interesting minor league starters. Jax, 24, a 3rd Rd. pick in 2016, has done very well in 11 starts for AA Pensacola (.224 BAA, 1.01 WHIP). Smeltzer, 23, a 5th Rd. pick in 2016, has gone from AA to AAA to a pair of starts with the Twins, and his numbers have been great (.232 BAA, 1.10 WHIP in the minors, .186 BAA, 0.89 WHIP with the Twins). Both players still have at least 6 years of team control. Smeltzer would take Grossman's 40-man roster slot.
NEWSLETTER? SURE, SIGN ME UP!
The only potential problem I see with this is that the Twins just had Grossman, and decided to non-tender him. That leads me to believe they wouldn't want him back.
Good point, although they arguably non-tendered him to avoid an arbitration raise, not because they didn't like him, or didn't think he was worth his current $2M salary. Grossman would also be familiar with the club in a way most players wouldn't, which I assume would be a plus. But maybe the optics would cause the Twins to pass on a reunion, even with the cost to get him being fairly low.