Athletics & Padres & Royals

Submitted by: BigBubba

Athletics

NameAgeLevelP1P2AvailabilityYearsAFVSalarySurplusLowMedianHigh
MacKenzie GoreMinorsLHP12.810.212.815.4
Kevin KoppsMinorsRHP1.91.51.92.3
Cash2

Total Value:

16.7

Padres

NameAgeLevelP1P2AvailabilityYearsAFVSalarySurplusLowMedianHigh
Andrew Benintendi26MajorsOFMedium1129.32.72.22.73.2

Total Value:

2.7

Royals

NameAgeLevelP1P2AvailabilityYearsAFVSalarySurplusLowMedianHigh
Sean Manaea29MajorsSPHigh124.310.114.111.314.116.9
Wil Myers30MajorsOFHigh28.221-12.8-15.4-12.8-10.2

Total Value:

1.3

BigBubba

$2M cash is meant to approximate the value of the 40th overall pick which the Padres currently have as a comp pick. Acquiring this pick gives the A's 4 of the first 70 picks in a deep draft class. Kopps is a fast rising closer prospect, and Gore has looked better in Spring Training. Grover has said in the past that he prefers the A's to go after upside for the rebuild, and Gore certainly has that. Royals have cash to spare to take on Myers contract, and have to spend little to get Manaea in addition to bolster the rotation. If KC flops by the deadline, they both could be tradable assets. Padres use prospect capital to get Myers off the books (which they have actively been trying to do), and get an upgrade in LF in Benintendi.

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grover

I like upside but I also like the A's to acquire healthy players, so clearly they aren't on the same page as I. I haven't heard much about Gore in ST and am surprised by this recent bump. Guess I need to do some digging... Kopps is a "No". Oakland has made it a point of emphasis the get some present value back with each trade thus far and I imagine that will continue when they deal Manaea. Let's swap Kopps for Knehr (1.4) and give the A's a big league ready arm.

Kellstar

I feel like the padres say no, beinintendi is kinda inconsistent and they dont want to give up 2 of their 3 highest ceiling pitchers (the other being kerr) just to get a slightly worse myers without the contract

BigBubba

That's reasonable to believe. My basis was that, even after the changes made in the new CBA in terms of luxury tax and the universal DH, the Padres are still trying to get rid of Hosmer and Myers. Hosmer I can believe since he's basically dead weight, but Myers was productive last season, and is projected to be similar next season. In my mind, that would mean they would try to keep him, however, as of last week, Myers is still being "aggressively" shopped. That leads me to the conclusion that payroll is a greater concern then on-field production, and getting a similar replacement for cheaper in Benintendi would be the aim.

Kellstar

Yea I can agree with that, but I feel like the padres believe that 2021 is a one off and if he returns 2020 form he would be better than beinintendi.

BigBubba

And I wouldn't blame the Padres for hoping for him to bounce back. But the other side of the argument is just as likely. Firstly, Myers' offense has been on a steady decline since 2016. Myers' 2020 numbers were so far off of his career norms it would be reasonable to assume they're a fluke. Secondly, the 2020 season itself was host to a bunch of players outperforming their career numbers in a 60 game sprint, such as Swanson, Tapia, Senzatela, Keuchel, Davies, and Marco Gonzales. You could assume that each of these players and Myers had a hot stretch that just happened to last the entire, or at least a significant portion of the, shortened season, and returned to career norms in a large sample size of games.

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johnbitzer

We don't normally upgrade based on ST, but this is unusual. He looks like a completely different pitcher, and this type of change almost always results in evaluation upgrades. He's trending back up, so it seemed like a little bump is warranted.

BigBubba

I'm basing my assessment of Gore based on two things. One, he supposedly was hitting 99 at the start of ST. And two, he carved up my Mariners a few days ago (2 IP, 0 H, 2 K, 0 BB), and then he did it again today against the Angels (3 IP, 1 H, 5 K, 0 BB. Obviously its a small sample size, but the part that stands out to me is the lack of walks given up. His 2021 walk rate nearly doubled from his pre-COVID numbers, and that fact that he didn't give up a single one in 7 innings gets me excited. Here's some footage, his off speed stuff looks particularly good. M's sent out their Opening Day lineup, while the Angels sent their bench. https://www.mlb.com/video/mackenzie-gore-s-scoreless-start?q=MacKenzie%20Gore&cp=CMS_FIRST&qt=FREETEXT&p=0 https://www.mlb.com/video/mackenzie-gore-strikes-out-five?q=MacKenzie%20Gore&cp=CMS_FIRST&qt=FREETEXT&p=0 Feel free to swap Kopps for Knehr, but I'll argue that Kopps is as big league ready as they get. He won the Golden Spikes Award last year as a reliever that threw 89 innings in 33 games with a sub 1.00 ERA, 131 Ks, and 18 BBs. He's already touched AA in his first professional season, and if he continues that trajectory through ST, there's no reason he shouldn't be in the Padres bullpen.

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grover

Not convinced Kopps is big league ready after two games in AA. I'll stick with Knehr. Thanks for the links on Gore.

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