Ryan Sweeney

[reillymcshane]

The A's just traded for Josh Willingham. That gives them an OF of Willingham, DeJesus and Crisp.

 

That leaves Ryan Sweeney on the bench (they also signed Matsui to DH, so that position if filled, and Barton is at 1B).

 

Sweeney had some injuries last year, but is one of the best fielders in the game. He's a .290ish hitter, not a lot of power. He hits well agaisnt righties (.305 BA, .773 OPS), but struggles against lefties (.245 BA, 628 OPS).

 

What if you dealt McGehee for Sweeney and parts.

 

Sweeney would be a huge upgrade over Hart in RF. You give Gamel 3B. You then use Hart as trade bait (what exactly for is a good question, but maybe for player(s) that could be used to get Garza or Shields).

 

It would leave you with line up like this:

 

Cain - CF

Sweeney - RF

Braun - LF

Fielder - 1B

Weeks - 2B

Gamel - 3B

Lucroy - C

Escobar - SS

 

It would balance out the lineup with the additional lefties. You could even give Dickerson some starts in CF against tough righties. Gomez could be used in RF against lefties, giving Sweeney a rest. Maybe not a pure platoon, but at least against tough lefties.

 

I believe Sweeney would be under control for 3 years.

 

As I said, he struggled last year with an injury, but in 2009 he put up a 3.9 WAR - his fielding was fantastic.

 

Of course, the A's might not want to deal Sweeney, with Crisp, Willingham and DeJesus only a year away from free agency. Or maybe they have platoon ideas of their own. But I thought I'd throw the guy out there. A way to improve the lineup L/R balance, and improve defense dramatically.

[Hofbraunhaus]

I don't really see him being available either but my immature side would like to thank him for keeping that last name around in baseball.

[dadofandrew]

He's a large downgrade from Hart offensively, and Sweeney would need a platoon partner. Why you'd trade a starting 3B for a platoon RF is a mystery to me. I'd rather put Gamel in RF and go from there. Sweeney as a 4th OF looks like a decent match, but they already have Dickerson.