July 22nd, 2022
All-Star Swap: Harper for Seager!
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Leave it to Billy Beane to make a blockbuster trade that leaves everyone scratching their heads, while his team is thundering through along on a 15-game win streak. The San Jose A's traded 9-time All-Star and 2-time MVP Bryce Harper to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday for 2018 AL MVP Corey Seager. The A's also receive pitching prospect Al Townsend and cash in return for minor league outfielders Gonzalo Sanchez and Cecil Crum.
"I know, why mess up a perfectly good thing?" Beane conceded, referring to his team's MLB-best mark of 67-29 at the All-Star Break. "But if you have an opportunity to improve your team's situation, that's a chance you have to be willing to take."
The move leaves the A's thin at the outfield position, with light-hitting Jhonny Rodriguez (.241 career hitter) taking over everyday duties in centerfield. It is assumed that minor league prospect Octavio Hernandez will be promoted from AAA Sacramento once he recovers from a high ankle sprain. The trade also gives the A's a formidable infield, with Seager moving to third base.
"We don't need Corey to be an MVP player for us," said Beane. "We just need him to be the .300, 20 homerun guy we've all come to know and love. Anything beyond that is gravy."
Seager had signed a free agent contract with the Dodgers, and the swap of MVP's will save the A's almost $10 million next season, and $20 million in the two years following. Trading Seager so quickly after signing him came as a surprise for the Dodgers, but was necessitated by injuries to outfielder Jayson Heyward and first baseman Prince Fielder.
"They wanted a homerun hitter for the middle of their lineup," Beane explained. "When Heyward comes back this season, that's a batting order nobody's going to want to face."
In a pair of separate but related transactions, the A's shipped third baseman Matt Dominguez to Pittsburgh for relief pitchers Tony Blanford and Calvin Carter. They also traded former first-round draft choice Ray Thrailkill, reliever Phil Bickford, and cash for Reds prospect Juan Morales.
Seager is expected to join the team for its series opener with the Boston Red Sox in San Jose.