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The Oakland Telegraph
29 November 2028
A's complete early trades while Dominguez and Olson depart
By Gethin Early, fast offseason moves correspondent
Oakland's general manager Paulie Beane is not a man to take things slowly and patiently when he wants to get something done. It's unsurprising he has never been able to keep a girlfriend for any length of time.
Players have only today filed for free agency, but Beane marked this milestone by completing two trades to make his roster younger. The first was with frequent trade partner Atlanta, and essentially saw 29-year-old third baseman Leon Aponte depart the A's, with 23-year-old infield defensive specialist Derek Hopkins (23/R/2.5*, drafted 2026 rd 1 by Atlanta) joining the American League champions in return. Hopkins is a whizz in the field but barely mediocre with the bat. Aponte swung the bat with great power, but that got wasted by his uncanny ability to swing the bat where the ball wasn't. Makeweights in the deal included young closer Bart Carter, who frankly couldn't close a gate let alone a Major League Baseball game, leaving the A's, and second baseman Duane McBride (24/R/1*, drafted 2023 rd 3 by Atlanta) moving to the Coliseum.
The second trade saw 23-year-old catcher Miguel Rojas (23/S/1.5*, drafted 2023 rd 1 by San Francisco) join the A's organisation, in return for long-shot pitching prospects Ramon Sandoval and Ricardo Morin. Rojas's arrival is likely to mean reserve catcher Dylan Johnston is available to being made part of a larger trade if needed at some point during the season.
Meanwhile, first base stalwart Matt Olson and reliever Jose Dominguez have departed to become free agents. Olson was promoted from the minors by Beane as a September call-up towards the end of the 2016 season. He took over the first base job from Ike Davis at the start of 2017, and was a fixture in the side for the next 12 seasons. Over that time, he played 1831 games, hitting 269 homers with a career .350 on-base percentage. He has a great eye and earned over 100 walks in four separate seasons. He never made the all-star game, but must have been very close on several occasions. Toyokazu Watanabe and promoted hot prospect Liam Brown will between them share the first base job next season. Beane said, "Matt has our sincere gratitude for his many years of excellent service for this ball club. As an MLB Manager I have no minor league farm system nor coaching staff, but if I did, I would offer Matt a hitting coach job when the time comes he decides to retire from playing." Reminded by reporters that this was his imaginary world, and he could choose to pretend anyone he wants is a coach if he so felt like it, Beane replied, "Good point. Ok when he retires you may definitely consider him appointed. If I remember, of course." Jose Dominguez did very well at the club but played just one season so merits only this single sentence. Beane was pretty gutted to find neither player designated as a Type A free agent.
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