Michael Morse to the Mariners, but the A's win

The Nationals recently completed a three-way trade involving the A’s and the Mariners. The Nationals sent 1B/ OF Michael Morse to Seattle, the A’s received catcher John Jaso from the Mariners and the Nationals got prospects AJ Cole, Blake Treinen and a player to be named later from Oakland. On the surface the trade appears to be a win-win-win for everyone involved. The A’s improved at catcher, the Mariners got a potentially really good hitter and the Nationals traded an expendable player to improve their farm system. However, if you look closely Billy Beane proved once again why he was the executive of the year.

AJ Cole

AJ Cole is a tall and skinny right-handed pitcher out of Winter Springs, Florida. His 6’4” 185 pound frame and ability to throw in the low 90s screams huge potential to major league scouts. The Nationals originally drafted AJ Cole in the 4th round before he was traded to the A’s in the Gio Gonzales deal. After two years he has yet to fill out, and subsequently has had minimal success as a professional pitcher. Last year he went 0-7 with a 7.42 ERA in Oakland’s farm system. So Beane, after buying a shiny car from Rizzo (Nats GM) and finding out there was no engine, sold the shiny car back to the Nationals and improved his catching situation in the process. Beane had obviously seen enough out of Cole and felt he was going to be a bust, so he got rid of him before he could completely implode on himself, which would ruin his value to other teams. AJ’s body may be projectable, but a 7.42 ERA isn’t.

The other prospect Billy Beane traded to the Nats is Blake Treinen, a pitcher out of South Dakota State who has the ability to throw in the mid to low 90s. However, he has yet to produce outstanding numbers in the A’s farm system and in result hasn’t reached passed A ball. He isn’t a highly touted prospect so it seems unlikely that he will ever make a huge impact on a major league squad anytime soon.

So lets review how each team did. The Mariners got a potential .300 average 30 homerun hitting DH for the price of one of their two catchers. The A’s improved at catcher for almost nothing, and the Nationals traded a highly valued fan favorite in return for a prospect with a good body and no production. I’ll let you decide the winners and losers.

Despite everything, the Nationals will still be a World Series contender, the Mariners are still the second worst team in the AL West and the A’s improved on a roster that won the AL West last year.

-Blake Dale Lepire