Oakland Athletics Continue Purge with Ben Zobrist Trade
Here we are again A’s fans. Billy Beane further asserted that he raised the white flag on this season. The player who the Oakland Athletics thought would be a productive hitter and utility guy is on his way out the door with a trade. Today, the A’s dealt Ben Zobrist to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for RHP Aaron Brooks and minor league LHP Sean Manaea.
Right now, the best thing from the Zobrist, Tyler Clippard, and Scott Kazmir deals is the saved money. The combination of these three players put a huge financial burden on the A’s, and Beane made the right choice by relieving the budget strain.
As an A’s fan, I’ve been highly frustrated with Ben Zobrist all season. His role was to play multiple positions and provide offensive support. Sure, Oakland was able to use him at various spots around the field, but Zobrist was an absolute bum offensively. The least Zobrist could have done in return for a big paycheck by the A’s was produce some runs here and there, but he certainly failed at that.
It was truly shocking to see that Oakland placed Zobrist at a relatively high spot in the batting order much of this season. Maybe they thought his bat would eventually come to life. Zobrist was essentially the opposite of Stephen Vogt. In a significantly large amount of scenarios, Vogt was able to drive in runs and become a fan-favorite player. Zobrist, on the other hand, inspired nothing but disappointed sighs from A’s fans.
At least Kazmir’s departure left Oakland’s’ fans with memories of well pitched games, but Zobrist won’t be remembered for anything other than a waste of money.
For weeks now, there have been an array of articles talking about Zobrist’s strong hitting and strengths as a utility fielder, and it made me sick. Why would any team want Zobrist considering how worthless he has been? I have nothing but respect for Scott Kazmir. However, all I can think when it comes to Ben Zobrist is “good riddance.”
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It really seemed like Beane would deal Zobrist to the New York Mets, so it’s certainly a surprise that the trade is with the Royals. If anything, Kansas City needed better starting pitchers. Hopefully Zobrist gives the Royals as many headaches as he gave the A’s.
On the bright side in this week of purges, Oakland has acquired a decent amount of promising, young prospects. Many of them are pitchers, and it’s nice to see that Beane is giving the A’s a chance to develop a strong rotation again.
During the past three playoff appearances for the Oakland A’s, solid pitching was their key to success. If your pitchers can’t limit the amount of runs scored, then a strong offense doesn’t matter.
Therefore, not all hope is lost when it comes to future seasons for the Oakland Athletics. For starters, the organization is saving a lot of money that can go towards keeping vital players such as Sonny Gray.
If Oakland wants to return to the postseason quickly, they need to develop a strong rotation and bullpen around their golden boy, Sonny Gray.