Bay Area Buzz 12/9: Brandon Moss, Jeff Samardzija, Warriors Win, Kings Win
Bay Area Topics
Brandon Moss
"Brandon Moss, The Boss, has been traded to the Cleveland Indians after nearly a week of will-they-won’t-they back and forth between the two teams. In exchange for our beloved player, the Oakland Athletics are set to receive minor league infielder, Joe Wendle. Yeah, you read that correctly.As has been reported here in the past few days, trading Brandon Moss is a tough pill to swallow. With the Indians not having an immediate need for him and a question over the trade value they would see in the slugger, it was worrying to many A’s fans as to what we’d get in return for such a strong arm in our lineup. The trade for Joe Wendle only ignites a worried fanbase who will, undoubtedly, question the logic behind trading an all star slugger, fan favorite for a minor league player who is coming off of an injury.In Wendle, the Athletics have acquired a middle infielder with a career .292 batting average through three minor league seasons. In 2013 and 2014 he was good for 16 homeruns each year and posts a .357 OBP. Wendle’s fielding percentage, however, sits at .972 which is far from elite."
Jeff Samardzija
"The A’s deal with the White Sox is complete, but not yet announced. What two big-league sources have told The Chronicle: Oakland will receive right-hander Chris Bassitt, and, as expected, infielder Marcus Semien, for All-Star Jeff Samardzija. There is also expected to be one other player coming to Oakland in the deal.He missed time with a broken right hand last year, but Bassitt went 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in six games, five starts, with the White Sox last year, and in nine minor-league outings, eight starts, he was 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He faced the A’s in September and allowed one run in six innings."
–Susan Slusser, San Francisco Chronicle
Warriors Win
"Even when the Warriors don’t play particularly well, they still blow out opponents.Case in point was Tuesday night in Minnesota, when the Warriors ran away with a 102-86 win over the Timberwolves at the Target Center for their 13th consecutive victory and eighth straight on the road, a franchise record.The Warriors shot just 22.7 percent (5-of-22) on threes and were rather sloppy offensively, yet managed to assert their dominance on an inferior team. The Splash Brothers led the way, as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson each finished with 21."
Kings Win
"Rudy Gay and Nik Stauskas were the stars of the night as the Sacramento Kings (11-10) topped the Utah Jazz (5-16) 101-92, as they were able to keep from falling below .500%.With DeMarcus Cousins rumored to possibly be out until January, the Kings were able to find a way to win without the big guy. With a team-on-my-back fourth-quarter performance from Gay, who finished with 29 points, and what hopes to be a breakout game from Stauskas, 15 points and eight rebounds (career highs in both), the Kings were able to hang on to their fourth quarter lead.Darren Collison added 16 points and six assists and Reggie Evans, in his first start of the season, did all the dirty work on his way to a six point-13 rebound performance in a game that could have gone either way."