Multiple reports are indicating that the Oakland Athletics have traded All-Star catcher Derek Norris to the San Diego Padres. This brings the total of departed A’s All-Stars from a season ago to four.
As Billy Beane continues to gut his roster, the Padres found a solid backstop to replace those who have departed thus far this offseason.
The A’s will reportedly acquire a minor league pitcher or two in return for Norris, who hit .270 with 10 homers and 55 RBI last season. The issues many had with Norris during what was a breakout campaign was that base-runners ran at will against him. This was no more evident than in Oakland’s wild card matchup with the Kansas City Royals.
Only 25 years of age, Norris not only gives San Diego an immediate starter behind the plate, he provides the ever-improving team with a long-term everyday catcher.
As it relates to the A’s, we stopped trying to figure out what general manager Billy Beane was doing before the iPhone even made it on the market many moons ago. The former MLB Executive of the Year has gutted a roster that was coming off three consecutive playoff appearances.
In addition to sending Norris packing, the A’s GM has traded Josh Donaldson, Jeff Samardzija and Brandon Moss over the course of the last month.
We will have updates on the names heading to Oakland when more information comes out.
Update: Oakland apparently received starting pitcher Jesse Hahn and reliever R.J. Alvarez from the Padres in this deal.
Hahn, who was a consensus top-10 player in the Padres system heading into the season, put up a solid 7-4 record with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 14 games (12 starts) for the Padres last season.
Alvarez had a cup of tea with the big league club in 2014, putting up a 1.13 ERA in 10 appearances. He averaged well over a strikeout per inning throughout his minor league career.
This appears to be a move that’s going to help both teams. The A’s have Stephen Vogt prepared to take over at catcher, while the Padres needed to add a backstop and could afford to part ways with some pitching.
San Diego also picked up minor league pitcher Seth Streich from Oakland in the deal.
H/t to Rumors and Rants for providing us the information regarding who was heading to Oakland in the deal.
Photo: USA Today