Fire Sale in Oakland Continues...

[G-Dubb]

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/ne...t_id=2338480&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak



01/03/2008 3:01 PM ET

A's send Swisher to Sox for prospects

Switch-hitting outfielder traded for three top Minor Leaguers

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com


CHICAGO -- With the first major trade of 2008, the White Sox added a veteran outfielder with power and on-base potential and Oakland picked up three top-flight Minor Leaguers who could help the team in the present and the future.

Oakland sent switch-hitting slugger Nick Swisher to Chicago in exchange for outfielder Ryan Sweeney, left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez and right-handed starter Fautino De Los Santos. Although Sweeney stands as the only one of the three with any Major League experience, Gonzalez and De Los Santos were considered the two top pitching prospects in Chicago's organization.

Swisher, 27, provides the White Sox with the outfield upgrade that the team has searched for during the present offseason. He batted .262 in 2007, with 22 home runs and 78 RBIs in 150 games. Swisher also set career highs with a .381 on-base percentage, 100 walks and 36 doubles. He split his time relatively evenly between center field, right field and first base.

"Nick is a quality switch hitter who consistently gets on base, hits for power and drives in runs," White Sox general manager Ken Williams said of Swisher.

"He gives Ozzie Guillen offensive flexibility with his ability to hit in a number of spots up and down the batting order, and his athleticism allows him to play any outfield position or first base," Williams added. "Nick brings to the ballpark a mix of hard-nosed play, energy and a commitment to winning, and he brings it each and every day. He's a great addition to our team and clubhouse."

Adding Swisher also gives the White Sox a player signed through 2011, with an option for 2012.

Gonzalez, 22, finished 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA in 27 starts for Double-A Birmingham last season. He fanned 185 in 150 innings and had an outside shot to compete for the White Sox rotation in 2008. De Los Santos, 21, posted a 10-5 record and 2.65 ERA in 26 games between Class A Kannapolis and Class A Winston-Salem. He also pitched in the Futures Game during All-Star weekend.

 

[Defy]

maybe now the price of his jersey will drop dramatically.....fuck the guy, I wanna wear the name swisher!

 

[G-Dubb]

Gonzalez led all of minor league baseball with 185 strikeouts while pitching for Double-A Birmingham last year. He was 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA in 27 games, all starts, for the Barons and was named to the Southern League midseason and postseason All-Star teams. The 22-year old left-hander also ranked fourth in the SL in ERA and led SL starters with a .216 opponents batting average. Gonzalez was originally drafted by the White Sox as a compensation pick (38th selection overall) between the first and second rounds of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. He is 31-28 with a 3.49 ERA in 91 career minor league appearances, 89 starts, and has 577 strikeouts in 492.1 innings.

De Los Santos was named the South Atlantic League’s Most Outstanding Major League Prospect and was also named to the SAL midseason and postseason All-Star teams in 2007 after going 9-4 with a 2.40 ERA and .148 opponents batting average in 21 games, 15 starts at Single-A Kannapolis. He also made five starts for Single-A Winston-Salem and combined at both stops for a 10-5 record and a 2.65 ERA in 26 games, 20 starts. The 21-year old Dominican native ranked second in the White Sox farm system in ERA, third in strikeouts (153) and fourth in wins. De Los Santos pitched for the World Team in the 2007 Futures Game in San Francisco in just his second professional season. He has 214 strikeouts in 170.2 career innings.

Sweeney was named the White Sox number one prospect by Baseball America entering the 2007 season and hit .270 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI in 105 games at Triple-A Charlotte. He also hit .200 with a home run and five RBI in 15 games with Chicago and is a .213 career hitter in 33 games over two seasons with the White Sox. The 22-year old left-handed hitting outfielder played for the Arizona Fall League Champion Phoenix Desert Dogs following the season and hit .286 with a home run and 13 RBI in 23 games. Sweeney was originally drafted by the White Sox in the second round of the 2003 draft and will be added to the A’s 40-man roster, which now stands at 40.

 

[Rich]

yeah heard this on KNBR earlier. A's are just getting the most of what they can for their best players.

 

[MAVA]

dont remind me

 

[BETO916]

FUCK YOU BILLY BEANE!!!!

those kids better be some SAVS.

we just signed swisher to a friggin contract extension for CHEAP

 

[Impalas]

Beane has a good eye for upcoming talent the problem is i would like to see the A's in the playoffs this year not two or three years from now. He traded a top pitcher and now swisher. It getting hard to remember who is on the fucking team so many young players.

 

[BETO916]

I feel you....but givin up haren and swisher is like the colts givin up harrison and manning

 

[G-Dubb]

I think Street's next... Then Blanton... Harden will be gone as soon as he can prove he's healthy (if that ever happens,) same with Crosby...

 

[Mr. Chronic]

I think Street's next... Then Blanton... Harden will be gone as soon as he can prove he's healthy (if that ever happens,) same with Crosby...

You think they're going to gut the entire team? Somebody on last year's rosters gotta stick around.

I kind of agree with what this other dude said in the other Swisher trade thread, in that the A's will never compete for a championship when they just wheel and deal their best players for potential. While we'll awlays be competitive, we'll never win the one that matters most.

 

[G-Dubb]

You think they're going to gut the entire team? Somebody on last year's rosters gotta stick around.

I kind of agree with what this other dude said in the other Swisher trade thread, in that the A's will never compete for a championship when they just wheel and deal their best players for potential. While we'll awlays be competitive, we'll never win the one that matters most.

They should gut the entire team. Here's the problem... Last year they had a bad year... So say they keep Haren and Swisher... What do they have to do not just to compete with the Angels for the West, but make a run at a title? They'd have to spend money like the Yankees, which they don't have... Not now anyway. Or trade away their farm system to get some good players... But their farm system is depleted.

They have a handful of excellent players... With that handful of players they were still a bad team... They might as well trade them away to make another run in a couple years.

As far as this cycle of trading away their stars, I think we're seeing the last of it. Before Lew Wolff came in, the A's were never going to spend money because the owners were cheap. Now we have a new owner, but right now his main priority isn't winning, it's building a ballpark... I think once the new stadium is built and they're making money they'll start keeping more of their players.