The Oakland A’s have acquired starting pitcher Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes for young Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes according to Alex Speier of Red Sox Beat. The Red Sox are sending under $1 million to the A’s in the deal according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
It is worth noting that both teams filled major voids with this trade, the A’s are finally getting the front end starter they need for their push to the post season and the Red Sox acquired a much needed top-flight outfield bat.
Reactions:
Noah – I love this deal for the A’s. Lester gives them a formidable rotation for this postseason and likely makes them the favorites to win it all now. At the expense of Cespedes, (who is a free agent after the 2015 season), this deal was totally worth it for them. To acquire a pitcher of Lester’s caliber without losing several prospects is unbelievable. If only the Mets would make this kind of deal. Perhaps Bartolo Colon and an outfielder for someone like the Giant’s Hunter Pence? Who knows? This A’s and Red Sox trade has blown the market wide open, and a contending NL team might be pushing for an edge against the Athletics, I would love to see the Mets get involved.
Joe D. – Tough to find out that Cespedes was available and that we didn’t make a move for him. I wonder if there was any way for us to have landed him in any deal involving Colon and perhaps a better outfield option than Gomes. Even if it meant kicking in another spare part. There’s no way of really knowing if there was ever any such dialog between both teams, but there are few secrets in today’s age of social media so I doubt there were any trade discussions.
Lester is in a totally different class than Colon, but with Colon the A’s get more than a 2-month rental, a better second piece, and we could have kicked in $3-4 million, while coming away with a heckuva nice outfield piece. It all sounds so easy doesn’t it? 🙂
