After four months of holding our breaths, the hammer has finally dropped.
The Oakland A’s traded first baseman Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves on Monday, first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN and later confirmed by the team. This is the Oakland’s second star trade since the MLB lockout ended four days ago, and it represents their biggest among many major trade chips this winter.
In exchange, the A’s received an absolute haul, getting four prospects from the Braves: OF Cristian Pache, C Shea Langeliers, SP Ryan Cusick, and SP Joey Estes. That’s not a list of spare parts or sleepers, it’s basically Atlanta’s farm, including arguably their top two prospects and four from their Top 15. Two of those names are consensus national Top 100 talents.
Pache was the Braves top prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and their third-best per Baseball America, and those two sources ranked him No. 38 and No. 84 nationally. He’s an elite defensive outfielder who could slide into CF in Oakland immediately at age 23, having already debuted in MLB and played in two different postseasons. His bat is no better than decent and might be below-average, but his 80-grade fielding tool might give him the best glove in the entire sport, and that along with his 70+ arm and speed offer a path to making an impact no matter what happens at the plate.
- Pache, 2021 AAA: .265/.330/.414, 100 wRC+, 11 HR, 8.5% BB, 27.5% Ks
- Pache, 2021 MLB: 7-for-63 (.111), 1 HR, 2 BB, 25 Ks
- Pache, 2020 NLCS: 4-for-22, HR, double, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 4 Ks
Langeliers was the Braves No. 2 prospect per both Pipeline and BA, meaning BA ranked him above Pache, and the two sources placed him No. 69 and No. 54 nationally. He’s another great defensive player, but at the catcher position, with an elite arm and praise for his ability to work with pitchers. He’s glove-first but his bat has some promise and he’s begun hitting for power. He reached Triple-A last year and could have a chance to debut in the majors this summer.
- Langeliers, 2021 AA: .258/.338/.498, 128 wRC+, 22 HR, 9.7% BB, 26.2% Ks
- Langeliers, 2021 AAA: 2-for-11, 2 doubles, 3 BB, 6 Ks
Cusick was Atlanta’s 1st-round draft pick last summer, and accordingly he rated highly in their system, No. at 6 Pipeline and No. 9 at BA. He’s barely played in the pros yet, making six starts last summer after being drafted, but he thoroughly dominated the competition and struck out half the batters he faced. His fastball has great velocity and spin rate, reaching as high as 102 mph, but he’s still working on his control, command, and promising breaking ball, which is fair enough at age 22 and entering his first full pro season.
- Cusick, 2021 A-: 2.76 ERA, 16⅓ ip, 34 Ks, 4 BB, 1 HR, 1.53 FIP
More details coming on the other prospects, and what the trade means for the A’s 2022 roster and payroll, so keep hitting refresh!
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March 15, 2022 at 02:40AM
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Oakland A’s trade Matt Olson to Atlanta Braves for four prospects - Athletics Nation
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