Athletics/Red Sox Trade Analysis: Eric Patterson for Fabian Williamson

Man, my A’s just don’t stop trading, do they?

First, it was Sam Demel for Conor Jackson. Then, Jake Fox for Ross Wolf. And now, the A’s sent recently DFA’d utilityman Eric Patterson to the Red Sox for minor league lefty Fabian Williamson.

Let’s get the obvious part out of the way first: As with receiving Wolf for Fox, the A’s should be glad that they were able to receive a warm body of any kind for a player they just designated for assignment, so it’s tough to say they “lose” this deal in any fashion.

So there’s that. The A’s are obviously selling low on Patterson, so it’s not like they should have expected much in return. Heck, the way most A’s fans talked about Patterson, it sounded as though nobody but me saw any value in him.

(more after the jump)

Maybe I’m just nuts, but I believe in Eric Patterson. I really do.

The guy’s a career .309/.369/.487 hitter in five Triple-A seasons, and he adds plenty of speed and defensive versatility to that package, so he’s gotta be worth something.

It’s worth noting that he hit .287/.373/.394 for the A’s last year as well, and he even had a .204 ISO this year in the majors, so it’s not like he hasn’t showed flashes of being able to translate that minor league dominance into major league success.

I see Patterson as a .270/.340/.400 sort of hitter with very good speed and baserunning instincts. He’s not the greatest defender, but he’s nowhere near as bad as people make him out to be, and his versatility makes up for his play at each individual position, unlike Jake Fox, who’s so poor everywhere that he’s essentially a DH.

So, I think the Red Sox got a really nice player here.

And for the cost of what? Some guy named Fabian Williamson.

I’d honestly never heard of Williamson before this trade happened, which really tells you all you need to know about his prospect status.

That’s not to say he’s completely devoid of any potential whatsoever: he’s a 21-year-old lefty who’s in High-A (advanced for his age) who posted a 3.72 ERA and did a nice job keeping the ball on the ground (55% groundball rate) and in the yard (three homers all year).

The issues? A 40/34 K/BB in 65 2/3 innings and a fastball that only tops out around 88 mph. Williamson is said to have two nice offspeed pitches, but he’s no Dallas Braden–Braden was striking out twice as many batters when he was in High-A.

So, from the common perspective, the A’s traded a terrible player for a bad prospect. From my perspective, they sold low on a decent player, getting a fringy prospect in return. Given that Patterson was DFA’d in the first place, it’s tough to say the A’s “lose” the deal, but in this “win-win,” I think the Red Sox win more.