Cleveland Indians acquire Brandon Moss from Oakland
The Cleveland Indians and GM Chris Antonetti pulled the trigger on a deal, acquiring the left-handed power hitting right fielder and first baseman Brandon Moss from the Oakland Athletics. A’s GM Billy Beane continues to make moves after a disappointing playoff run, as another of his seven All Stars is no longer on the roster. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported that a deal was complete, sending Joe Wendle back to the A’s.
Wendle is a 24 year old second baseman originally drafted by the Indians in the 6th Round of the 2012 draft. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted that the prospect impressed Cleveland enough during Spring Training and could be called up to Oakland during this next season if he does well.
On December 3rd, rumors of a potential trade to send Moss to Cleveland first started up. John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reported that the Indians had looked into possibly acquiring the 31 year-old. He’d mark the second significant position player to be moved by Beane this offseason, after third baseman Josh Donaldson was shockingly traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in late November. Beane took on a “World Series or bust” mentality this past season, but not appears to be in a full rebuilding mode.
Though this deal makes more sense than the Donaldson trade, there are two main reasons why he was moved. He’s expected to make $7.1 million through arbitration this coming season, even coming off a disappointing year with the A’s. His .234/.334/.438 line marked his lowest numbers in three seasons in Oakland. Moss underwent minor hip surgery in October, while Moss claimed he played through the injury which proved to be worse than originally though. He is expected to be ready to go by Spring Training.
Even with the nagging hip injury, Moss still hit 25 home runs at the immense Oakland A’s Coliseum. Moving him to Progressive Field in Cleveland could propel him to the 35-40 home run range. Even with a lower batting average this will help the offensive side for Cleveland, who ranked a respectable 11th in runs scored in 2014. If Moss is fully able to recover and overcome this surgery, the Indians could have a steal in acquiring Moss who hit .269/.345/.550 with 51 home runs combined in 2012-2013.