Oakland Athletics Not Looking to Sell Despite Injuries

The Oakland Athletics have a slew of players on the disabled list, and are struggling on the field. Despite these issues, though, the team isn’t ready to hold a fire sale just yet.

It is a given that all Major League teams will endure injuries throughout a long 162 game season. Teams lose key players and bench players to various injuries throughout the season. It’s just the nature of the beast. However, in the Oakland Athletics case, the team has been dealing with a glut of players on the disabled list, to say the least. As recently as Wednesday, the A’s had 13 players on the disabled list, or, to put it another way, over half of the amount of an active 25-man roster.

The Athletics did announce that catcher Josh Phegley has come off of the disabled list on Friday, meaning the total is down to a paltry 12 players. The amount of injuries, combined with the fact that the A’s currently reside in the bottom of the AL West standings, raises the following question: Will the Oakland Athletics be among the biggest sellers by the August 1 trade deadline?

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Billy Beane, the Athletics vice president of baseball operations, spoke to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle regarding this very subject. “You can’t use this as a time for evaluation,” Beane said. “The only reaction you can have is to try to get some healthy bodies out there. We’ve had some bad streaks with injuries, but this is the worst one since I’ve been here.”

Considering Beane’s tenure began in 1998, that puts into perspective just how much the A’s are dealing with as it pertains to the disabled list.

“Where (injuries have) really hit us has been our starting pitching — and that’s an area we tried to create a lot of depth,” Beane told the Chronicle. “We’ve already wiped out that depth in the first six weeks.” The Athletics have five pitchers, or the equivalent of an entire Major League rotation, on the disabled list. While a few of them, Jarrod Parker and Henderson Alvarez, didn’t figure to play huge roles this season, the fact that the disabled list includes ace Sonny Gray cannot be understated. Yes, Gray has had a tough year, but he’s shown in the past he is an ace.

Before making 9 starts this season, at least 4 of which Gray struggled in, he was the team’s biggest trade chip. But his tribulations and his injury means he may no longer hold that title. Perhaps instead, Rich Hill is the most valuable piece the A’s have to trade. Hill has started 10 games, and has thrown 6 innings or more in 7 of those starts. He has an ERA of 2.18, and a record of 7-3. Also, he’s on a one-year, $6 million contract, which is very tradable.

Despite what Hill, Gray, right fielder Josh Reddick, or catcher Stephen Vogt may be worth by the deadline, Beane says that isn’t the focus right now. “We’re just trying to get through this stretch,” Beane said. “There’s no rational reason to move anyone when you don’t have enough bodies.”

While the A’s have somewhat of a reputation for trading established players away, the injuries do play a factor. For instance, if Gray was healthy and dealing like he has in the past, perhaps a team would’ve blown Oakland away with an offer that would be tough to turn down. But taking all things into consideration with Gray, his value isn’t as high as it’s been previously.

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For now, it seems the Oakland Athletics will wait out their injury woes before doing anything too rash. Gray is reportedly progressing in his rehab and will throw a bullpen on Saturday. In time, the A’s may sell — they certainly have before — but in the immediate future, Oakland is more concerned with just fielding a team of healthy players to trot out each night.

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