Oakland Athletics: Where could Yonder Alonso end up?
By Jason Burke
The Oakland Atheltics put on one heck of a show yesterday, with three different rookies hitting their first career home runs and Daniel Gossett earning his first career win in Chicago. This should be a definite sign (among many others) that the youth movement is coming for any and everyone on the A’s roster, and that includes first baseman Yonder Alonso.
It’s not too often that an A’s player expresses a desire to stay in Oakland. It’s even rarer that they are able. Yonder Alonso has said he’d like to work on a deal with the Oakland Athletics seeing as how he hits the free agent market following this season. While it’s refreshing to see someone want to stick around, he’s just not the player that the team needs to be spending their limited resources on.
Alonso is batting .289 with a .377 on-base percentage and has 17 home runs, the same as Anthony Rizzo. Throw in some solid glove work at first, and we have ourselves an upgrade for a team hoping to contend this season.
The first team that comes to mind would be the New York Yankees, who just DFA’d one of their own first basemen, Chris Carter, leaving a gentle giant-sized hole at the position. Greg Bird is still just hoping to return to baseball activity soon, which likely means he’ll be out for quite a bit longer. Tyler Austin is their immediate stopgap, but behind him lies a big question mark.
Alonso would be a great fit for New York. He’d be a solid complementary piece in their already feared lineup, and when a guy with 17 homers before the break is a complementary piece, you’re likely looking alright. With his contract ending after the season, the Yanks wouldn’t have to give up a ton, and he wouldn’t be blocking any talent in the near future.
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The Yankees rank 29th in fWAR among first basemen at -1.1, and the teams that sandwich them are both in the AL West. At number 30 are the Angels, who definitely have some holes on their team, but they are currently at .500 and will be getting Mike Trout back at some point. They sit just two games back of a wild card spot, and trading for Alonso would give them a boost both offensively and defensively over Luis Valbuena. They’d probably get the biggest boost out of adding Alonso to their roster given his 161 wRC+, compared to Valbuena’s 70.
The last team that would get a boost, is in the playoff hunt and could be willing to deal would be the Seattle Mariners. Danny Valencia has been their primary first baseman, and while he’s been serviceable with a 103 wRC+, seven homers and 39 RBI, Alonso would again be an upgrade. For a team that spent their entire winter making marginal upgrades around the diamond with the hope of contending, Alonso would be a big splash.
Valencia has had his issues fitting in with clubhouses in the past, and if there is even a whiff of that happening in Seattle (haven’t heard anything to date), he’s extremely expendable. If you added Alonso to the M’s roster, he’d be the team leader in homers, tied for the lead in fWAR, and second in wRC+ behind just Mitch Haniger‘s 168.
Seattle has nine players with a wRC+ above 100, which is what you want in a lineup. One of those nine is closer Yovani Gallardo, leaving Jarrod Dyson as the only member of the regular roster below that threshold. Given that Dyson plays center and is a valuable contributor defensively, he’s not going anywhere with his 90 wRC+. Adding Alonso and finding a new role for Valencia either off the bench, as a fourth outfielder, or as a less regular first baseman, would just add to the firepower of the Mariner lineup.
Each of these teams could use a first baseman like Yonder Alonso for their playoff push. The other added benefit for the Angels and Mariners would be that they would be taking the best hitter away from a divisional rival and placing him on their club. The Mariners have eight games remaining with Oakland, including six in September, while the Angels have nine, with six in August and three at the beginning of September. Making this trade would also be one way to get an extra win or two for either club head-to-head, and those wins could be the difference in a tight playoff picture.
For any of these three teams the cost shouldn’t be too high. Perhaps a top 30 prospect, or maybe two in the 30 to 50 range. Nothing that will bankrupt a farm system. At that cost, Alonso would be a wise investment.