Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics had a very event week at this year’s Winter Meetings. Billy retooled his team by trading away some of his core players for a mix of major league ready talent and future high ceiling prospects. Before calling it a week, Billy made one last move by acquiring INF/OF Mark Canha from the Colorado Rockies.
Formerly of the Miami Marlins farm system, Canha selected by the Rockies in the Rule V Draft just moments before getting traded to Oakland.
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Mark Canha’s 2014 stats
| Year | Lev | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | AAA | 127 | 465 | 83 | 141 | 28 | 3 | 20 | 82 | 3 | 1 | 57 | 112 | .303 | .384 | .505 | .889 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/17/2014.
Canha is a prototypical A’s pickup. He plays multiple positions, he grinds out at-bats, and doesn’t have great power but enough to make opposing pitchers think twice about throwing a ‘Get me over’ fastball.
Listed as a first baseman, Mark spend most of 2014 as the New Orléans Zephyrs starting left fielder (61GP) or first baseman (40 GP). Mark did a good job fielding these positions. In LF, he posted a .983 fielding position and 1.89 RF/G. At 1st, Canha committed 2 errors in 117 chances, good for a .994 fielding percent (8.73 RF/G).
With the bat, Canha didn’t show any distinct splits when it came to handedness. Mark led the Zephyrs in hits, runs, and walks, all things that A’s tend to seek in a ball player. He walked at 10.6% clip and struck out at a 20.9% clip while generating an above average wOBA of .389. Canha’s ISO of .202 allowed Mark to finish second on the Zephyrs in doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, and OPS.
Canha will offer A’s coach Bob Melvin and his staff with some much-needed power after losing Yoenis Cespedes at the 2014 trade deadline, and losing Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss this off-season. He’ll also give Melvin a LF who can step in to spell Brett Lawrie at 3rd, Ike Davis and Stephen Vogt at 1st, and Billy Butler at DH.