We’re still waiting for the 2020 MLB season to start in July, but on Tuesday we got some real news about baseball. Oakland Athletics traded player Jorge Mateo to the San Diego Padres, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The Athletics will receive a player who will be named later in the deal. For now, the move clears a spot on its 40-man roster and its 60-man player pool, though whoever they get as PTBNL will have to join the pool (and maybe the roster depending on who it is).
Oakland first acquired Mateo in 2017 from the Yankees as part of the Sonny Gray trade. He has been ranked in the National Top 100 charts in the past due to his explosive raw tools, including elite 80-degree speed, but his stock has declined in recent years as he has struggled to translate that talent into production in the countryside. Last winter, Athletics Nation placed him at number 9 on our community prospect list, a drop of three places from the previous year.
After breaking into the scene in the A’s farming system in late 2017, Mateo’s bat went silent on Triple-A. In 2018, the team’s affiliate was in Nashville, extremely friendly to pitchers, and then in 2019 they were in Las Vegas extremely friendly to hitters, and both times posted below-average batting lines. His overall numbers from the past two seasons (at 1,076 plate appearances):
Matthew, 2018-19 AAA: .261 / .306 / .433, 80 wRC +, 5.4% BB, 26.4% Ks
Those numbers include 22 home runs and 30 triples, as well as 49 steals in 70 attempts (70% success, which is low). However, to his credit, his defense at shortstop is considered at least solid and perhaps better, which helps increase his value.
We will have to wait to find out what the Athletics get in exchange for their high-risk, high-ceiling prospect. Susan Slusser of SF Chronicle points out the following about why they might have chosen to make a switch for a PTBNL: “One reason to rush and do PTBNL is to avoid Mateo having to go to Oakland and then SD in a week or two or two. what would have been the timeline. A considerate gesture.
This is the second trade the Athletics have made with San Diego since the end of last season. In December, they sent second baseman Jurickson Profar to the Padres in exchange for catcher Austin Allen and field prospect Buddy Reed.
Analysis
This exchange may not come as much of a surprise to many in the AN community, as one of the team’s main offseason stories was the infield logjam. There were three young prospects fighting for places on the Opening Day roster, and none of them could be sent to the minors: Mateo and Franklin Barreto have no options, and Vimael Machin is a Rule 5 recruit who must remain in MLB. . season.
Even with the expanded roster of 30 players to start this season, there still wouldn’t be enough playing time for all of them. Something had to give in, and Oakland is making the call now while they still have negotiating leverage rather than waiting until it’s too late and losing one of these players for nothing in return.
Mateo remains an attractive prospect, but he did not have a clear path to play in Oakland and has just turned 25. The clock is ticking at its best, and it can now continue its development with a San Diego club that is trying to build its next contender roster.
