A's trade Blanton
Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, July 18, 2008
(07-17) 16:32 PDT -- Oakland's rotation now officially bears no relation to last year's, with the last remnant, right-hander Joe Blanton, traded to Philadelphia on Thursday, nine days after the A's sent Rich Harden to the Cubs.
In exchange for Blanton, who is tied with the Giants' Barry Zito for the most losses in the majors, the A's received three prospects, Class-A second baseman Adrian Cardenas and outfielder Matt Spencer and left-hander Josh Outman, who was recently promoted to Double-A.
"I'm obviously shocked, anyone would be," Blanton said from Nashville, where he spent part of the All-Star break. "It's one of those deals where it's very bittersweet. I'm going to a very good team with a very good lineup. They're in the division hunt and they're out to win a championship, and that's what any player wants. But I've always been with the A's, and I have great relationships there. It's one of those double-sided coins."
The move clearly was made for the future, with such lower-level prospects, and following as it does the Harden trade, it increases the level of difficulty for this year's club to contend.
"I think this is just the direction everyone expected us to go in," said A's closer Huston Street, who could be next up on the trading block. "We played a great first half, better than anyone expected, but it's pretty clear we're going younger, younger, younger."
The A's got six young players in the Dan Haren deal in December, three in the Nick Swisher deal, two in the Mark Kotsay trade and three in the deal that sent Harden and Chad Gaudin (another member of last year's rotation) to Chicago last week.
"We started this process last November and said we wanted to build a foundation of young players who will be here a long time," A's assistant general manager David Forst said. "We want to create what we did at the beginning of the decade, a team that continually gets better."
Forst said the A's view the move as an opportunity not only to get younger players, but to give more opportunities to young players on the big-league level. That might indicate a promotion today for left-hander Gio Gonzalez, who was obtained in the Swisher deal with the White Sox. Gonzalez, 22, has allowed only 10 hits and three runs in his past four starts at Triple-A Sacramento, spanning 281/3 innings.
"Gio has definitely pitched well enough to put himself in the conversation," Forst said.
"That would be a dream come true," Gonzalez said Thursday evening, "but we have lot of great pitchers at Sacramento, like Dan Meyer and Lenny DiNardo and Kirk Saarloos, so it could be one of them."
Asked if the deal was a reflection on the fact that the team has fallen seven games behind the Angels, Forst said, "Not at all. We still like the team we have. ... '08 still has a chance to be a great year, but beyond that is what we've done all this for."
He noted that the A's have several players (Bobby Crosby, Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney, Keith Foulke, Joey Devine) slated to come off the disabled list in the coming weeks and that their returns will help the club.
Though Blanton, 27, has had a tough year in the won-loss column, he's a workhorse capable of getting on a hot streak and driving the rotation for weeks. He also pitched well in the early part of the season but did not have much run support, making his numbers look worse than perhaps deserved.
"He's a very, very solid starting pitcher," Street said. "If it wasn't for poor luck, he could easily have three or four more wins and three or four fewer losses."
Forst said that the Phillies, who are trying to stave off a sudden charge from the Mets in the NL East, were aggressive in their pursuit of Blanton; they were also one of the teams that had expressed some interest in him during the winter meetings. One scout pointed out that by not giving up any high-level prospects in this deal, Philadelphia can still use its top talent to go after more pitching, such as Colorado's Brian Fuentes.
Thursday's deal is no indication that there are more to come, according to Forst. Which is, of course, what the A's said following the Harden deal, and should any contender be in need of relief help, Street might bring in a good haul of talent, too.
"You like to think you're not going anywhere, but you can't ignore all the warning signs," Street said. "I've said again and again, I can't worry about what I can't control."
Street has been hoping to explore a multiyear extension since spring training, and there have been preliminary talks, but nothing since, and he's unsure if that silence indicates anything about possible plans to move him or not.
"I hope it doesn't mean that," he said. "The reason I've been told talks were delayed was because they wanted to see how the season played out with such a young team and if I physically held up after that nerve injury last year. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still interested in pursuing a deal."
Were the A's to look to acquire an extra bat - particularly a young right-handed slugger who would be under team control for several years - they have stockpiled enough young talent to use for bargaining chips.
Forst said that Cardenas, 20, and Spencer, 22, will go to Class A Stockton and Outman, 23, to Double-A Midland.
The trade
TO THE A'S
-- Left-handed pitcher Josh Outman
-- Second baseman Adrian Cardenas
-- Outfielder Matt Spencer
TO THE PHILLIES
-- Right-handed pitcher Joe Blanton
Joe Blanton's career stats
All seasons with Oakland
<TABLE border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>Yr.</TD><TD>W</TD><TD>L</TD><TD>ERA</TD><TD>WHIP</TD><TD>GS</TD><TD>CG</TD><TD>SH</TD><TD>IP</TD><TD>H</TD><TD>R</TD><TD>ER</TD><TD>BB</TD><TD>SO</TD></TR><TR><TD>'04</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>5.63</TD><TD>1.00</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>8</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>6</TD></TR><TR><TD>'05</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>3.53</TD><TD>1.22</TD><TD>33</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2011/3</TD><TD>178</TD><TD>86</TD><TD>79</TD><TD>67</TD><TD>116</TD></TR><TR><TD>'06</TD><TD>16</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>4.82</TD><TD>1.54</TD><TD>31</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1941/3</TD><TD>241</TD><TD>111</TD><TD>104</TD><TD>58</TD><TD>107</TD></TR><TR><TD>'07</TD><TD>14</TD><TD>10</TD><TD>3.95</TD><TD>1.22</TD><TD>34</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>230</TD><TD>240</TD><TD>106</TD><TD>101</TD><TD>40</TD><TD>140</TD></TR><TR><TD>'08</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>4.96</TD><TD>1.42</TD><TD>20</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>127</TD><TD>145</TD><TD>74</TD><TD>70</TD><TD>35</TD><TD>62</TD></TR><TR><TD>Tot.</TD><TD>47</TD><TD>46</TD><TD>4.25</TD><TD>1.33</TD><TD>118</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>7602/3</TD><TD>810</TD><TD>382</TD><TD>359</TD><TD>202</TD><TD>431</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
E-mail Susan Slusser at sslusser@sfchronicle.com.