The Oakland Athletics continued a busy week of trade activity Tuesday afternoon, acquiring right-handed reliever Luke Gregerson from the San Diego Padres in exchange for outfielder Seth Smith, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
A’s trade OF Seth Smith to Padres for RHP Luke Gregerson
Billy Beane has completed his second trade of the day, this time a one-for-one swap.
More Trades: A's send Michael Choice to Rangers
The one-for-one swap is Billy Beane's second trade of the day and the third overall so far this week. The A's acquired closer Jim Johnson from the Orioles on Monday, then nabbed outfielder Craig Gentry and another righty reliever, Josh Lindblom, from the Rangers earlier Tuesday.
Gregerson, 29, has been a solid late-inning reliever for the Padres the last half-decade. The three-quarters slinger posted a 2.88 ERA and a strikeout rate of just over a batter per nine in 347 innings during his five years with the Friars, averaging roughly 73 appearances per year.
Gregerson does have a pretty large home/road ERA split over his career -- 2.02 vs. 3.85 -- but it really shouldn't matter because Oakland Coliseum is just as pitcher-friendly as Petco Park. With the bullpen additions of Gregerson, Johnson and Lindblom, the A's have more than made up for the loss of Grant Balfour to free agency.
In Smith, the Padres get a corner outfielder who has been limited to platoon duty for much of his career. The left-hander batted .246/.331/.406 with 22 home runs in 851 plate appearances during his two years with the A’s, with 80 percent of those chances coming with the platoon advantage.
The 31-year-old doesn't rate very well on defense -- which is presumably why the A's used him primarily as a DH in 2013 -- but he's not so bad that it outweighs the benefits he provides at the plate. Smith showed a lot of pop (.485 SLG) in his time with the Rockies, but that never really translated over to Oakland and probably won't in San Diego either.
Smith's future with the Padres is somewhat unclear, but it's possible he'll platoon with Carlos Quentin in left field to limit the oft-injured slugger's chances of hurting himself. Quentin missed the second half of 2013 to undergo a third operation on his balky right knee, but is expected back for the start of next season.
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