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Josh Reddick will be back on the A’s soon, but for how long?
Monday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes the latest on Reddick, the College World Series finals, and the Indians destroying the Tigers.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
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Josh Reddick might be activated from the disabled list on Monday, giving the A’s back the hitter and defensive presence they’ve missed since a fractured thumb took him out in mid-May. This move will also start the clock on Reddick as a trade target for any competitive team looking for help in their outfield. While the A’s would like to extend Reddick, and plan to make an attempt before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, the two sides are not anywhere close after spending the spring trying to figure something out.
Before Reddick’s thumb injury, he was batting .322/.394/.466. While he had a down year in 2013, Reddick has been a reliable source of offense (.276/.336/.450 with a 118 OPS+ since 2014) and defense (Reddick’s arm is one of the best around, and his range isn’t too bad, either) overall in his A’s career. Leading into a mostly empty free agent market, Reddick is in a position to make some serious money. And given that, he’s even more likely to be traded beforehand.
Ken Rosenthal did report that the A’s are willing to hold onto Reddick to give him the qualifying offer, but chances are good they can do better than a compensation pick for him if they deal Reddick in July. The Giants don’t have Hunter Pence, and could use Reddick to replace him. The closest the Red Sox have come to an actual left fielder in 2016 is bench outfielder Chris Young. The Royals could use a boost, the Indians are waiting on Michael Brantley news — there are plenty of suitors for Reddick out there. And we’ll start to hear more about them if his thumb proves to be good as new upon his return to the majors.
- Reddick isn’t the only A’s player who will have trade rumors swirling around him, either. Danny Valencia is having a fine season, and both the Royals and Indians are reportedly inquiring.
- The College World Series final will begin Monday, between Coastal Carolina and Arizona.
- Want to learn more about these two College World Series teams and the where and how of watching them? We’ve got you covered.
- Is the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter a superstar, or is this season just a short-term thing?
- Speaking of St. Louis, they removed Trevor Rosenthal from the closer role.
- The Indians swept the Tigers this weekend, and now they’re suddenly five games up in the AL Central over the Royals.
- If the Tigers are to have any chance at meaningful October baseball, they’re going to need to figure out Cleveland.
- Yu Darvish might be back to the Rangers before the All-Star break. While they handled the Red Sox well enough over the weekend, getting Darvish back into the injury-filled rotation would do the team a lot of good.
- Jose Fernandez was on his game on Sunday, helping the Marlins take the series against the Cubs with 13 strikeouts that you can watch.
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