The Oakland A’s felt that getting 28-year old righty swinging 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff out of Petco Park would guarantee them 25-30 homers in 2010. They look to be dead wrong so far this season. Kouzmanoff has played in 75 games for the A’s so far this season and he is 84 of 295 (.285 avg, .731 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 8 homers and 39 RBIs. Kouzmanoff is second on the A’s in homers (Suzuki has 10) and he’s leading the team in RBIs…..but it just hasn’t been enough. They need him to muscle up now!

The Oakland A’s have acquired 28-year old righty swinging catcher Jared Price from the White Sox for likely a bucket of baseballs. Price has played in 35 games in AA-ball this year and he is 20 of 102 (.196 avg, .591 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 5 RBIs. He isn’t a Billy Beane type of player though as he has whiffed 39 times this year while walking 9 times. Price has now played in 545 games in his 11 years in the minors and he is 353 of 1,731 (.204 avg, .656 OPS) with 219 runs scored, 67 homers and 207 RBIs. He has whiffed an amazing 617 times in his minor league career. The A’s probably wanted Price because he’s a good defensive catcher and he will work with the talented pitchers they have in the minors.

UPDATE: (6/28/2010) - The A’s have sent 25-year old righty swinging 2B/SS Michael Richard to the White Sox to complete this trade. Richard played in 42 games in A+AA-ball this season and he was 26 of 125 (.208 avg, .533 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 7 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The A’s shouldn’t miss Richard too much.

24-year old lefty starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez is really pitching well this season. He has pitched in 15 games (all starts) for the A’s this year and he is 6-5 with a 3.89 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Gonzalez is more of a pitcher this season and less of a thrower. He has only allowed 78 hits in 90 1/3 innings this season for the A’s. Gonzalez has walked 40 batters (which is way too many) but he has also whiffed 77 this season. In his previous two years with the A’s, Gonzalez pitched in 30 games (24 starts) in which he was 7-11 with a 6.24 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. He did whiff 143 batters in 132 2/3 innings in his first two years with the A’s but that was when he was a thrower instead of a pitcher like he is right now.

The A’s have designated 27-year old lefty swinging 2B/OF Eric Patterson for assignment. Patterson played in 45 games for the A’s this year and he was 21 of 103 (.204 avg, .662 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 4 homers, 9 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He has played in 114 games in his three years with the A’s in which he is 64 of 289 (.221 avg, .638 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 5 homers, 28 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. The A’s DFA’d Patterson to make room on the roster for Coco Crisp who has come off the D.L. Crisp was 1 for 4 with a run scored, homer and 2 RBIs last season in the 4-2 loss to the Reds. Crisp has played in 3 games for the A’s this season and he is 3 for 10 (.300 avg, .950 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. The A’s hope Crisp can stay healthy this time around.

UPDATE: (6/27/2010) - The A’s have traded Eric Patterson to the Boston Red Sox for 21-year old lefty starter Fabian Williamson. Williamson has pitched in 14 games (all starts) in A-ball this season and he is 4-3 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He has now pitched in 68 games (50 starts) in his four years in the minors and he is 24-13 with 5 saves, a 3.17 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. This was a pretty good return for Patterson as talented lefty pitchers are hard to come by.

The Oakland A’s have traded 27-year old righty swinging C/1B/3B/OF Jake Fox to the Orioles for 27-year old righty reliever Ross Wolf. Fox played in 39 games for the A’s this year and he was 21 of 98 (.214 avg, .591 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers and 12 RBIs. Wolf has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he is 0-2 with a 2.11 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He appeared in 2007 for the Marlins pitching in 14 games (0 starts) in which he was 0-1 with a 11.68 ERA and a 2.19 WHIP. The A’s might give Wolf a chance to help out in the pen if he keeps pitching well in the minors.

22-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor Cahill has been outstanding this season for the A’s. He started the year in the minors but injuries caused the A’s to recall him and he is not looking back. Cahill has started 10 games for the A’s so far this season and he is 6-2 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He has only given up 51 hits in 61 1/3 innings this season as he has been outstanding so far. Cahill started 32 games as a rookie for the A’s last year and he was 10-13 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Cahill has a huge upside and the A’s have to be pleased with how much he looks to have improved.

The A’s have signed 35-year old righty reliever Jamey Wright to a minor league deal. Wright pitched in 18 games (0 starts) earlier this season for the Indians in which he was 1-2 with a 5.48 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. He has now pitched in 438 games (246 starts) in his 15 years in the majors and he is 83-117 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Wright will provide depth in AAA in case the A’s encounter injuries in the pen or make some trades involving relievers. Still this signing is kind of surprising to me based on how much Billy Beane hates pitchers who walk people.

The A’s have acquired 28-year old righty swinging OF/1B Conor Jackson and cash from the Diamondbacks for 24-year old righty reliever Sam Demel.  Jackson has played in 42 games for the D-Backs this year and he is 36 of 151 (.238 avg, .657 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 1 homer, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Jackson has shown pretty good plate discipline this season for Arizona walking 20 times while whiffing 18 times as he seems to be a “Moneyball” type of player.  In his six years in the majors, Jackson has played in 526 games in which he is 492 of 1,775 (.277 avg, .781 OPS) with 253 runs scored, 46 homers, 247 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.  He will likely get most of his playing time in LF for the A’s who need a bump offensively and Jackson might just give it to them.  Sam Demel was pitching solid baseball for the A’s in AAA this year.  He pitched in 22 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the A’s this year and he was 2-0 with 6 saves, a 1.26 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP.  This is one of those trades that will probably help both teams as the A’s needed offensive help while the D-Backs needed bullpen help.

25-year old lefty swinging RF Ryan Sweeney doesn’t have the power for a major league corner outfielder but he’s hitting for a good average and he’s playing good defense.  Sweeney has played in 61 games for the A’s this year and he is 70 of 227 (.308 avg, .762 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 1 homer and 28 RBIs.  His bat and defense make him a natural for CF but that is where Rajai Davis has been playing and is where Coco Crisp will be playing when he comes off the D.L.  Despite his lack of power Sweeney has been a nice asset for the A’s so far this season.

The A’s have designated 27-year old righty swinging C/1B/OF Jake Fox for assignment. Fox played in 38 games for the A’s this year and he was 21 of 98 (.214 avg, .591 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers and 12 RBIs. The A’s would likely want to bring Fox back if he clears waivers but he has been pretty awful this year. I see him becoming a free agent if the clears waivers as he would likely find some team interested in him because of his versatility in the field.