26-year old lefty swinging 2B Eric Sogard just isn’t cutting it offensively for the A’s so far in 2013.  Sogard has played in 29 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 18 for 81 (.222 avg, .564 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers, 2 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  He has now played in 97 games in his first four years with the A’s and he is 52 of 260 (.200 avg, .547 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 4 homers, 13 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  29-year old righty swinging Adam Rosales deserves to start over Sogard at 2B.  Rosales has played in 12 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 12 for 41 (.293 avg, .819 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs.

26-year old lefty swinging RF Josh Reddick was big time in his first year with the A’s in 2012.  He played in 156 games for the A’s last year and he was 148 for 611 (.242 avg, .768 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 32 homers, 85 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.  This season has been a much different story so far this year for the A’s.  He has played in 19 games for the A’s so far this year and he is only 11 of 65 (.169 avg, .559 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  Maybe if Reddick shaved his goofy looking beard his bat would wake up.

The Oakland A’s have acquired 29-year old righty swinging outfielder Chris Young and cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The A’s have sent 28-year old switch-hitting SS Cliff Pennington to the D-Backs and 22-year old righty swinging shortstop Yordy Cabrera as part of this deal. The Marlins have sent 35-year old righty reliever Heath Bell and cash to the D-Backs to complete this deal.

Chris Young has a good combination of speed and power, but he’s a hacker at the plate. Young played in 101 games for the D-Backs last year and he was 75 of 325 (.231 avg, .745 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 14 homers, 41 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 885 games in his first seven years in the majors and he is 758 of 3,173 (.239 avg, .755 OPS) with 453 runs scored, 132 homers, 408 RBIs and 112 stolen bases. Young is a lock to be a 20/20 man if he can stay healthy in 2012. He could even be a 30/30 man if he adjusts well to American League pitching and a change of scenery.

Cliff Pennington played in 125 games for the A’s last year and he was 90 of 418 (.215 avg, .589 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 6 homers, 28 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He played in 525 games in his five years with the A’s and he was 435 of 1,738 (249 avg, .669 OPS) with 212 runs scored, 24 homers, 162 RBIs and 69 stolen bases. Pennington pretty much got forced out of the lineup last season due to a yearlong slump. I don’t think the A’s are going to miss him much, if at all, in 2013 and beyond. Yordy Cabrera came into the 2012 season as the A’s #15 prospect, but he took a big step backwards. He played in 60 games in A-ball last year and he was 51 of 220 (.232 avg, .625 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 3 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Cabrera played in 166 games in three years in the minors for the A’s and he was 137 of 595 (.230 avg, .648 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 9 homers, 68 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. A’s GM Billy Beane has struck again as Chris Young has a nice upside and he didn’t give up much to get him.

After last night’s acquisition of Stephen Drew, 28-year old switch-hitting Cliff Pennington will be sent to the bench…..and he deserves to sit there. Pennington has played in 92 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 62 of 313 (.198 avg, .549 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 3 homers, 18 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. He has now played in 492 games in his first five years with the A’s and he is 407 of 1,643 (.248 avg, .667 OPS) with 197 runs scored, 21 homers, 152 RBIs and 67 stolen bases. If Pennington would have just hit around .240 this year, the A’s wouldn’t have had to make a deal for his replacement.

28-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Brandon Moss has been slumping as of late. In his last 19 games, Moss is only 8 for 43 (.186 avg) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 46 games overall this year for the A’s in which he is 31 for 133 (.233 avg, .837 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 11 homers and 21 RBIs. The A’s need Moss to start picking up the pace with the bat again.

32-year old switch-hitting CF Coco Crisp played in 136 games for the A’s last year and he was 140 for 531 (.264 avg, .693 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 8 homers, 54 RBIs and 49 stolen bases. He was then rewarded with a 2-year, $14 million dollar deal last winter. It has proven to be an awful investment so far this year. Crisp has played in 33 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 20 for 118 (.169 avg, .457 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Crisp has now played in 244 games in his first three years with the A’s and he is 241 for 939 (.257 avg, .690 OPS) with 127 runs scored, 17 homers, 102 RBIs and 89 stolen bases.

27-year old switch-hitting shortstop Cliff Pennington has been a decent offensive player until this season for the A’s. He has played in 50 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 35 for 182 (.192 avg, .514 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Pennington has now played in 450 games in his first five years with the A’s and he is 380 for 1,512 (.251 avg, .673 OPS) with 181 runs scored, 19 homers, 142 RBIs and 61 stolen bases. The A’s really need Pennington to get back into gear with his bat.

The long term plans likely call for Derek Norris to be the A’s starting catcher. But, the A’s need 28-year old righty swinging catcher Kurt Suzuki to start stepping up with the bat. Suzuki has played in 38 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 30 for 136 (.221 avg, .531 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers, 13 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Suzuki has whiffed 26 times while only walking 4 times so far this year, as he is swinging at almost everything. Suzuki is going to have very limited trade value if he doesn’t start hitting soon, plus he’s not helping the A’s much right now.

Last season, 26-year old lefty swinging 1B Daric Barton’s shoulder was barking most of the time.  He played in only 67 games for the A’s last year and he was 50 for 236 (.212 avg, .592 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 0 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  He really doesn’t have an excuse this year.  Barton has played in 15 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 8 for 44 (.182 avg, .583 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI.  Barton has now played in 453 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 379 of 1,514 (.250 avg, .735 OPS) with 215 runs scored, 27 homers, 158 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.  The A’s need to send Barton to the bench and start Kila Ka’aihue or call up Chris Carter and give him another shot.

26-year old righty swinging 3B Josh Donaldson just isn’t cutting it for the A’s so far this year. He has played in 9 games for the A’s so far this year and he is 3 for 32 (.094 avg, .188 OPS) with 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. Donaldson has shown an utter lack of discipline at the plate this year as he has whiffed 13 times already this year, without walking even one time. Donaldson is learning 3B on the job as he is a catcher by trade and that’s not going too well either as he already has 3 errors there. Donaldson has now played in 23 games in his first two years with the A’s and he is 8 for 64 (.125 avg, .339 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has walked 2 times and whiffed 25 times in his first two years with the A’s. He better turn things around soon, or the A’s are going to have to send him to AAA and try someone else at 3B.