The Oakland A's have traded Brett Anderson to the Colorado Rockies for Drew Pomeranz and Chris Jensen.
The news of that trade came down as I was working on a post talking about how the Angels were involved in a three-way trade, sending Mark Trumbo to Arizona in a deal that has them receiving Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago, with Adam Eaton going to the ChiSox.
The A's had been shopping Anderson, who is owed $8 million for 2014 and has a $12 million team option for 2015 with a $1.5 million buyout, for a while. Anderson looked like a future top of the rotation starter early in his career, but has only pitched a total of 163 innings over the past three years while battling injuries. And I just realized that, since I have Anderson in one of my keeper leagues, and he's going to Colorado, I guess he won't be one of my keepers this offseason.
In return, the A's are getting Drew Pomeranz, a guy the Rangers drafted out of high school but couldn't sign in 2007, who went #5 overall in the 2010 draft to Cleveland, and who was sent to Colorado in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. Pomeranz, 25, has struggled since going to Colorado, but still has upside, and going to Oakland is a great change of scenery for him. Chris Jensen is a 23 year old righthander who had a 4.55 ERA in the Cal League last year.
This deal doesn't impact the A's much for 2014...Anderson wasn't expected to be in their rotation, and Pomeranz will give them some depth.
The Angels trade has a bigger impact for 2014. Hector Santiago, a lefty who turns 26 this month, was a swingman for the ChiSox last season, putting up a 3.56 ERA in 149 innings. Tyler Skaggs was a first round pick of the Angels in the 2009 draft who was sent to the D-Backs in the Dan Haren trade. Skaggs has a 5.43 ERA in 68 major league innings, and there are apparently some concerns about his stuff being down over the final month, but the Angels are apparently looking at having both pitchers join their rotation.
And all they gave up was a defensively-challenge slugger with a sub-.300 OBP last year, who is now arbitration-eligible. Terrific deal for the Angels. And, really, a solid deal for the ChiSox, who are getting a nice young centerfielder in Eaton.
I have no idea what the Diamondbacks are doing with this trade.