It’s no secret the Oakland Athletics offense is struggling. Arguably their weakest spot in the lineup is second base as Tony Kemp, Chad Pinder and Franklin Barreto have hit a combined .206 with one home run and five rbi. Making a move necessary and the result acquiring Tommy La Stella from the Los Angeles Angels.
La Stella is an immediate upgrade. At the time of the trade he was hitting .273 with 27 hits, eight doubles, four home runs and 14 rbi with an obp of .371. He’d rank second on the A’s in batting average. In 2019 he was an all-star unfortunately he suffered a fracture after fouling a ball off his leg in July and only wound up playing in an additional two games in September.
Prior to the injury La Stella hit .300 with 85 hits, seven doubles, 16 home runs and 44 rbi with an obp of .353.
Oakland officially ends the chapter of the Josh Donaldson trade by sending Barreto to Los Angeles. He never really got a chance to play even though over the past several seasons he got called up from Triple-A. In June of 2018 he started 12 games in-a-row and hit .244 with three home runs and 10 rbi. The issue he struck out 20 times and did not walk.
Overall with the A’s Barreto hit .180 with nine home runs and 27 rbi.
The A’s get a key piece to their offense and La Stella easily fits in the two spot in the lineup. For the Angels, Barreto will get a fresh start and unlike in Oakland he’ll likely get a chance to play everyday.
Here’s a look at reactions to the trade.
Tommy La Stella to #Athletics reminds me of Marco Scutaro to the Giants in 2012. Really nice pickup for OAK.
— John Dickinson (@JDJohnDickinson) August 29, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Here’s Trout and everyone figuring Tommy LaStella just got traded to the A’s pic.twitter.com/MoNORT1kdg
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 29, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Updated with comments from Billy Eppler….
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) August 29, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js