Athletics trade rumors: Cubs interested in Josh Reddick

Having one of his best seasons yet at the plate, Josh Reddick is drawing interest from the Cubs.

The Athletics, who currently sit in the basement of the AL West, are noted sellers this deadline, though the extent of their sell-off has yet to be decided. That being said, Reddick’s availability hasn’t really been argued as the outfielder’s contract expires at the conclusion of the season, and Oakland is notorious for unloading assets before free agency.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports ran across a similar rumor and agrees with his own editorial:

“The Cubs, and specifically president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, are familiar with Reddick. He was selected in the 17th round of the 2006 draft by the Boston Red Sox, where Epstein served as general manager from 2003-2011.”

In 241 plate appearances so far this season, the 29-year old Reddick has slashed .300/.378/.441 and is hitting 21 percent better than the league average according to wRC+. His walk rate puts him in pretty elite company this season, though it is a relatively small sample as Reddick dealt with injury issues earlier in the season.

It is worth noting that if Reddick were to be traded during the season he would not be eligible for a qualifying offer this offseason. This could hamper Reddick’s trade value from an Oakland perspective as retaining him beyond this season might be harder and there is no guarantee of draft pick compensation if he does sign with another team. From Reddick’s perspective however, this likely makes his offseason outlook even better as teams that value prospects won’t necessarily be tepid in their offers.