MLB Trade Deadline Recap: Oakland Athletics

Now that the non-waiver deadline has passed, we’re taking a look back at what each team was able to accomplish before 4 p.m. ET on July 31. Next up in our recap series, the Oakland Athletics.

Oakland Athletics (50-62), 21.5 GB in AL West, 8 GB in AL Wild Card

ACQUIRED: RHP Blake Treinen (from WSH), OF Dustin Fowler (from NYY), SS Jorge Mateo (from NYY), RHP James Kaprielian (from NYY), LHP Jesus Luzardo (from WSH), 3B Sheldon Neuse (from WSH), RHP Jeferson Mejia (from ARZ)

TRADED: RHP Sonny Gray (to NYY), LHP Sean Doolittle (to WSH), RHP Ryan Madson (to WSH), INF Adam Rosales (to ARZ)

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Oakland entered the month of July as one of only a few defined sellers in all of baseball, joining the White Sox, Padres, Phillies and just a handful of others. The A’s had a few valuable chips to deal away, with Sonny Gray being one of the most sought-after pieces on the entire market.

By the end of the month, four A’s had new homes— Gray was a Yankee, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson were Nationals and, less notably, Adam Rosales was a Diamondback. Gray, Doolittle and Madson had strong value on the trade market due to the fact they weren’t rentals, giving Beane a great chance to rebuild his club’s farm system.

Beane acquired reliever Blake Treinen and six prospects for his quartet of players, landing five new top-15 organizational prospects— no. 3 Dustin Fowler, no. 4 Jorge Mateo, no. 7 Jesus Luzardo, no. 11 James Kaprielian and no. 15 Sheldon Neuse— in what suddenly amounts to a deep farm system. The haul from the Yankees, though criticized due to Fowler and Kaprielian’s injuries, is a very impressive one when both are healthy.

Beane will continue to look to unload pieces during the August trade period, and already made one move by shipping Yonder Alonso to the Mariners for former A’s prospect Boog Powell. Jed Lowrie, Matt Joyce and Santiago Casilla could all change uniforms by the end of the month if they’re through the waiver process, as Beane is focused on giving chances to younger players like Ryon Healy, Matt Chapman, Bruce Maxwell and Franklin Barreto throughout the rest of this lost season.

The A’s experienced an organizational setback after an aggressive deadline as buyers in 2014 and now are paying the price. Following the paths of the Royals, Cubs and Astros before them, they’re stockpiling a ton of young talent and should have great options moving forward.

For a complete list of our trade deadline recaps, click here.