After days of speculation, Brandon Moss has finally been dealt by the Oakland A’s. As expected, the Cleveland Indians are his new home. In return, Cleveland sends minor league second baseman Joey Wendle west.
Joey Wendle, as anticipated, goes back to Oakland for Brandon Moss. Final deal. Done.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 8, 2014
Wendle hit .253/.311/.414 in just 87 games with AA Akron in 2014. He missed two months of the year with a fractured hamate bone. Baseball America didn’t rank him as one of Cleveland’s top ten prospects a month ago, but MLB.com ranked him ninth.
The 31-year old Moss is still under control for two seasons, and MLBTR projected him to make $7.1 million in arbitration this year. Moss is currently recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip, an injury that could have been responsible for his second half collapse to a .173/.310/.271 line. For the season, Moss hit .231/.334/.438 with 25 homers, his third straight 20 homer campaign with Oakland.
I’m curious as to where this leaves Cleveland’s offseason. I’m sure they’d love to dump Nick Swisher’s contract, but could this lead to a trade of David Murphy? It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for them, because they’ve got an abundance of outfield/1B/DH types making significant money.
