1:17 pm: Both teams have announced the trade. Oakland’s 40-man roster is now full.
11:00 am: The Athletics are picking up left-hander Cole Irvin in exchange for cash considerations in a deal with the Phillies, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). Irvin’s departure will clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Matt Moore, who agreed to terms on a one-year deal earlier this week. Another move will need to be made to accommodate Didi Gregorius’ addition to the roster once his two-year deal is finalized.
Irvin, 27 tomorrow, has picked up nineteen MLB appearances (three starts) over the past two seasons. Across 45.2 innings, he has a 6.75 ERA/4.87 SIERA. He doesn’t miss many bats; his 17.2% strikeout rate is well below the league average of 23.4%. However, Irvin compiled a long track record of throwing strikes in the minors and has continued to do so at the highest level, walking only 6.9% of opposing hitters as a big leaguer.
The southpaw twice ranked among Baseball America’s top thirty prospects in the Phillies’ system. He still has a minor-league option remaining, meaning the A’s can shuffle him between the majors and Triple-A Las Vegas if he survives the offseason on the 40-man roster.
I’m surprised the Athletics want this guy. Am I missing something about this guy?
He makes minimum wage, next question.
And throws minimum MPH. Irvin’s a soft tossing lefthander without pinpoint control – not a great combination.
He was hitting 92-93 mph in the bullpen late 2019 season. That’s not great but it’s not terrible for a lefty.
those command numbers are legendary compared to most RP in today’s game if we are honest.
@Marty McRae
Fair enough lol! I just don’t see why the A’s aren’t doing more to succeed. They have a great lineup and they could get a decent relief pitcher for not too much more than the league minimum.
What exactly do you know about this guy?
basically a standard-issue AAAA 26-year-old lefty
He’s SO:BB is outstanding and an excellent pitcher in AAA. I’m not sure he was given much of a chance in MLB. That’s about it…
Watch the A’s turn him into a all star reliever now.
And lose him to the Yankees next off-season
He had a very nice minor league career leading up to his debut in 2019. Maybe a new coaching strategy will turn it around for him?
I stop questioning this team. Irvin pitched another gem tonight going 8 innings allowing 1 run.
New phone, who dis?
17.18 ERA. Typical A’s…
The only moves the A’s are going to make this season are these ones and it sucks because all they need is Kolten Wong and some relievers and they will run away with the West.
John Fisher is a cheapskate billionaire who needs to be banned from owning sports teams. The A’s have 5 elite players in the starting lineup and with Puk have one of the best young rotations in the game. They need a SS and 2B and RPs but won’t get any as John Fisher is only trying to lose in the playoffs, not win a title. Scared money dont make no money. Scared money dont get you to the dance. Go away John Fisher, stop ruining the game.
Moneyball was cool, but now we can all see that John Fisher just doesn’t have any moneyballs…
It actually wasn’t cool in retrospect. It’s about stealing money from players and keeping it in the wallets of the cheapo owners who don’t want to pay players even though they can easily put up $500M a year on salaries, when you take into account the profits that happen when you win, due to secondary markets.
Beane never even did Moneyball the right way, Theo did (twice). Even though he didn’t do it first or name it, it should have been about Epstein all along.
Same boring narrative y’all keep parroting over and over again. NOW you don’t like Moneyball and NOW it’s cheating players.
The guy who invented Moneyball didn’t do it right. LOL. Uh huh, sure, bud.
Wong to A’s would be great I think it’s a great fit for him (Cardinals fan btw)
I can’t disagree more… I’m not an A’s fan but I love how they are always competitive without spending much. It’s the “EA Sports” style pay to win teams that are blowing the game up like the Yankees and Dodgers. The A’s actually have a plan on developing players, unlike other “happy-go-lucky” teams. Yeah they haven’t won in a while, but the playoffs are just a different beast, any team can lose.
Do you hate watching baseball players make money but have no problem with billionaires becoming richer due to this? Why? If MLB makes 1B then 1.5B then 2B, in 3 straight seasons, that is 100% because of the entertainment the players provide and nothing else – why shouldn’t their salaries match the piece of the pie if the pie gets bigger?
The Yankees have 1 ring in 20 years, the Dodgers have 1 in 30 – spending big with no plan gets you nowhere, it’s about being smart and yes, getting cheaper elite players is “smart” for billionaires, but not for the game.
Yeah the A’s developed Semien into a gold glove SS, and then offered him $2.5M with $10M deferred. This is bad for baseball, period.
This just isn’t good man. Please see the light here. The profits teams make are extraordinary and players deserve their fair share of the pie. You are arguing against this and it isn’t for the right reasons. I understand why you think its “good” that an elite player gets paid minimum wage, but its been wrong the whole time and its about time it ended.
Do the players give back money when they get injured or otherwise don’t perform? Players are balking again about not playing a full season when they should be thankful they have careers where the best can retire at 35 and live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Game has gotten out of control as it used to be a family sport. The cost to fans in the last 40 years has well outpaced the rate of inflation. It’s us fans who deserve a break.
They don’t CHOOSE to retire at 35, they have a LIMITED EARNING TIMEFRAME. Example: JR Richard blew out his arm and was homeless within 5 years – this is what you are arguing FOR here!!! You WANT players to be poor and broke if they make one mistake in their lives! But the billionaires keep getting richer and richer and you say nothing about that – games could easily be free if they wanted AND players could sign $500M deals.
Do the owners give the money back to the fans when the team doesnt win a title?
You claim its the players who are causing this, but the players make 10000x less than the owners, who you never even mention. Why????
No of course, I see your point. Players should get what they deserve, and so if they are a star it should reflect it. It’s just for the sake of smaller markets, it is so much harder to contend when you know that another team can triple your offer to a player and offer what could be your entire payroll. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I read something that claimed that 3 Yankees players (Cole, Stanton, Chapman) are being payed more than the entire team payroll for like a third of the league. No doubt these players are good, but it just gets annoying when other markets like Cincinnati or Seattle lose out on potential franchise cornerstones because of teams that can spend infinitely.
Thanks for clarifying and of course I see your point too, the A’s probably win the title in 2002 if Giambi was there putting up MVP numbers.
I’m just really passionate about exposing the extreme disparity between billionaires and the rest of us, and its maddening watching Joe Fans only ever target the millionaires and never the billionaires, and the fact we have billionaire owners who “cry poor” is just so insulting to every single fan in the history of the game.
competitive but never a real threat for a title. at least the Rays win AL titles from time to time. And please, go on and diss the Dodgers. they don’t spend as big as you claim they do because they have an excellent farm system that they can maintain in spite of picking in the late 20s every year.
Mookie doesnt exist? Im hesitant because they actually won one. They might reel off a few here. Their front office was stolen from TB, so of course theyre great at picking.
They don’t spend as much as I think they do?? Without Turner they’re bordering 200 Million. I don’t quite believe that you yourself believe what you’re saying.
they have a high payroll but its not like they are pushing $300 million. If the Rays can win the AL with a very low payroll then logically they should be able to win the WS while staying comfortably under the lux tax. the A’s I would imagine have a higher payroll and didnt go nearly as far las year.
“Scared money don’t get you to the dance” What does this even mean
If you don’t spend money on players because you are scared they will decline, you will never make it to “the dance” (aka the World Series).
Rays spent on Charlie Morton you smooth brain
as a pirates fan, I feel your pain. maybe he’s good pals with bob nutting…
@marty
Sorry this is a business. Owners dont ruin the game, they are in it to make money that’s how it is. The mlbpa made the cba the way they did and the owners have just learned to adapt. Fairness is salary and spending equally will only happen if there is a proper cba agreement in place between the owners and players
And watch the A’s turn him into something. He had TK surgery in college and just never was quite the same.
Tommy Kahnle surgery?
Yep. I am ahead of the curve on T mJ turning into TK surgery. But seriously his FR year at Oregon he was dominant. Had surgery and was never the same.
still thinking he could be a serviceable SP. not a reliever though.
I guess he will fight with Turley for the second lefty spot in the bullpen, the A’s are on fire! They tend to know how to fix those pitchers, so why not. Now probably my team will get Alberto or Villar to fill the 40th spot on the roster and end the offseason like that.
They wanted to differ 10 million over 10 years out of 12 million for Semien if that’s actually true then they would probably try to pull the same stunt with Wong and if he’s smart he says no
Was this the phillies clearing a 40 man spot for didi?
yes
Yes. 40 man roster is full
No, this was to clear a spot for Matt Moore
Looking at his numbers, it’s really odd that he was pretty good his first year in AAA, then not good at all the second year (and not good in the majors either). I’m not familiar enough with him, wondering if he had injury issues or if teams just figured him out.
probably the later. doesnt K a lot of guys. more of a smoke and mirrors type.
yes, just not that good. nice guy though, and has a side business making/selling fishing rods.
Run away? Keep drinking the kool aid bro. The A’s are cooked. Semien, hendricks, la stella, grossman. All gone. Aj puk just had shoulder surgery. Hes prolly damaged goods. The Astros will win this division back this year
the Astros will probably win by process of elimination.
Chapman, Laureano (lol), Olson, Murphy are all in the top 5 at their respective positions in the game.
Basssitt-Luzardo-Manaea-Montas-Puk >>>>> any AL West rotation
Houston cheated. Stop talking. You are a fraud and so is your fave team. A’s will probably make the playoffs this year without doing anything and they will lose in the first round, because their scumbag owner refuses to make the moves to get them over the line.
“Houston Cheated” is the dumbest argument ive heard used on this site. are you expecting karma to strike them down this year? How did cheating in the past hurt Cano last year? cmon man. the Astros may not have improved, but I can tell you for a fact that Moneyball didnt do anything to replace the guys they lost, an injury to any guy in that OAK rotation harms them significantly, and then pen will surely not be as good this year. (and for what it’s worth, no, I do not expect relievers off the street to perform like Reliever of the Year candidates like happened for them last year)
Laureano is a terrible cfer. His arm makes ppl think hes great. We destroyed your team in the playoffs last year. It was because of buzzers right? Your owner sux because half the stadium is covered in tarps. Oakland is a pitiful sports town. The raiders have left yall twice for crying out loud. Enjoy your cheap team. Yall are toast
Laureano is a good target for pitches apparently.
Laureano had +5 DRS, an 8.7 UZR/150, 2.9 range runs above average and +3 outs above average at CF in 2020. He migh thave struggled defensively in 2019, but he’s greatly improved over the last year.
Astros20017Champs************
All garbage son. You sound extremely ignorant. Maybe try thinking before typing?
Was he still on their 40-man? Wondering if this is the move to open up a spit for Didi.
Spot. No spitting allowed.
I believe that’s exactly what this move was.
Agreed. Maybe the A’s see something that nobody else does. Not sure what that is but best of luck to Irvin.
Cole swirving irvin . That boy has nasty stuff. He’s going to be good for the A’s , mark my word. He never had much of an opportunity here which never made sense. I was a huge fan. He’s underrated
Sell the team
Irvin’s young, cheap, with options, and throws LH. The A’s tend to get a lot of mileage out of those guys. And the AL West ain’t exactly the NL East.
Good move.
An option. Not multiple options.
You mean unlike the nl east the al west actually has good hitters. Not that automatic 9th spot out
The nl east has one good team the Atlanta braves. Otherwise you have the overpaying and still a joke Phillies , the oh maybe next year we’ll get lucky Mets, and the it’s obvious we like sucking Marlins. the nl east might as well be the nl central
Washington actually won recently so they get a pass
Yes!!! How did we keep him away
From the big guys like the Yankees a d Redsox! A’s going to the championship baby!
Roll the dice on. LOOGY, even after the rule change is not a bad idea.