It seems like every week now the Oakland Athletics are making a trade, the only question is who goes next after today's deal that sent Mark Kotsay to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Joey Devine.
Kotsay recently turned 32, but 2007 was a disaster for the former Marlin and Padre, and hit .214/.279/.296. Assuming Kotsay bounces back he's just as good of an option as Josh Anderson, but both are just stop gags for Jordan Schaffer, in fact Kotsay's 8 million dollar bill in 2008 will be the last of his current deal.
The Braves lineup will probably project to something like this:
CF Mark Kotsay
2B Kelly Johnson
3B Chipper Jones
1B Mark Teixeira
C Brian McCann
RF Jeff Francouer
LF Matt Diaz
SS Yunel Escobar
As for Devine he was a former 1st round pick in the 2005 draft, remember when he and Craig Hansen were the new wave of draft and insert closers? He's only got about 20 innings of pro experience, and the problem has been he's walking more than he's striking out. In the minors he's been flat out untouchable. Even if Devine doesn't reach that level the A's are smart only giving up a year of Kotsay and the six million of his salary. Travis Buck will likely man center until Carlos Gonzalez is ready to take over.
You have to wonder who's next to go in the Oakland rebuilding stage, recently Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors sat down with Susan Slusser to discuss the trade prospects of Joe Blanton, Mark Ellis, and Huston Street - you would have to think at least two of them are gone before the year ends, and how about selling high on Jack Cust?