Elephant Rumblings: Reactions to the Cole Irvin trade

Jan 27, 2023 - 3:00 PM

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Happy Friday, Athletics Nation!

I was somewhat surprised but hardly shocked that the A’s traded Cole Irvin to the Orioles yesterday for Baltimore’s 16th ranked prospect, Darrell Hernaiz. Irvin was the A’s best pitcher in 2022, and he isn’t even arbitration eligible until 2024.

Baseball Trade Values certainly doesn’t like this trade: Irvin plus minor league righty Kyle Virbitsky, who was also sent to the Orioles as a side piece in the trade, combine for an estimated value of $16.2 million versus a comparatively meager valuation of $2.7 million for Hernaiz.

Melissa Lockard at The Athletic seems underwhelmed by the Irvin deal:

The A’s are indeed stacked with starters. Irvin is a reliable workhorse, but his stuff is back-of-rotation caliber. He could well be crowded out by up-and-coming prospects like Ken Waldichuk and new acquisitions like Shintaro Fujinami. Per Martin Gallegos at MLB.com, A’s general manager David Forst expressed confidence in the A’s starter depth, stating, “We feel like we do have a deep rotation. What we lack in experience, we have in talent we believe coming up.”

It also seems that the A’s front office is high on position players who possess great athleticism, and Hernaiz fits that profile. Back in October, Orioles director of player development Matt Blood said that Hernaiz is “just a very toolsy young player who can sometimes get overlooked. But if you look at his numbers this year, he, at his age, really, really performed. He’s a guy to keep an eye on.”

Let’s hope that Hernaiz is indeed the hidden gem that Blood suggested. Have a wonderful weekend, AN!

A’s Coverage:

• Willis: Athletics trade Cole Irvin to Baltimore
• Willis: Tyler Soderstrom, Ken Waldichuk on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list
• Willis: Oakland A’s 2023 Community Prospect List No. 1: Who is the top prospect in the organization
• Willis: Athletics Nation is looking for new writers
• Gallegos: A’s acquire Baltimore’s No. 16 prospect for Irvin

MLB News & Interest:

• Bowden: What were MLB’s most impactful offseason trades? Bowden ranks and grades the top 10 ($)
• The Athletic: Gammons, Stark and Rosenthal on the Hall of Fame results, and why Scott Rolen’s election mattered ($)
• Fegan: Why the White Sox are not likely to release Mike Clevinger before MLB investigation completed
• Slusser: Buster Posey heads glitzy Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame class ($)
• Adams: Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

Rotation hopefuls.

Roster moves.

Hal bids Cole farewell.

A’s new “Batting Practice Experience” promotion for Spirit Week.

Please don’t (and I’m not worried he will). But nice jersey, Mr. Tweet!