A's To Acquire Josh Willingham

[Elite]

The A's and Nationals have agreed to a deal that will send Josh Willingham to Oakland, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). The Nationals get right-hander Henry Rodriguez and minor league outfielder Corey Brown, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

The A's will now feature Willingham, Coco Crisp and David DeJesus in their outfield with Ryan Sweeney and Conor Jackson available off the bench. Willingham, DeJesus and Hideki Matsui should provide the A's offense with some extra thump. Oakland ranked 11th in the American League in runs scored and 13th in the league in home runs in 2010.

Willingham earned $4.6MM in 2010 and will go to arbitration one last time this winter before hitting free agency after the 2011 season. The 31-year-old batted .268/.389/.459 in 450 plate appearances last year before he went on the disabled list and underwent left knee surgery.

Though Willingham is less than a year away from free agency, he would be open to an extension with the A's, according to Rosenthal (on Twitter).

Rodriguez, 23, pitched 27 2/3 innings for the A's this year, posting a 4.55 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9. He has posted exceptional strikeout numbers (11.6 K/9) and an alarming walk rate (6.6 BB/9) throughout his minor league career, but started walking fewer batters in 2010.

Brown, a supplementary first round pick in 2007, batted .283/.370/.466 in the upper minors this year. The 25-year-old had 15 homers, 11 triples, 18 doubles and 22 steals.

Baseball America didn't rank Brown among Oakland's top ten prospects earlier in the month. However, Brown and Rodriguez ranked 12th and 13th, respectively, when BA ranked the Athletics' prospects heading into the 2010 season.

Rosenthal first reported that the sides were in serious discussions about a deal. He suggests the Nationals could use their savings to pursue a starter, a first baseman or a reliever.

MLBTR

Pretty lackluster return IMO, I would think they could have gotten something a bit better. He's got a career OPS of .841 and a .367 OBP which are both above average numbers. He has a bit of hard time staying in the field but I still think they could have gotten something better. Good pickup by the A's.

 

[RipCity32]

I don't understand why the Tigers can't do anything smart like picking Willingham up. Need a LF as well. I'll be damned if Raburn is our starting LF.

 

[.GR]

Too. Many. Outfielders.