As acquire Jaso in 3 team deal

[AsfanSince99]

we have too many catchers... whats going on with derek norris now?
maybe we should have kept Gio lol...

Amen to that!
I think Beane had an itchy trigger finger on that trade.

[defjersol]

I've learned Beane usually hits on his trades so it's hard to question the move, however giving up our top P prospect should have landed us a bit more right?

[Cheezombie]

I think calling Jaso a platoon hitter is a bit premature. He only has about a month's worth of PA against lefties in his ML career. That's much too small of a sample to make that type of conclusion as anyone could have a poor 150 PA. In the Minors he had no problem with lefties. This could be a market inefficiency: acquiring players that are supposedly deemed platoon hitters prematurely.

[dr_death]

So, I'm tired of getting no responses from A's beat writers on Twitter. I know I'll get a response here.

Am I completely in the wrong to think that we paid TOO MUCH for Jaso? Cole and 2 others for a 29 year old platoon catcher? 10 hr, 50 RBI...his only sexy numbers are his OPS and average. To me, his offensive #'s look like another Suzuki behind the plate.

Cole had a good spell in Burlington but was absolutely horrid in Stockton. Cole's spell in A ball looks ugly but I still feel like we paid too much.

[Cheezombie]

Over 70% of the pitchers are right handed, so you should expect him to play about that much. That's how much starting catchers play, so whether you think he is a platoon hitter is irrelevant. Your problem is using counting stats and not taking into account that his home ballparks have been pitchers parks his entire career. He has a career .255/.359/.395 line, or good for a 116 wRC+(which means his offense has been 16% above average for his career). He has a rare combination of high contact and high walks leading to a high OBP.

Last year he had a career year where he saw a power surge and batted .276/.394/.456 for a 143(43% above average) wRC+. Those are excellent numbers for a catcher, and for Safeco. That makes him a top 20 offensive performer in baseball last year with at least 350 PA. That's higher than what Aramis Ramirez, Matt Holliday, Adrian Beltre, David Wright, Josh Hamilton, Joe Mauer, and Jose Bautista put up last year. Whether that continues remains to be seen, but he should be a well above average bat.

While we did trade 3 players, the players after Cole are essentially throw ins. Cole is also very far away from the majors, prospects in general have a large bust rate. There's no guarantee he amounts to anything.

Kurt Suzuki, on the other hand, has yet to produce a wRC+ above 100, which means he has been below average offensively every year of his career, and was significantly below average in 2012. Suzuki however, is generally considered to be a better defensive catcher.

[dr_death]

So, I'm assuming you're happy with this trade?

Why Cole though? Why not some lesser arm? Why risk such a promising arm on a player of this caliber? I understand that the A's are LOADED with arms but I think it was a reach trade. People were saying that a straight trade, 1 for 1, would be highway robbery. Why? Especially for our #4 rated prospect.

Don't get me wrong, I trust Beane but this is a reach to me.

[Cheezombie]

I'm fine by it.

[agureghian]

So, I'm assuming you're happy with this trade?

Why Cole though? Why not some lesser arm? Why risk such a promising arm on a player of this caliber? I understand that the A's are LOADED with arms but I think it was a reach trade. People were saying that a straight trade, 1 for 1, would be highway robbery. Why? Especially for our #4 rated prospect.

Don't get me wrong, I trust Beane but this is a reach to me.

If ive learned anything about being an A's fan and a reader of this board...

never doubt BB or Cheezombie.

[ciaban]

whats happening to Derrick Norris?

[Stash]

He'll probably be the right handed part of the platoon at C.

[ciaban]

He'll probably be the right handed part of the platoon at C.

i remember somebody on here saying he will be Napoli from 2011, so i was surprised they are going with the platoon, i think it's a little early for it and he deserves consistent AB's before going that direction.

[Cheezombie]

I'm not so sure the A's will go with a strict platoon at C.

[LakersA's49ers]

Its going to be a matchup thing. Against certain RHP, Norris will get his time to shine!

[ciaban]

Just for reference the A's essentially traded Gio for Peacock, Norris, Milione and Jaso?

[Cheezombie]

Yeah