Cliff Pennington Should Start Showing up in Trade Rumors
Since the All-Star break the A’s hottest player is Cliff Pennington. While he has still had his not so bright moments on defense, his offense has been pretty amazing. Since the break Pennington is batting .455 with 2 home runs, 7 rbis and an OPS of 1.211. Needless to say he has been on fire.
There should be several teams with question marks at short stop that I have to imagine will start inquiring about, the red hot, Cliff Pennington. The Giants, Red Sox, Pirates, Reds and Braves are all contenders for a playoff spot that need an upgrade at the short stop position. I have to imagine they all have their eyes on Cliff.
The downside that might keep teams away from trading for Cliff is his iffy fielding. He is not a sure thing with the glove. However he has a cannon for an arm and makes a lot of plays that you would never expect him to make. The other negative is the unknown. Pennington been on a bit of an offensive roller coaster in his first few seasons. His first and third seasons were not very good offensively but his fourth season stats are starting to match his strong second season stats. If he could improve upon year two’s stats, Cliff, could be on his way to a solid offensive season. For those two reasons teams maybe a little apprehensive about trading for Pennington but when you are in the middle of a playoff race sometimes you have to roll the dice.
The upside to Pennington is his age. Right now he is a middle of the pack short stop but because of his age and flashes of good hitting he can still be considered to have some decent potential. I’m not saying he will ever be a top 5 short stop but someday he could sneak into that top 10.
The reason I feel he is so trade-able at the moment is while he isn’t the best he would be a huge upgrade over some of the worst shorts stops who are currently starting for contending teams. I am not saying he will be traded but I am saying if his play continues can teams with a need at short stop not call and inquire? I can guarantee the A’s would be more than willing to listen to any offer.
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