A'S SAVE MONEY, MOVE MOSS TO CLEVELAND
The Cleveland Indians acquired versatile slugger Brandon Moss from the Oakland Athletics for infielder Joe Wendle.
What does it give the Cleveland Guardians
Moss brings a needed power bat to a Cleveland squad that finished last season with the 14th-most homers in the majors. That said, Cleveland still probably has some moves to make now, since Moss's arrival creates a logjam in the batting order. This team already has established starters at first base ({P Carlos Santana}), right field ({P David Murphy}), and designated hitter ({P Nick Swisher}). Regardless, if Moss can show he's fully healthy following recent hip surgery, he should be a heart-of-the-order bat for his new team (probably replacing Swisher, who is rumored to be on the trading block).
What does it give the Oakland Athletics
By first moving star third baseman {P Josh Donaldson} and now Moss, Oakland is losing a lot of thump in the middle of the batting order. Still, Moss became expendable when new DH/1B {P Billy Bulter} was signed, and Oakland was looking at potentially paying Moss roughly $7 million for the coming campaign (due to pending arbitration). So the A's cut salary here and move on, getting Wendle, 24, in the bargain. Wendle struggled to adjust to Double-A ball in 2014, but he showed a lot of potential earlier (in high Single-A). So, he is a solid developmental prospect for Oakland.
Fantasy impact
As mentioned, Cleveland has one too many quality starters now that Moss is around; so unless they move Swisher, the latter could lose at-bats to Moss in 2015. Moreover, Moss himself might not play every day if there's no trade. For Oakland, Moss was playing mostly left field down the stretch so a starting gig opens up there now. Expect speedy {P Billy Burns}, veterans {P Sam Fuld} and {P Craig Gentry}, and journeyman {P Shane Peterson} to vie for more time.
