A's land Minor in trade with Rangers

After pulling off a trade for second baseman Tommy La Stella on Friday, the A’s shifted their focus to addressing their need for help in the starting rotation. They found a reinforcement in Mike Minor.

Shortly before Monday’s 1 p.m. PT Trade Deadline, the A’s completed a deal with the Rangers for the 32-year-old left-hander, also acquiring cash considerations, in exchange for two players to be named and international slot money. The players headed to Texas will be outfielder Marcus Smith and infielder Dustin Harris, a source told MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Both were 2019 Draft picks who have not played this season because of the Minor League shutdown.

TRADE DETAILS
Athletics get: LHP Mike Minor
Rangers get: 2 PTBN, cash

“We set out coming into today to accomplish a couple of goals and we accomplished both,” A’s general manager David Forst said. “Under difficult circumstances, I think our team did a good job. Our group worked hard on identifying players. We got through the Deadline. Now we’ve got the month of September to look forward to.”

The numbers do not necessarily stand out for Minor, who is 0-5 with a 5.60 ERA in seven starts this season. However, his most recent start with the Rangers was a good sign, as he tossed six shutout innings in Texas' win over the Dodgers.

“We spent a lot of time breaking down his stuff, watching his games this year. This is a guy we’ve seen a lot of for the extent of his career,” Forst said. “We were very involved with him as a free agent in 2018. Whether he pitches as a starter or reliever, or both, I think he’s going to be very valuable for the final month.”

In those breakdowns of Minor, the A’s see high upside after discovering that his stuff is not much different from last year, when he made his first All-Star team and finished the season 14-10 with a 3.59 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 208 1/3 innings. Though Minor’s fastball velocity is down a couple of ticks -- averaging around 90 mph -- his high spin rate is attractive. The A’s have a history of unlocking better results out of pitchers with high spin rates, most recently reliever Burch Smith, who became a revelation as he dominated out of the bullpen this season before landing on the injured list with a forearm strain.

Minor’s fastball spin rate ranks in the 97th percentile of all pitchers in the Major Leagues this season, according to Statcast.

“I would say we’re optimistic that he has every opportunity to pitch as well as he has prior to his first handful of starts this season,” Forst said. “We’re focused on looking at what he’s done well this season and accentuating it and making the most of however many times he’s able to go out there and pitch in the next month and hopefully into the postseason.”

In nine big league seasons with the Rangers, Royals and Braves, Minor has gone 70-65 with a 3.95 ERA in 243 games (177 starts). Like most pitchers who join the A's, Minor figures to benefit from moving to the spacious outfield and foul ground of the Coliseum.

With the A’s in control of first place in the American League West, Minor could become invigorated by being thrust into the middle of a playoff race. The left-hander is set to become a free agent after the 2020 season.

The A’s rotation could use a boost, having entered Monday with an ERA (4.84) that ranked eighth in the AL. Starters have struggled to pitch deep into games on a consistent basis, something Minor has done well his past couple of times out by going six innings in each of his previous two starts with the Rangers.

With multiple doubleheaders in the cards for the A’s after having three games postponed over the past two days due to a positive COVID-19 test by a member of the organization, Minor also provides some much-needed pitching depth.

“With the uncertainty going forward, I think it was critical that we were able to complete this deal for Mike,” Forst said. “We’re going to need more than five starters. I don’t know if you call it a six-man rotation, but we already have doubleheaders coming.”