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There was an interesting deal on Monday afternoon that far exceeded the players involved. The Oakland Athletics and Cincinnati Reds made a deal involving four players. On their way to Cincinnati are infielder Aaron Miles and the notorious player to be named later (or cash considerations). Heading out west are center fielder Willy Taveras and infielder Adam Rosales.It's also become pretty apparent that the only player the Athletics really wanted in this deal was Rosales, and only took Taveras' contract on in return for Miles'. Why? Because Willy hasn't even had time to pack his bags and he's already been designated for assignment -- look how sad he is in that photo -- by the Athletics, who need to make room for the recently acquired Gabe Gross and Steve Tolleson.
The A's needed a utility infielder who could play shortstop, so they essentially "bought" Rosales from the Reds for $1.3 million, which is the difference between Miles' salary ($2.7 million) and Tavares' ($4 million). The A's will slice at least another $400,000 off that cost if they release Tavares and someone else takes him for the big league minimum. If they are able to trade Tavares over the next 10 days, and get a team to take on more than the minimum, they may save even more than that.
Left-hander Dana Eveland and utility infielder Gregorio Petit have also been designated for assignment by the Athletics.
Rosales is a 26-year old utility infielder who hit .213 in 230 at-bats with the Reds last season, but did hit .349 in Triple-A in limited time, and it's likely that he'll be joining the Athletics bench for the 2010 season.
For Miles, this is the second time he's been traded this winter after a disastrous season with the Cubs in 2009. Miles signed with the Cubs as a free agent following a year in which he hit .317 with the St. Louis Cardinals, only to spend most of 2009 battling injuries and the Mendoza line, finishing the season with a .185 average.
Odds are that any role Miles ends up serving with the Reds will also be as a utilityman off the bench, especially following Cincinnati's recent signing of Orlando Cabrera.
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