Former Toronto Blue Jays' Pitcher on the Move Again, Dealt to Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants swung a trade on Friday, with the A's acquiring veteran right-hander Ross Stripling and cash in exchange for infielder/outfielder Jonah Cox.
The 34-year-old Stripling is an eight-year veteran who has played with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays and Giants. He's coming off a disappointing season in San Francisco where he went 0-5 with a 5.36 ERA in 22 games. He pitched just 89.0 innings, the fewest in a full season since 2017 (pandemic year of 2020 excluded).
Lifetime, he's a 38-43 pitcher with a 3.96 ERA. Stripling made the All-Star team in 2018 for the Dodgers and helped them win the World Series in 2020 (though he finished the year with Toronto).
In Oakland, Stripling should immediately put himself in consideration for the Opening Day starter if healthy. The rebuilding A's are rife with opportunity in the starting rotation and currently have Paul Blackburn, Mason Miller, Kyle Muller, Alex Wood, Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears as other rotation options.
While that collection won't wow anyone, that grouping represents an upgrade from a team last year that had the worst team ERA in the American League (5.48).
The Athletics used 39 pitchers a season ago en route to finishing with the worst record in all of baseball. To make matters worse, the A's announced that they are planning on leaving Oakland in the near future.
They plan on setting up shop in Las Vegas and joining the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Raiders as teams to leave the Bay Area in the last several years.
Cox was drafted in the 2023 draft and has one year of pro ball under his belt. He hit .287.
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