A's trade former "shortstop of the future" to Atlanta Braves

Jason Burke | Nov 11, 2024

Apr 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Nick Allen (10) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The Athletics have traded shortstop Nick Allen to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for right-hander Jared Johnson. This isn't a terribly surprising move, given that Allen had seen his playing time in Oakland dwindle, along with being out of options heading into the 2025 campaign. That would mean that the A's couldn't just stash him in the minors like they did this past season without subjecting him to waivers.

Allen was the A's Opening Day shortstop in 2024, and was playing regularly up until the end of April. He was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in early May, and hit well with the Aviators, batting .345 with a .431 OBP in 81 games. Allen is a talented defender at short, but was even tried out a touch in center to see if it would stick, giving him a little more value to the club. That test did not pan out.

He was called back up to Oakland in August and started seven games over the final month of the season. Three of those starts came at third base. Cumulatively for the year, Allen hit .175 with a .216 OBP and a 33 wRC+ in 41 big league games.

Besides underperformance with the bat, the other reason Allen was seen as expendable is that the A's have last year's top draft pick, Jacob Wilson, already in the bigs and he is going to be the team's starting shortstop for the foreseeable future. They also have Darell Hernaiz and Max Muncy in that shortstop mix, though they're now presumed options long-term at third base with Wilson at short.

As for the A's return, they get another pitcher from Atlanta, which has not worked out so well in recent trades with the Braves. Royber Salinas, part of the Sean Murphy trade, was recently claimed off waivers by Atlanta. Kyle Muller, also part of that deal, has elected free agency. Freddy Tarnok is also no longer with the A's.

That all said, Joey Estes (Matt Olson deal) has shown flashes of being an effective starter, tossing a Maddux on July 3, and Ryan Cusick should be in the mix for his MLB debut at some point in 2025.

Johnson, 23, was ranked as Atlanta's No. 20 prospect over at FanGraphs. He spent all of the 2024 season in High-A, holding a 2.60 ERA (3.50 FIP) across 52 innings out of the bullpen. As we see quite often with A's pitcher acquisitions, Johnson's walk rate is a little inflated at 11.7%, but his strikeout rate of 26.4% is solid.

He'll presumably begin the year either in Lansing for the A's in 2025, with the intention to just get a look at him for a few weeks before ultimately promoting him to Double-A, or he'll just head to Midland right out of the gate.

Johnson is Rule 5 eligible, though he isn't necessarily likely to end up on the A's 40-man roster. There are ways to protect him in the Draft by placing him on a higher level's roster that should keep him safe from other teams in the minor-league portion of the draft. Overall, it's an interesting pickup for the Athletics, and to get something for Allen is likely a win, given that he had been squeezed from the A's roster.