Angels Trade A's Nemesis to Braves

A former A's prospect could also be an intriguing option for the team to bring back

Ding Dong, the Fletch is gone! David Fletcher has been traded out of the AL West. Arguably the A's biggest nemesis in recent memory, Fletcher has been traded to the Atlanta Braves. The full deal is Fletcher and former A's prospect Max Stassi headed to Atlanta, with Evan White and reliever Tyler Thomas headed to the Angels. 

White was traded to Atlanta just last week as part of the Jared Kelenic deal with the Seattle Mariners, leading to many on social media to call him a "Braves legend." White signed a deal with Seattle for six years and $24 million that has two guaranteed years remaining on it. The Angels will be on the hook for $7 million in 2024 and $8 million in 2025 for White's services. 

Tyler Thomas was just selected in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday after a dominant run in Double-A with the New York Mets. The 27-year-old left-hander struggled in 12 innings in Triple-A, posting a 6.75 ERA with a 2.17 WHIP, eight walks and 11 strikeouts. He'd held a 0.79 ERA in 22 2/3 innings in Double-A.

The real story here is that Fletcher can no longer torment the A's. He's a career .277 hitter with a .323 OBP, but against the A's he always showed out. In 67 career games against Oakland, Fletcher hit .304 with a .362 OBP, 21 walks and 22 strikeouts. 

During Opening Weekend in Oakland, I asked Fletcher what it's like to torment the A's and their fans. "I know I hit really well here. I always like coming here." When asked if he torments any other fan bases out there, he smiled and said, "hopefully." 

Fletcher was right on the nose with his assessment of his play at the Coliseum. In 36 games, he has hit .362 with a .402 OBP and a tOPS+ of 147. The way tOPS+ works is similar to wRC+ or OPS+, where anything above 100 for a hitter is good. In Fletcher's case, he has performed 47% better than his typical performance when he steps on the field in Oakland. 

The stats only tell part of the story, however. There have been numerous occasions where a pitch would be above Fletcher's head, he'd swing, and it would land for a hit. If he swung the bat in Oakland, it dropped for a hit. That was just a rule. 

With the trade to Atlanta, he may have already played his final game at the Coliseum with Atlanta not scheduled to come out this way again until 2025. The A's lease at the ballpark runs through the 2024 season. There is still a chance that the city of Oakland and the A's come to terms on an extension, but as of this moment, no such deal has been struck.

Stassi was drafted by the A's back in 2009 in the fourth round. The A's traded Stassi to Houston in 2013 along with Brad Peacock and Chris Carter in exchange for Jed Lowrie and Fernando Rodriguez. He has played in parts of ten seasons in the big league and is a career .212 hitter with a .295 OBP. 

Stassi began the 2023 season on the IL with a hip strain, and then in April his wife gave birth three months prematurely, which led to Stassi spending time with his wife and baby in the NICU and missing the entire season. 

Mark Bowman said yesterday that the plan was to trade Stassi away. Atlanta did just that, trading Stassi to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday afternoon for a player to be named.