Oakland A's Release Pitcher They Received in Cristian Pache Deal with Phillies

Jason Burke | Apr 19, 2024

May 11, 2022; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Cristian Pache (20) / Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

According to the Las Vegas Aviators transactions page, the Oakland A's have released right-hander Billy Sullivan, the player they received from the Philadelphia Phillies last season for outfielder Cristian Pache.

In six outings with Triple-A this year Sullivan held an 11.81 ERA across 5.1 innings. While he'd only given up six hits, Sullivan had also walked ten batters, or nearly two an inning, which led to a 3.00 WHIP in the early returns. He had struck out four.

Sullivan was also down a little velocity as well. Last season his sinker was averaging 94.4 miles per hour in his final appearance of the season. In his last appearance for the Aviators on Tuesday, that was down a tick to 93.4. His curveball and his changeup were also down by the same amount.

The 25-year-old will now attempt to latch on with a new team.

As for the player the A's traded away, Pache, he's having a very nice start to 2024 with Philadelphia. Granted, he's only appered in five games thus far and collected nine plate appearances, but he's made the most of those opportunities by going 2-for-7 (.286) with a pair of walks and a 123 wRC+. Last season in 48 games he finished right about league average at the plate with a 99 wRC+ (100 is league average).

Most of his success has come against left-handers since arriving in Philadelphia, with the 25-year-old batting .314 against southpaws to go along with a 148 wRC+.

While keeping an outfielder that is mostly only effective against left-handers isn't necessarily a great use of a roster spot for a team that is rebuilding like the A's, that they traded him with such a haste has always felt a little strange. Yes, Brent Rooker made the team because of this decision, but there were other guys--with options--that could have been removed from the Opening Day mix instead.

The main player that stands out is Conner Capel, who ended up getting optioned to Triple-A on May 3. He made another quick appearance with Oakland later in the season, but once the 2023 campaign was through he elected free agency and ended up signing a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Pache could have stuck around for a little bit longer to improve his trade value.

The reason that the Pache trade is so confusing is because he was a big piece of the Matt Olson deal before the 2022 season. While his bat wasn't great with Oakland in his first season, he stuck around for the majority of the year. The passion that he played with and the stellar defense he provided had A's fans hooked. They were ready to watch him blossom into a piece of the next contending team.

The A's felt differently.

This year, the same sort of thing is happening with Esteury Ruiz (acquired in a separate trade that involved Atlanta), whose splits aren't nearly as drastic as Pache's were. At some point, the A's are going to have to give guys the opportunity to change their minds to either be a part of the team, or at least improve their trade value.