A'S GET YOUNG FOR PENNINGTON
In a three-team trade, the Oakland Athletics acquired outfielder Chris Young and cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks; the Diamondbacks acquired infielder Cliff Pennington from Oakland, and pitcher Heath Bell and cash from the Miami Marlins; the Marlins acquired pitcher Yordy Cabrera from Oakland.
What does it give the Oakland Athletics
On paper this deal seems to create a logjam in the Oakland outfield, since {P Coco Crisp}, {P Yoenis Cespedes}, {P Josh Reddick}, {P Seth Smith}, and {P Jonny Gomes} are still around. That said, Smith and Gomes are set for free agency, so it won't be surprising if the A's keep all of Crisp, Cespedes, Reddick and Young and have one serve as the DH at all times. It's a very athletic group, and Young was off to a great start in 2012 before getting hurt. Moving Pennington likely means the A's can commit to {P Stephen Drew} as their returning shortstop.
What does it give the Arizona Diamondbacks
The prize here for the D-backs is Pennington. Somewhat ironically, Arizona lost its top shortstop when it traded Drew to the A's this past summer, so now they get a solid (if not stellar) new starter back in Pennington. While not as talented as Drew, Pennington is much less expensive (although he heads to salary arbitration this year) and he's an upgrade over journeymen {P John McDonald} and {P Willie Bloomquist}. The D-backs quickly got value for Cabrera, flipping him to Miami for reliever {P Heath Bell}. This deal also opens up center field for emerging prospect {P=8426 Adam Eaton}.
Fantasy impact
Young may have a revival with the A's, who seem to recycle players better than any other big-league team. Pennington may also get a spike in fantasy value in Arizona, since he's more comfortable as a shortstop than at second base. This deal may also impact veteran CF Coco Crisp in a negative way (and may also put him on the trading block), while the future now looks very bright for Adam Eaton in Arizona without Young around.
