Tuesday, June 22, 2010

O's Acquire Jake Fox

According to The Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec, the Orioles have acquired UT Jake Fox from the Oakland Athletics for a minor league pitcher.

Considering the fact that the pitcher they give up is expected to be no one of consequence, this is a good move all around. edit: Looks like the pitcher will be Norfolk P Ross Wolf. That's totally fine.

Fox can come in and play first right away. He's not a good fielder...but then again neither is Garrett Atkins. Atkins should see the writing on the wall at this point and he is not likely to be on the roster past this weekend. Fox brings an added dimension as he can play C, 3B or the corner outfield positions in a pinch.

Fox only hit .214/.264/.327 for the A's but played sporadically for Oakland, rarely starting 2 games in a row. He did hit .259/.311/.468 for the Cubs last season.and he was a tad unlucky in Oakland. You would have to think he'll perform better with regular playing time...which he should get in Baltimore where there are no better alternatives. ZIPS projects his to hit .248/.309/.425 with a wOBA of .324 and an ISO of .177 the rest of the way. That's not great but it's a big improvement over what we have now.

And you never know....Fox only has 350 PAs in the majors. He just might get better.

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