Shortly after avoiding arbitration with Seth Smith by signing him to a one-year, $2.4 million deal the Rockies have traded the outfielder to the A’s for pitchers Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso.
Smith had a very good year for the Rockies in 2011, but became expendable once they signed Michael Cuddyer to join Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez as starting outfielders.
Smith is a solid platoon starter versus right-handed pitching, but he’s struggled against lefties and hasn’t hit much away from Coors Field. During the past three seasons Smith has batted .302 with a .935 OPS at home, compared to just .248 with a .736 OPS on the road.
Oakland was short on experienced (or even sort-of-experienced) starters as is, so parting with Moscoso and Outman leaves them with a very thin rotation. Moscoso pitched well as a 27-year-old rookie for the A’s, tossing 128 innings with a 3.38 ERA and 74/38 K/BB ratio. Outman has struggled to stay healthy, but the 27-year-old southpaw has good raw stuff and a 3.75 ERA in 151 career innings.
