Last week, when the A’s acquired Scott Sizemore from the Tigers and optioned him to the minors, Matthew Pouliot speculated in this space that they’d turn to him at third base if Kevin Kouzmanoff continued to struggle.
Matthew guessed it would take another couple weeks for Kouzmanoff to lose the job, but the A’s just optioned him to Triple-A ... and called up Sizemore.
Kouzmanoff posted good power numbers for the Padres despite playing half his games in the majors’ most pitcher-friendly ballpark, but he’s hit just .240 with a .279 on-base percentage and .389 slugging percentage in 205 games since joining the A’s last season.
Oakland is a pitcher-friendly ballpark too, but managing just 23 homers in 743 at-bats is a surprise and Kouzmanoff has never had enough plate discipline to remain an asset if he’s not hitting for power. Sizemore has been even worse in the majors, hitting .223 with a .612 OPS for the Tigers, but that comes in a total of just 65 games and he’s hit .313 with 20 homers, 21 steals, and an .881 OPS in 179 games at Triple-A.
Oakland may try to trade Kouzmanoff, but his stock has likely dropped far enough that finding a taker for his $4.75 million salary will be tough.
