Kevin Kouzmanoff has been stuck in the minors since the A’s demoted the struggling third baseman to Triple-A in mid-June and today they traded him (and some cash) to the Rockies for a player to be named later.
Kouzmanoff and his $4.75 million salary went unclaimed on waivers back in June, allowing the A’s to outright him off the 40-man roster, so it’s safe to say that the player to be named later won’t be anything special.
In fact, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com the deal won’t even get him back to the majors right away, as Colorado plans to assign him to their Triple-A team.
Kouzmanoff is under team control for next season, but there’s little chance of the Rockies actually offering him arbitration because that would essentially lock them into a one-year deal worth at least $4.5 million. Presumably they’ll call him up once rosters expand on September 1 and then possibly try to negotiate a lower salary for next season, with Kouzmanoff serving as merely a fallback option at third base heading into the offseason.
