Valencia making most of new chance in Oakland

Danny Valencia hits a walk-off single in his 4th game for the A’s. Getty Images.

It’s a baffling thought to most of baseball but especially to a team like the Oakland Athletics to have a lineup so good that the team can designate a player for assignment who is hitting .296 and a whopping .326 against left-handers. The majority of teams in Major League Baseball can’t afford to do that and attempt to contend. The A’s and their fans would kill for a player like that, which is exactly why the team jumped on versatile utility man Danny Valencia. Valencia was DFA’d by the Blue Jays on Saturday August 1.

A’s starting pitcher Chris Bassitt expressed his astonishment that the Blue Jays could just cast Valencia aside so casually saying,

“We got a gift-wrapped present from Toronto, I promise you that. I mean, my goodness. How he got DFA’d is shocking to, I think, every single person on this team, including the coaches and everything. I just don’t know how we got him. He’s unreal.”

Obviously it didn’t take take long for Valencia to find a new home after being cast-off by the Blue Jays so that they could accommodate a space for newly acquired outfielder Ben Revere on their roster. It took two days in fact for the Oakland Athletics to claim Valencia off waivers. He’s a great fit for Oakland since they traded Ben Zobrist to the Kansas City Royals prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. He’s making just $1.675 million this season and has killer splits against lefties hitting a robust .326/.368/.487, making him the ideal candidate for the A’s style of play.

The third/first baseman and outfielder was hitting .296/.331/.506 overall on the year with seven home runs and 29 RBI in just 58 games, which is quite good especially considering he wasn’t playing everyday. To find out how well Valencia has already been playing for the A’s and how well he fits with the team and the fans check out the remainder of my post on Today’s Knuckleball using the link below: