Grant Green Gets His First Opportunity in The Show With the Oakland A's
On a day in which the Oakland A's were disappointed to see just Bartolo Colon selected to the All-Star game with Josh Donaldson and Grant Balfour getting snubbed from the Midsummer Classic, the Oakland A's had breaking news around a possible future All-Star.
It was confirmed late Sunday night by Paul Gutierrez of CSN California that Grant Green has been called up to the MLB roster from Triple-A Sacramento. Green, 25, was Oakland's first-round draft pick (13th overall) in 2009.
Green was in the middle of his second season in Triple-A, and while his offensive ability was never in question, the organization hasn't been able to find a home for him on defense. In his 206 games at Triple-A, Green is hitting .305 with 26 home runs and 124 RBI.
As you can see, the hitting has been there, but in those same 206 games in Sacramento, Green has played every position except pitcher, catcher and right fielder. He is a natural second-baseman, with 86 of his Triple-A games being at 2B.
Over the last two years it was believed that Jemile Weeks was the 2B of the future after his impressive 2011 season. Weeks then struggled mightily to find any success in 2012. He was sent down midseason in 2012 and has not seen the light of day since.
While Weeks was looking like the franchise 2B, Green was bouncing around in the minors on defense looking for a spot that could get him to the 25-man roster with Weeks holding down 2B.
The position has been in flux since Weeks lost his hold on it, with Adam Rosales, Eric Sogard, Cliff Pennington and Jed Lowrie all getting chances at the position. Pennington was traded, Lowrie cemented himself as the starting shortstop and Rosales and Sogard have each struggled to produce offensively.
The A's will need some production out of the position as they approach the second half of the season and the playoff race heats up. In 2012, this was an area of weakness in Oakland and it has not improved this year.
If Green can be a productive 2B, the A's will certainly stay in the hunt for a playoff spot with a great chance to retain their division crown and possibly go even deeper into the playoffs than they did in 2012.
