In the 2017 trade deadline the Oakland Athletics struck gold with giving up SP Sonny Grey to the Yankees for high leveled prospects. The Yankees gave up Dustin Fowler, James Kaprielian, and Jorge Mateo. These 3 prospects are now ranked in the A's top 10 prospects with Jorge Mateo being the highlight of the deal. Mateo will be turning 23 in 2018 starting the season off in Triple-A poised to join the A's this season. Mateo is a solid player overall with his speed, hitting, fielding, and arm. Mateo's best tool is his speed stealing 52 bags in 2017 and 82 bags in 2015. He has a solid bat with a steady swing that can hit all sides of the field with a little bit of pop batting .292 once joining the A's. Mateo's power might never come around but for hitting 12 bombs last season as a speedster is over his expectations. Another plus to Mateo's game is his solid fielding. Mateo's primary position is SS but can also play some outfield due to his speed. He has solid range with a flashy glove and a strong arm that can make the Top 10 play ever game. There's not a lot of weak spots to Mateo's game we just need to see if his tools and performance in the minors can correlate to the Majors. With Marcus Semien being a disappointment showing no signs of improvement to his defense or hitting. We can see Mateo taking over at SS sooner than later being a key part of the A's new wave of players. He might not be the next Ricky Henderson but he will definitely be able to bat .275-.300 with 10-20 bombs and 35-65 bagsI'm very excited to see what Mateo can do once he gets called up it was hard to watch him leave New York, but it's the best for his career. Get excited Oakland the Swingin A's are coming back.
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