Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Trading a Wolf for a Fox




According to reports from the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles traded AAA pitcher Ross Wolf to the Oakland A's for Jake Fox, who had been designated for assignment by the A's just over a week ago. I had the chance to briefly talk to Ross this spring training and he seemed like a great guy. He's never appeared in the Major Leagues, but has had a solid year for the Tides and I would guess that he will make his MLB debut for the A's sometime this year. I hope that he has a good future in Oakland.


Jake Fox has appeared in big league games for the Cubs in '07 & '09 and the A's this season. He showed some decent pop in '09 when he hit 11 HR in 82 games, but was struggling at the plate this year. My guess is that his arrival in Baltimore spells the end of Garrett Atkins' miserable stay in Birdland. Fox has some versatility as he can play both corner outfield and infield positions, DH, and catch. It will be nice to have a super utility player who can also catch in emergencies and I have to say that it's not too surprising to see MacPhail bring another former Cubbie into the organization.

Jake has cards in the '09 & '10 Topps Heritage, '10 UD & '09 Topps Updates sets. I'm hoping that I have at least one of those cards around the house for him to sign. According to SCN, he signs at a 53% return rate, but many of those were early in his career while he was still in the minors, so I hope to get him at the ballpark sometime soon.

I would guess that this is the first of many trades that the Orioles will be making over the next month or so, but only time will tell.

8 comments:

Grand Cards said...

How funny is the animal-named coincidence? You beat me to posting about this, but it's worth noting that Fox also has a 2003 UD card (I think) from when he was drafted.

As for my interest, Fox is a Michigan alum, so I'll be rooting for him to do well in Baltimore (or at least better than the last former Michigan/Cub player to play here...Rich Hill)

Orioles Magic said...

The animal name thing is awesome. Although if looking at the trade only that way, I would probably have stuck with Wolf. haha

Thanks for the heads up about the 03 UD card too.

And I'm sure Fox will appreciate the support. I certainly hope he has more success with the O's than Rich ever did.

Austin Delauder said...

I got him the first day he came to Baltimore. Very funny guy. Got him to sign a ball & orioles yearbook

Orioles Magic said...

Austin,
Nice work, I'm glad to hear that he is a good signer, and I hope he keeps that up on Thursday when I'm coming to the game.

Austin said...

Cool, I'll be at the game Thursday too. Apparently Adam Jones is a hard signer. Do you have any tips on getting him?

Orioles Magic said...

Austin, I have a few extra autos from him. Did you email me a week or two ago? I'm going to check on that.

Austin said...

It was at a gmail account. My email is austindelauder@hotmail.com

AlbuqwirkE said...

Ross appeared in 14 games for the Marlins in 2007.