Oakland Fan Favorite Nick Swisher Dealt to Chicago White Sox for Prospects

On Thursday January 3, the Oakland Athletics made their second blockbuster trade of the off-season, trading their center fielder Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for three prospects currently in the minor leagues: Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos, and Ryan Sweeney.

Athletic's General Manager Billy Bean is currently in the process of rebuilding the Athletics franchise after once again missing the post season this past year. On December 14, Billy Beane traded their up and coming starting pitcher Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In this trade of Nick Swisher, Bean acquires three more prospects as he tries to build his team for the future. Due to the Athletics' small budget in a small market city in Oakland, the Athletics cannot afford to pay players the high salaries they command once they become free agents so Beane usually has no choice but to trade them while their value is still high. Former players on the Athletics have included: Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon.

This trade bodes well for both teams as the White Sox get a strong outfielder in Swisher who is a good hitter and fielder. He is 27 years old and last year hit 22 home runs, 78 Runs batted in, and 84 runs scored. His most notable quality is his knack for getting on base. He ranked sixth in the American League with 100 walks.

The three prospects the Athletics got for Swisher have all dominated the minor leagues. Left handed pitcher Gio Gomez was selected 38th overall in the 2004 draft and led the minor leagues this past year with 185 strikeouts, posting a 9-7 record with a 3.18 earned run average. He is 22 years old and will likely enter the AAA league this coming year.

Fautino De Los Santos is a 21 year old right handed pitcher, who went 9-4 with a 2.40 earned run average in the South Atlantic Class A league.

Hitter Ryan Sweeney is 22 years old and played for Triple A Charlotte last year in the White Sox farm system. He batted .270 with 10 home runs and 47 runs batted in during 105 games. He is considered to be the most major league ready out of the three players swapped in the deal.

Nick Swisher was a fan favorite in Oakland and his first acclaim to fame came from the best selling book called "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis in which General Manager Billy Beane touted Swisher as a great prospect as the Athletic's selected him in the draft. Swisher never became the All Star player the Athletics thought they would be getting, although he is only 27 and entering the prime of his baseball career. The Athletics knew that they would not be able to resign him once he became a free agent.