Why Athletics' OF depth is huge news for MLB trade deadline

Why Athletics' OF depth is huge news for MLB trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Athletics are sitting atop the AL West with an 18-16 record, and it's thanks in large part to their offense being one of the best units in the league.

Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz are having good seasons, but there is a different part of the roster that's been more impressive overall this season: the outfield.

As Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic highlighted, the A's outfield depth is as great as it's ever been, which could be some huge news for the MLB trade deadline at the beginning of August.

A's outfield depth presents huge trade chance

"Once Lawrence Butler starts hitting and Denzel Clarke recovers from a bone bruise in his right foot, the A's outfield might be an area from which they can trade," Rosenthal writes.

The A's outfield is in great shape, and it's a group that the Athletics could trade from at this year's deadline.

Lawrence Butler and Denzel Clarke are two good starting options, and with Carlos Cortes playing incredibly right now with a 1.092 OPS in 75 at-bats, there's a lot more than the familiar faces making an impact for the A's.

Tyler Soderstrom is playing well this season with a .730 OPS in 32 games, while Colby Thomas is a nice depth piece with a .267 average and .820 OPS in 15 at-bats so far.

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Zack Gelof is also factoring into the outfield right now, and he has a .711 OPS and has been a solid depth piece for the A's outfield.

With Butler, Cortes, Clarke, Soderstrom, Gelof, and Thomas, the A's have an abundance of outfielders that they could trade from at this year's MLB trade deadline.

If the A's can find a trade using one of these outfielders for some young MLB-caliber pitching, it would be a big win for this team in the long-term.

While the Athletics might be in first place in the AL West right now, there's still plenty of time for things to change and the A's to become sellers.

But, even if they aren't sellers, they could still part with some of their OF depth for help elsewhere, as this quality depth in the OF is a huge asset the A's should utilize.

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