By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, May 15, 2014

The Oakland Athletics used their day off to do some wheeling and dealing, sending minor league outfielder Jake Goebbert and a player to be named later to San Diego in exchange for outfielder-first baseman Kyle Blanks.

To clear a spot for Blanks on the active roster, the A’s designated first baseman Daric Barton for assignment. Blanks will join Oakland Friday when the Athletics begin their weekend series at Cleveland.

Blanks appears to have some pop in his bat. He hit nine home runs with 20 RBIs and a .265 batting average in 27 games at Triple-A El Paso before being called up by San Diego on May 5. Blanks has spent parts of the last six seasons with the Padres, hitting .228 with 28 home runs and 98 RBIs in 239 games.

In 31 games at Triple-A Sacramento, Goebbert was batting .257 with six homers and 25 RBIs. He was acquired by Oakland in a deal with Houston in April 2013.

Barton was part of a 2004 trade with St. Louis that sent pitcher Mark Mulder to the Cardinals. The A’s gave Barton all kinds of opportunities to stick, as the converted catcher spent parts of the last eight seasons with Oakland. A .247 hitter in 551 games, Barton was hitting .158 with five RBIs in 30 games with the A’s this season.

Daric Barton is merely the latest in a long list of high draft choices that baseball executives continually try to justify giving chance after chance to, when the results dictate otherwise.

Oakland sports a 25-16 record and has won six of its last seven games going into its series against the Indians. On Friday night, Sonny Gray (4-1, 2.13 ERA) is on the mound for the A’s, while the Tribe counters with Zach McAllister (3-3, 3.89) in a battle of righthanders.