SAN FRANCISCO — Josh Reddick is sure to be mentioned in plenty of trade rumors over the next month, and the team just across the Bay has at least a degree of interest in the A’s right fielder.
A source familiar with the Giants’ thinking said Reddick is on a lengthy preliminary list of players that the team has compiled as potential trade targets.
That doesn’t necessarily indicate serious interest by the Giants, nor is it a sure thing that the A’s are even looking to trade Reddick before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. But the mere possibility adds an extra layer of intrigue to the four-game Bay Bridge Series that begins Monday night at AT&T Park.
The A's plan is for Reddick, out since May 20 with a fractured thumb, to be activated from the disabled list Tuesday and be in the lineup against the Giants that night if all goes well in his final rehab game with Triple-A Nashville, manager Bob Melvin said.
[RELATED: Report: A's to revisit contract talks with Reddick]
The Giants are currently without regular right fielder Hunter Pence, who’s expected to be sidelined into August with a hamstring injury. Fellow outfielders Angel Pagan and Gregor Blanco can both hit free agency after this season, so it’s easy to see why they might be on the lookout for an outfielder.
The 29-year-old Reddick is due to hit free agency himself after the season, and though a Fox Sports report suggested Sunday that the A’s might try to re-start negotiations for a potential contract extension, there’s no indication that any deal is on the horizon. The A’s could look to trade Reddick, provided he shows teams that he’s healthy, and get something for him before he hits the open market.
They could also hang on to him and give him a one-year qualifying offer after the season. Were he to leave via free agency after that, the A’s would then receive an additional first-round draft pick as compensation.
One potential road block to the A’s and Giants working out a deal for Reddick: The teams have not completed a trade with each other since 1990, and it’s fair to question whether the A’s would necessarily want to make a trade to help their neighboring rival, and vice versa with the Giants.
The idea of Reddick being a potential match for the Giants was broached in a San Francisco Chronicle report Sunday which quoted a scout as saying they thought Reddick would be a good fit for the Giants.
