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The Oakland Athletics shipped off much of their star power over the offseason and it’s showing in the standings. They enter play Friday with the worst record in baseball at 22-43.
It was reported at the beginning of June that starting pitcher Frankie Montas was “likely to be moved” by the summer trade deadline. On Friday morning, longtime sports journalist Peter Gammons reported that the Miami Marlins are targeting another one of the few holdovers in Oakland.
Laureano would offer the Marlins a solid combination of speed and power at the plate, while being a significant upgrade in the outfield on defense. While the Athletics figure to drop further out of contention over the next couple of months, Miami is hanging around the .500 mark at 28-33 and with the expanded postseason field, could stay in the race through the summer.
The 27-year-old outfielder has spent the majority of his career in centerfield — lining up at the position for 295 games compared to 48 in right — but the script has flipped in 2022 thus far, with Laureano patrolling right in 27 contests against just 10 in center this year. Laureano played in just 88 games in 2021 due to a PED suspension (that carried over into May 2022), but has already collected five stolen bases in limited action this year, while slashing .250/.331/.371.
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