The Oakland A’s are on the hunt for a left-handed hitting middle infielder.
They acted quick during Thursday morning’s Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings in San Diego, passing initially in the draft itself before trading cash considerations to the Philadelphia Phillies for left-handed hitting infielder Vimael Machin. Machin could slide into the 26th active roster spot, should the MLB enact the new rule.
The Phillies had selected Machin, 26, from the Chicago Cubs organization with the 15th pick. With Double-A Tennessee and and Triple-A Iowa, Machin played 129 combined games, batting .295 and a .