Jesse Hahn, RJ Alvarez go to A’s in Derek Norris trade

The Oakland A’s are clearly in rebuilding mode, but at least Billy Beane is getting some really nice players in return for his trades.

The A’s on Thursday agreed to trade catcher Derek Norris to the San Diego Padres for pitchers Jesse Hahn and R.J. Alvarez. The Padres are also receiving Seth Streich and an international signing slot.

Norris was the main piece of Oakland’s incredible catching platoon last season that also featured John Jaso and Stephen Vogt. Norris batted .270/.361/.403 with 19 doubles and 10 home runs last season, which was good enough to make him an All-Star. A former 2007 4th-round pick of the Nationals, Norris has batted .246 with a .727 OPS in 285 career MLB games. His average may go down next season if he regresses, but his power played at Oakland and should translate to Petco Park. He is also cost-controlled for one more season before he becomes eligible for arbitration.

As mentioned, the A’s are getting a nice return.

Hahn, 25, is a 2010 6th-round pick out of Virginia Tech and has had a lot of success in pro ball. The 6-foot-5 right-hander went 6-4 with a 2.26 ERA in 44 career minor league starts. He made 12 starts last season for the Padres, going 7-4 with a 3.07 ERA. He is mostly a groundball pitcher who averages nearly 91 on his fastball. He is also mostly a two-pitch fastball-curveball guy. Perhaps the A’s feel they can get Hahn to develop a third pitch, or maybe they feel they can get good performance out of a team-controlled guy for a few years.

Alvarez is a relief pitcher who is young and throws hard. You might remember him because he was acquired by San Diego in the Huston Street trade and was called up to the bigs last season. The 23-year-old allowed just one run, 3 hits, 5 walks and struck out 9 in 8 innings of relief last season with the Pads. He has gone 7-5 with a 2.42 ERA during his minor league career, which was almost exclusively as a reliever. Alvarez averages nearly 95 mph on his fastball and is mostly a fastball-slider pitcher. He is a fly ball pitcher, which should play well at the Coliseum and in the AL West. We expect him to be up with the big league club all year and potentially closing at some point.

It’s obvious that A.J. Preller is trying to improve San Diego’s dormant offense, but he is paying a price to do so. He gave away two good arms.