Seattle Ships off Rickie Weeks
Just moments before the draft, Seattle continued its busy off season by shipping off second baseman Rickie Weeks to the Florida Fishnets in exchange for Coco Crisp and a 5th Round Pick. The move betters both teams by giving Florida a solid everyday second baseman which it has not had in recent years, while giving Seattle the defense in centerfield to replace the aging Johnny Damon who could no longer catch up to some of the tougher catches in Center. Seattle also freed up the backlog of second basement it had after acquiring Howie Kendrick and Orlando Hudson in separate deals earlier this offseason.
Draft
With the first pick in the 2009 Rookie and Free Agent Draft, Pittsburgh chose outfielder Jay Bruce. With Florida's second base position filled with its recent acquisition, Florida chose pitcher Johnny Cueto. Oakland, having swapped first round picks as part of the Vladimir Guerrero trade earlier this off-season, picked in Seattle's spot, picking Cuban 2B/SS Alexei Ramirez. For full coverage of the 2009 Draft you can click here
Pittsburgh Oakland swap utility players
Immediately after the draft, Oakland, having acquired 3 defensively capable utility outfielders during the draft in Chris Dickerson, Felix Pie, and Aaron Cunningham, sent last year's backup outfielder Darin Erstad to Pittsburgh in exchange for hard throwing Mexican lefty Jorge de la Rosa. Erstad's ability to play well defensively both in the outfield and at first base will help Pittsburgh in late innings with a defensive replacement for the lumbering Miguel Cabrera, while Jorge de la Rosa looks to add innings to the Oakland bullpen and hopefully contribute in the future.
Fully updated rosters are available below