He never played for our Vancouver Canadians, being as he was a 3rd round pick by the Astros before he was traded for Chad Harville, but Oakland A’s reliever/swingman ‘Captain’ Kirk Saarloos has been traded to the Cincinnati Reds, just one day after agreeing to a one-year arbitration-avoiding contract extension.

Saarloos, packing a 7-7 record and a 4.75 ERA last season for the pale jumbos, was only the second Athletics pitcher since 1985 to make 15 starts and 15 relief appearances in the same season (Doug Johns was the other, back in 1996).  That said, he was also pretty ordinary, and with A’s needing to make some roster room, Captain Kirk was always looking like fair game coming into season 2007.

Coming the other way is AA right-handed reliever David Shafer and a player to be named later.

According to the official A’s press release:

Shafer, 25, was 1-2 with a 2.36 ERA (13er in 49.2ip) with 26 saves in 44 appearances for Double-A Chattanooga last season. He struck out 52 batters in his 49.2 innings of work, issued just 16 walks, allowed just two home runs and limited hitters to a .204 batting average. His 26 saves were tied for second in the Southern League.

So, yeah, it had to happen, and the A’s are at least getting someone with potential out of the deal. But as someone who once had to live in Cincinnati, all I can say to Kirk Saarloos is this:

I’m really, really sorry.