A’s acquire Yonder Alonso, reliever from Padres

Alonso is used to a big pitchers’ park in San Diego, and he’s not a big home run hitter, anyway (32 in 508 career games), so he appreciates the Coliseum.

A first-round pick by the Reds in 2008, Alonso hit a career-high nine home runs in 2012, but he said a wrist injury two seasons ago affected his power (he said he’s healthy now).

A’s bench coach Mark Kotsay, the Padres’ hitting coach last season, said next season “will be an important year for Yonder and his growth as a player.”

Kotsay noted that Alonso has a good contact rate, his plate discipline has improved, and he is one of the top defensive first basemen in the game.

[...] baseman Danny Valencia played on a travel-ball team with Alonso and was his teammate at the University of Miami.

Davis, too, is a strong defensive player, and he wound up in a platoon with Mark Canha, so that certainly could be an option.

The A’s priority remains improving the bullpen and Rzepczynski helps to alleviate Pomeranz’s loss; lifetime, left-handers have hit .215 against Rzepczynski.