The A’s have finished in last place in each of the past three seasons, their longest such streak since the 1940s. Forever trapped in the outmoded, low-revenue Coliseum, they need to take risks to compete with the World Series champion Houston Astros and their other American League West rivals. The Fowler trade qualifies.

In moving Gray, whose rights the A’s controlled through 2019, Oakland received a second injured prospect besides Fowler: pitcher James Kaprielian, a former first-round draft choice who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Jorge Mateo, a shortstop who was not injured then but has a sprained knee ligament now, was the third — and most highly touted — prospect in the deal.

“We’ve been through this cycle a lot, in my and Billy’s time together,” General Manager David Forst said, referring to Billy Beane, Oakland’s executive vice president for baseball operations. “We’ve done the up-and-down, and hopefully can recognize when there’s a time to look at higher-upside guys. We’ve made trades for safer guys with a lower ceiling who could impact us sooner, but we were certainly in position last July to go for the most talent regardless of how far away from the big leagues they were.”

In Fowler’s case, the A’s had few precedents to study. The injury, Forst said, is more common in N.F.L. running backs than major league outfielders. Yet while Fowler is fast — he had 55 steals in his last two full seasons in the minors — the A’s feel he has enough skills to not depend entirely on speed.

“His hands are quick enough that he will drive the ball to all the fields, with gap-to-gap power,” said the Oakland first base coach Al Pedrique, who managed the Yankees’ Class AAA team last season, when Fowler hit .293 with 13 homers.

“He’s a very smart player, and defensively he got so much better last year with his routes and jumps. His throwing strength has improved, and his awareness of where to throw the ball has gotten so much better. He can play center field every day in the big leagues.”