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Astros Trade Brandon Bielak To Athletics

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The Astros traded right-hander Brandon Bielak to the Athletics in exchange for cash, per a team announcement. Houston designated him for assignment last week. The A’s designated left-hander Easton Lucas for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Bielak, 28, struggled with the ’Stros this season, posting a 5.71 earned run average in ten appearances (17 1/3 innings). His 10.8% strikeout rate and 5.5% swinging-strike rate both stand as career-low marks.

That said, Bielak was a solid swingman in three prior seasons with Houston. From 2021-23, he notched a 4.05 ERA over the life of 142 1/3 innings, fanning a combined 19.2% of his opponents against a 9.8% walk rate. The former 11th-round pick made 15 starts and tallied another 33 relief appearances during that time. He’s not a flamethrower, but Bielak averaged 93.4 mph on his heater during that three-year stint and kept the ball on the ground at a strong 48.1% clip. He’s posted similar numbers in parts of four Triple-A campaigns, recording a 3.98 ERA with a 24.3% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate through 246 2/3 frames.

Bielak is out of minor league options, so he’ll jump right onto the Oakland staff. The A’s have placed starters Joe Boyle (back strain), Paul Blackburn (stress reaction in foot) and Alex Wood (shoulder tendinitis) on the injured list this month. They also announced that injured lefty Ken Waldichuk is done for the season due to elbow surgery. The addition of Bielak will help replenish some of that depth, whether he steps right into the rotation or provides a long-relief option. Rule 5 righty Mitch Spence has been Oakland’s primary long man this year, but he’s pitched well and could feasibly step into the rotation himself.

Because he has just 2.110 years of big league service, Bielak can be controlled for three more years beyond the current season. He’ll need to carve out a role for himself on the Athletics’ roster and get back to his 2021-23 form if that’s to even become a factor, but there’s potential for him to be a multi-year acquisition if Bielak can get back on track. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter and shouldn’t see an especially large raise, given his role as a low-leverage swingman and occasional back-end starter.

The addition of Bielak to the roster comes at the expense of the 27-year-old Lucas, who made his big league debut with the A’s last year but has only seen 10 1/3 total innings in the majors. It’s been a struggle in that small sample, to say the least. Lucas has been charged with a dozen earned runs (10.45 ERA) on 18 hits and a dozen walks with 13 strikeouts. A massive .459 average on balls in play has contributed to his ugly numbers, but Lucas hasn’t done himself any favors by walking just over 12% of his opponents.

As one would expect, things have gone better in the upper minors. Lucas split the 2023 season between Double-A and Triple-A, posting a combined 3.86 ERA in 46 2/3 innings. He punched out 25.8% of opponents against an 8.6% walk rate. The southpaw posted a 2.87 ERA in 15 2/3 innings of Triple-A work this year as well — albeit with just 13 strikeouts against six unintentional walks. The A’s acquired Lucas from the Orioles last July in the trade sending righty Shintaro Fujinami back to Baltimore.

Oakland selected Lucas to the 40-man roster last summer but passed him unclaimed through outright waivers just a couple months later, in November. Because of that prior outright assignment, he’ll have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency even if he goes unclaimed a second time. As such, there’s a chance that today’s DFA ends his time with the A’s organization less than a year after he was acquired in a deadline swap.

Athletics Place Alex Wood On 15-Day Injured List; Transfer Darell Hernaiz To 60-Day IL

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The Athletics announced several transactions today, with right-hander Aaron Brooks selected to the roster, a move that was reported on Monday. They also recalled left-hander Hogan Harris from Triple-A Las Vegas. To open spots on the active roster for those two, left-hander Brady Basso was optioned to Vegas and fellow lefty Alex Wood was placed on the 15-day injured list with left rotator cuff tendonitis, retroactive to May 13. To open a 40-man spot for Brooks, infielder Darell Hernaiz was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Wood only lasted two innings in his most recent start on Sunday. After the game, manager Mark Kotsay revealed that the lefty had been battling a shoulder injury. “Alex has been grinding,” Kotsay said, as relayed by Martín Gallegos of MLB.com on X. “He hasn’t felt great. He gave us everything he had.” The club took a few days, perhaps seeing how Wood’s shoulder felt with some space from that outing, but have evidently decided to give him some time on the shelf.

The A’s have had Ken Waldichuk, Luis Medina and Freddy Tarnok on the injured list all year. In the past ten days, Joe Boyle, Paul Blackburn and now Wood have joined them. That leaves Oakland with a rotation core of JP Sears and Ross Stripling. Right-hander Joey Estes was recalled recently and has made one start for the club, with Brooks now joining him in the ad hoc rotation mix.

Wood was scheduled to take the ball again on Friday, so the A’s will need another starter in a couple of days. Harris has been starting in Triple-A this year and could be an option, though he has a 7.56 earned run average at that level. Osvaldo Bido was previously recalled for a spot start but didn’t last through the third inning. Royber Salinas is on the 40-man but has just one Triple-A start to this point in his career. Kyle Muller and Mitch Spence are each in the big league bullpen but both of them have lots of minor league starting experience.

As for Hernaiz, he was placed on the 10-day IL a week ago with a left ankle sprain that was described as “severe,” per Gallegos on X. A further update from Gallegos on X relayed that Hernaiz will not require surgery but he will be in a walking boot. Kotsay said it’s going to “take some time” to heal. It seems the club doesn’t expect Hernaiz back before July, as he’ll be ineligible to return before then.

Athletics Promote Brady Basso For MLB Debut

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The Athletics announced a few roster moves today, with left-hander Easton Lucas and outfielder Lawrence Butler optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. To fill those roster spots, infielder Zack Gelof was reinstated from the 10-day injured list while lefty Brady Basso was recalled from Vegas. Basso will be making his MLB debut as soon as he gets into a game.

The Oakland pitching staff has been pretty beat-up lately, with Paul Blackburn and Joe Boyle each landing on the injured list in the past week-plus. Alex Wood is also battling a shoulder issue and may require an IL stint of his own.

Lucas was added to the club’s roster on May 8, less than a week ago, to provide a fresh arm to the staff. He was optioned three days later when the club promoted Joey Estes. But when Blackburn landed on the IL, Lucas was quickly recalled and proceeded to throw 39 pitches in relief last night. The lefty may have been unavailable for a day or two and the long relief options are limited, as Mitch Spence also threw last night and Kyle Muller tossed four innings in relief of Wood on Sunday.

Amid all of that, the club has decided to call up Basso for the first time. A 16th-round selection of the 2019 draft, he missed 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery but was back on the mound in 2023. He split his time between High-A and Double-A, tossing 63 1/3 innings with a 2.42 earned run average. He struck out 26.3% of batters faced while walking 6.2%.

The A’s added him to their 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He was sent back to Double-A and made six starts with a 2.84 ERA. He was recently promoted to Triple-A, with his first start at that level going poorly, allowing nine earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. That one rough outing aside, he’s been in good form this year and will now gets his first call to the majors.

Athletics Place Paul Blackburn On Injured List

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The Athletics announced that right-hander Paul Blackburn has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 11, with a stress reaction of the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. Left-hander Easton Lucas was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move.

It’s unclear when Blackburn suffered his injury, but it his results have gradually worsened as the season has gone along. He first three starts of the season were scoreless but he allowed 21 earned runs over his five most recent outings. Against the Mariners on Friday, he went four-plus innings with seven earned run allowed.

In the short term, the news is obviously a setback for the A’s. When healthy, he has been one of the pillars of their organization in recent years. As other pitchers have come and gone and many have floundered, he posted a 4.35 ERA in 2022 and 2023. This year, his hot start and subsequent struggles have led to a 4.11 ERA.

Of course, the “when healthy” qualifier is an important one for Blackburn. He was limited to 21 starts in 2022 and 20 last year, missing time due to issues with the middle finger of his pitching hand. The 111 1/3 innings he threw in 2021 are still his career high at the big league level. Now he’s in for yet another injury absence, though it’s not known how long the A’s expect that to be.

The A’s already have Ken Waldichuk, Freddy Tarnok and Luis Medina on the 60-day IL, with Joe Boyle on the 15-day IL. Blackburn is now joining them and perhaps Alex Wood as well. Manager Mark Kotsay told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (X link) that Wood has been pitching through a shoulder injury that seemed to get worse yesterday. “Alex has been grinding,” Kotsay said. “He hasn’t felt great. He gave us everything he had.” Kotsay seemed to suggest that an IL stint could be coming by saying last night: “We’ll have more news tomorrow.”

If Wood follows Blackburn to the IL, the rotation would be left with JP Sears, Ross Stripling and Joey Estes. Sears and Stripling have been effective enough. Sears has a 4.20 ERA on the year and Stripling is at 5.14, though with a .356 batting average on balls in play and 57.9% strand rate. Stripling’s 3.71 FIP and 4.50 SIERA suggest he could be better going forward with a bit more help from the baseball gods. Estes was just recalled and his one start was decent, allowing one earned run in five innings, though he had a 6.04 ERA in Triple-A before getting called up.

The club will need to figure out how to fill a rotation spot, perhaps two. Mitch Spence has been throwing multi-inning stints out of the bullpen and has a 3.65 ERA, so he could perhaps be an option. Hogan Harris or Osvaldo Bido were recently up to make spot starts and could perhaps do so again. Brady Basso and Royber Salinas are on the 40-man roster, though neither player has yet reached the majors and each has made just one Triple-A start.

In the longer term, it’s possible the injury could impact Blackburn as a midseason trade candidate. He is making $3.45MM this year and is slated for one more arbitration season before he will become a free agent after 2025. Though the A’s are performing a bit better than expected this year at 19-23, they are still most likely going to be in seller position at the upcoming deadline.

Blackburn’s results have been more passable than outstanding, but all teams need pitching at the deadline and non-rental starters tend to be the most attractive assets in the summer market. The righty therefore is one of the most straightforward trade candidates this year, given his status and that of the team he plays for. The extent of his injury will therefore be of interest not just to the A’s but to many other clubs around the league as the summer pitching market develops.

Khris Davis Announces Retirement

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Former Athletics slugger Khris Davis hasn’t played any pro baseball since 2022, and Davis confirmed in an interview with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale that he has retired from playing at age 36.  Davis does have some interest in returning to the game as a coach, but for now is focusing on his new pursuit as an auto mechanic.

The Brewers drafted Davis in the seventh round of the 2009 draft, and after making his MLB debut in 2013, hit .250/.315/.494 with 60 homers over 1142 plate appearances for Milwaukee during the 2013-15 seasons as their regular left fielder.  Despite these solid numbers, the Brewers’ lack of success in 2015 led newly-hired GM David Stearns to trade Davis as part of a roster retooling, even though Davis was just entering his arbitration-eligible years.  Davis was dealt to Oakland for Jacob Nottingham and Bubba Derby, which kicked off a very memorable run for Davis in the green and gold.

No player in baseball hit more home runs than Davis from 2016-18, as the slugger went yard 133 times.  All told, Davis hit .247/.323/.534 in 1916 PA in those three seasons, which included a Major League-leading 48 homers in 2018.  Jimmie Foxx and Mark McGwire are the only players in Athletics franchise history to hit more than 48 home runs in a single season, and Davis’ career year helped lead the A’s to a wild card berth, and brought the slugger an eighth-place finish in AL MVP voting.

Davis became such a beloved player in Oakland that the A’s signed him to a two-year, $33.5MM contract extension in April 2019, preventing him from hitting free agency following that season.  Remarkably, this is the only extension the Athletics have given to any player within the last decade, and this rare investment by the organization unfortunately didn’t pay off.  Davis struggled through an injury-plagued 2019 campaign and was never the same at the plate, batting .216/.291/.376 in 746 PA during the 2019-21 seasons.

The A’s moved Davis to the Rangers as part of a very memorable five-player trade in February 2021, with Davis’ inclusion in the deal seen as something of a salary offset for Oakland to absorb Elvis Andrus’ larger contract.  In hindsight, that transaction has gone from being “the Elvis Andrus trade” to now being known as “the Jonah Heim trade,” as the Rangers acquired the catcher who has become an All-Star and a key part of their 2023 championship roster.  Davis ended up appearing in only 22 games with Texas before being released, and he rejoined the A’s on a minor league contract and played his final 20 Major League games in an Oakland uniform.  In 2022, Davis continued his playing endeavors by suiting up in the Mexican League and with the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes of the independent Atlantic League.

No mention of Davis is complete without noting his steady .247 batting average across the 2015-18 seasons, as he hit that exact number in all four consecutive seasons.  While it would’ve been fitting if Davis had finished his career as a .247 hitter, he didn’t quite hit the mark, as his career slash line ended up at .242/.314/.491.  Davis hit 221 home runs and 590 RBI over his 3804 PA and 980 games with the Brewers, Athletics, and Rangers.

In regards to his new career, Davis told Nightengale that he spent the last year attending the Arizona Automotive Institute to learn the ins and outs of being a mechanic, as a logical extension of his longtime love of cars.  The owner of five vehicles himself, Davis said “I’m going to get a job after the summer and family vacations are over.  I’ll be an entry-level tech doing tires, oils and lubes, everything.  I’d love one day to do tune-ups on street racing cars, customization, restoration, just to be part of a club and go to car shows and just enjoy that scene.”

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Davis on a fine career in baseball, and we wish him all the best in his new endeavors.

Astros Claim Alex Speas, Designate Corey Julks

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The Astros have claimed right-hander Alex Speas off waivers from the Athletics, per an announcement from the A’s. Oakland had designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Astros opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Corey Julks for assignment, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Speas has been optioned to Triple-A already.

Speas, 26, is capable of getting into triple-digit territory with his fastball. However, as if often the case for pitchers with that kind of power, controlling it has been an issue. He started last year at the Double-A level in the Rangers’ system. He tossed 28 1/3 innings at that level with a walk rate of 11.3%, but was able to work around that by striking out 40.9% of batters faced, leading to an earned run average of 0.64.

Moving up to the higher levels, he found it more challenging to overcome the lack of control. He tossed another 28 1/3 innings at Triple-A, but walked 19.2% of batters faced. His 29.2% strikeout rate was still strong but his ERA was 5.08. He also tossed two innings in the majors, striking out four batters but walking five.

He was nudged off the Texas roster in September of last year and has bounced around a bit since then. The White Sox claimed him off waivers in early October last year but designated him for assignment in early April. He was claimed by the A’s and is now changing clubs via waivers yet again.

Between the Sox and the A’s, he’s thrown 12 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year. He has struck out 17 opponents but walked nine, leading to rates of 26.6% and 14.4%, respectively. Those free baserunners have led to him being burned by four home runs, which is why he has a 12.08 ERA so far this year.

Despite the rough results so far in 2024, the Astros are taking a bet on the stuff. In addition to averaging 98.9 miles per hour on his fastball during his brief MLB debut last year, Statcast also lists a 91.9 mph cutter and 87.7 mph sweeper as pitches he threw for the Rangers. He still has a couple of options, so the Astros can keep him in the minors to see if he gets a better handle on that arsenal in the future.

In order to take a chance on Speas, the Astros are risking losing Julks. The 2018 eighth-rounder had a strong season at Triple-A in 2022, hitting 31 home runs and stealing 22 bases. His .270/.351/.503 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 108 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

He cracked Houston’s Opening Day roster last year but didn’t immediately thrive in the majors and ended up back in the minors a couple of times. He finished the year with a .245/.297/.352 line in 93 big league games, translating to a wRC+ of 80. He still performed well in Sugar Land, drawing walks in 18.6% of his plate appearances and slashing .240/.388/.462 for a 110 wRC+.

Here in 2024, he was sent back to the Space Cowboys and has taken a slight step back. His 12.8% walk rate is still good but an obvious drop from last year. He currently has a .266/.358/.444 line and 97 wRC+ for the year.

Julks clearly has some skills but is now 28 years old and the Astros have a decent crop of outfielders ahead of him. Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, Mauricio Dubon, Joey Loperfido and Trey Cabbage are each on the 40-man and all are on the active roster except for the injured McCormick.

The Astros will now have a week to trade Julks or pass him through waivers. Given his strong numbers on the farm and two remaining option years, it’s possible he will garner interest from clubs looking for more outfield depth.

Mason Miller Drawing Trade Attention

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The A’s are receiving early trade calls on closer Mason Miller, writes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. While the team is at least broadly open to discussions, Rosenthal reports that no one has come close to what is understandably a huge ask.

Miller has been one of the league’s breakout players in 2024. It certainly didn’t come out of nowhere — he has been widely regarded as a Top 100 prospect in each of the last two years — but the second-year righty is already one of the best relievers in the game. Miller gave up two runs in his first appearance of the season against the Guardians. He hasn’t been scored on in 12 games since, and that understates his dominance.

The 25-year-old has recorded multiple strikeouts in all but two of his outings. He has fanned 33 of the 60 batters who have stepped in against him. That’s a laughable 55% rate. Among pitchers with at least 10 innings, Cincinnati’s Fernando Cruz ranks second with a 47.3% strikeout percentage. Only four qualified relievers — Devin Williams (during the abbreviated 2020 schedule), Aroldis Chapman (2014), Craig Kimbrel (2012) and Edwin Díaz (2022) — have ever maintained a strikeout rate north of 50% over a full season. Miller has induced swinging strikes on more than 21% of his pitches, a mark only narrowly topped by Cruz. He has paired that overwhelming stuff with strong control, issuing just four walks without hitting a batter.

[Related: The A’s Overpowering Closer]

It’s not difficult to understand why opponents haven’t had any success making contact. Miller’s stuff is off the charts. His fastball is averaging 100.8 MPH and can run into the 103-104 MPH range at its high end. He has paired it with an upper-80s slider that drew plus or better reviews from prospect evaluators and has been nearly unhittable. Opponents are coming up empty almost half the time they swing at both offerings.

Every bullpen would be massively upgraded with Miller at the back end. It’s entirely unsurprising that teams would look to pry him from Oakland and that the A’s would need a massive haul to consider it. On top of Miller’s dominance, he’s under affordable club control for years to come. He entered 2024 with less than one season of MLB service. He’s not on track to reach free agency until the end of the 2029 campaign. Miller is a lock to go through arbitration four times as a Super Two player, but that won’t begin until after next season.

The A’s are still deep into a rebuild despite a reasonable 18-21 start. They’re very unlikely to hang in the playoff mix this year, although they surely anticipate being a legitimate contender well within Miller’s window of team control. A player of this caliber who still has five-plus years of control being traded is essentially unheard of.

However, Miller’s status is at least somewhat clouded by an alarming injury history. He barely pitched in the minors in 2022 because of shoulder troubles. The A’s nevertheless called him up early last season to work from the rotation. Miller made four starts before being diagnosed with a UCL sprain in his elbow. He was shelved into September. The A’s used him out of the bullpen for 2-3 inning stints once he returned.

GM David Forst announced early last offseason the A’s would move Miller to late-inning relief this year in an effort to keep him healthy. They’ve maintained they’re not opposed to stretching him back out as a starter in ’25, although he may wind up being so impressive as a reliever the team chooses not to mess with success.

There’s no small amount of stress put on the arm of a pitcher who throws as hard as Miller does. The front office presumably has some concern about the possibility he suffers another significant injury. That would be the main argument for genuinely considering trade offers, though Miller also clearly has the talent to be a franchise building block. That’s particularly true if the A’s are serious about potentially moving him back to the rotation in 2025.

Significant trades this early in the season are rare, although the Padres and Marlins lined up on the Luis Arraez swap last week. Teams will certainly continue trying to tempt the A’s as the deadline gets closer. Miller would be their most valuable trade chip, while players like Paul Blackburn, Brent Rooker, Ross Stripling and Alex Wood could draw attention.

Speculatively speaking, Lucas Erceg could also emerge as one of the more intriguing relievers on the deadline market. A former third baseman, Erceg was a late convert to pitching whom the A’s acquired from the Brewers in a minor trade nearly a year ago. While he struggled to a 4.75 ERA over 55 innings as a rookie, he has been a key high-leverage arm for skipper Mark Kotsay in 2024. Erceg has managed 22 strikeouts over 15 frames of 3.60 ERA ball. His fastball is sitting in the 98-99 MPH range.

Erceg also has six years of team control, so there’s no urgency for the A’s to move him. He’s already 29 years old and not as overpowering as Miller, though, so he’s less likely to be a major long-term piece coming out of the rebuild.

Athletics Outright Lázaro Armenteros

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Outfielder Lázaro Armenteros has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas, reports Francys Romero on X. The outfielder was designated for assignment by the Athletics earlier this week.

Armenteros is now on the cusp of his 25th birthday, which will arrive on May 22. Once a high-profile prospect out of Cuba, he signed with the A’s in 2016, earning a $3MM bonus at that time. Baseball America ranked him as one of the club’s top 30 prospects in five straight years after he entered the system.

His natural athleticism has been on display for quite some time, with obvious speed and power. But as he has spent time in affiliated ball, strikeouts have been an ongoing problem. Apart from a brief stint in Rookie ball back in 2017, he’s never had a strikeout rate lower than 32.8% at any stop on the minor league ladder. He’s hit some home runs and stolen some bases along the way, but those punchouts have sapped his prospect stock.

Splitting his time between High-A and Double-A last year, he continued to strike out in a third of his plate appearances but offset that somewhat with a 14.9% walk rate. He also hit 20 homers and stole 17 bases. His combined batting line of .252/.383/.496 led to a 134 wRC+.

That showing was strong enough that the A’s were worried about losing him in the Rule 5 draft, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November. They promoted him to Triple-A to start this year but the results have not been pretty. In 72 plate appearances, he’s been punched out 37 times, a 51.4% clip. He’s drawn walks at a 12.5% rate but his .133/.278/.250 line is obviously rough.

The A’s bumped him off their 40-man when selecting left-hander Tyler Ferguson this week. The other 29 clubs all passed on a chance to grab him off waivers, so Armenteros will return to Vegas and try to play his way back onto the roster.

Athletics Announce Several Roster Moves

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1:15pm: Hernaiz has a “severe” left ankle sprain, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He’s going to see a specialist today.

11:23am: The A’s on Wednesday announced announced that they’ve recalled catcher/first baseman Tyler Soderstrom from Triple-A Las Vegas and also recalled righty Osvaldo Bido to serve as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader. Oakland also selected the contract of lefty Easton Lucas. Meanwhile, infielder Darell Hernaiz was placed on the 10-day IL with a left ankle injury, lefty Hogan Harris was optioned to Las Vegas, and minor league righty Alex Speas was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Lucas.

A slate of transactions on the heels of a 15-8 blowout loss yesterday and a doubleheader today seemed inevitable. Bido will start the second game of today’s twin bill against the Rangers. He’s in his first year with the A’s organization after becoming a minor league free agent but nevertheless signing a major league contract this offseason. He’s excelled through his first six appearances (five starts), pitching to a 2.59 ERA in 31 1/3 frames with a 30% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate. The 28-year-old made his MLB debut with the Pirates last season and pitched 50 2/3 innings with an unsightly 5.86 ERA.

Swapping out Harris for Lucas will give the A’s some length in the bullpen, as Lucas has tossed 15 2/3 innings in 11 appearances this season, pitching two or more innings on four occasions. He’s delivered solid results in that role, posting a 2.87 ERA — albeit with a less-inspiring 13-to-8 K/BB ratio (plus another hit batter).

Soderstrom’s call to the big leagues will give the A’s another look at the former first-rounder and top prospect. The 2020 No. 26 overall pick debuted as a 21-year-old last summer but looked overmatched, hitting just .160/.232/.240 with a 31.2% strikeout rate in 138 plate appearances. The lefty-swinging slugger has had a nice start to the season in Triple-A, hitting for a pedestrian .245 average but reaching base at a hearty .353 clip while slugging .529 in 119 plate appearances. Soderstrom, who is touted for his plus-plus raw power, has already drilled seven homers and collected eight doubles on the young season. He’s fanned at a 26.1% clip, but strikeouts are likely always going to be part of his game — and he’s at least helped offset some of those whiffs with a healthy 10.1% walk rate.

It’s not yet clear how the A’s will divide up playing time with Soderstrom now in the big leagues. Starting catcher Shea Langeliers has struggled mightily at the plate but continues to play strong defense. Backup Kyle McCann has raked at a .393/.485/.750 clip, but that’s come in a minuscule sample of 33 plate appearances.

Soderstrom has plenty of experience at first base as well, given that there are significant questions about his defensive skills behind the plate. Oakland recently optioned Opening Day first baseman Ryan Noda, but early-season pickup Tyler Nevin has hit well since Noda was sent down. Nevin has spent the bulk of his time at first base but has experience at all four corner positions. In all likelihood, there will be plenty of mixing and matching, which is to be expected from an A’s team that entered the season with few set-in-stone starting players and is actively evaluating potential long-term options at multiple spots. The majority of Oakland’s roster can and has played multiple positions — many with other clubs — while trying to carve out permanent MLB roles.

The A’s only acquired the 26-year-old Speas on April 6, sending cash to the White Sox for him following a DFA in Chicago. The flamethrowing righty sits in the 99-100mph range with his heater and can run it up to 102-103mph. Predictably, that’s led to both eye-popping strikeout totals and alarming walk rates in the minors. He pitched 10 1/3 innings for the Athletics’ Las Vegas affiliate but was tagged for 13 runs in that time, due in no small part to a 13.2% walk rate and three homers allowed.

Speas pitched two innings with the Rangers in the majors last summer but split the remainder of the season between Double-A and Triple-A, where he punched out a combined 34.7% of his opponents but also issued walks at a 15.5% clip. He walked six of his 26 opponents with the White Sox during spring training. There’s no doubting the electricity of Speas’ raw arsenal, but he’s walked more than 18% of his opponents in pro ball. He’s in the second of three minor league option years.

Now that he’s been designated, Speas will spend up to a week in limbo while awaiting his fate. The A’s can use that window to find a trade partner, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.

A’s Select Tyler Ferguson, Designate Lazaro Armenteros For Assignment

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The A’s announced they’ve selected reliever Tyler Ferguson onto the major league roster. Dany Jiménez was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Oakland designated Lazaro Armenteros for assignment.

Ferguson gets his first major league call at age 30. A Vanderbilt product, he entered the professional ranks in 2015 as a sixth-round pick of the Rangers. Ferguson topped out at High-A in the Texas system and was released shortly before the start of the 2019 season. He bounced between the independent Can-Am and American Associations between brief affiliated stints in the Dodgers and Braves systems. Ferguson made it as high as Triple-A with Atlanta before qualifying for minor league free agency.

The right-hander spent last season working in multi-inning relief with Arizona’s top farm team in Reno. He posted a 5.49 ERA over 78 2/3 innings and returned to free agency. The A’s signed him to a minor league deal with an invitation to MLB camp early in the winter. He tossed 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball this spring and opened the regular season in Vegas.

Ferguson has logged 15 frames over 14 appearances for the Aviators. He has allowed eight runs (only four of which were earned) while striking out 24 hitters. That strong start was enough to crack the A’s bullpen after a nearly decade-long climb through the professional ranks. He steps in for Jiménez, who has walked 13 of his first 67 opponents.

Armenteros, 25 this month, has yet to reach the big leagues. The right-handed hitting outfielder was a high-profile amateur signee out of Cuba back in 2016. Massive strikeout totals have long since damaged his prospect stock. Even though Armenteros hadn’t shown signs of significantly improving his contact skills, the A’s surprisingly added him to the 40-man roster to keep him from getting to minor league free agency at the start of last offseason.

The A’s assigned Armenteros to Triple-A for the first time this year. He has punched out a staggering 37 times in 72 plate appearances, making him the only Triple-A hitter (minimum 50 PAs) to strike out more than half the time. He’ll likely end up on waivers in the next few days. Assuming he goes unclaimed, the A’s could assign him back to Las Vegas without keeping him on the 40-man roster.

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