NOV. 30: Both Gentry and Abad cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A, the A’s announced (via Twitter). Each player has enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.
NOV. 20: The Athletics announced today that they have designated center fielder Craig Gentry and left-handed reliever Fernando Abad for assignment. The moves clear space for the addition of second baseman Joey Wendle and left-hander Jose Torres to the 40-man roster.
Gentry, 32 next week, is a plus defender in center field but batted just .120/.196/.200 in 56 trips to the plate this season with Oakland. He brings good speed to the table and has a history of production versus left-handed pitching (.274/.354/.366), so he could draw interest as a trade or waiver-claim candidate. Some clubs may not want him at his MLBTR-projected $1.6MM salary, however. If he clears waivers, Gentry has enough big league service time to refuse the outright assignment and hit the open market.
Abad, 30 next month, was unable to replicate his outstanding 2014 results in 2015. After logging a 1.57 ERA with 8.0 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 57 1/3 innings, he regressed to a 4.15 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 in 47 2/3 innings this season. Abad’s 5.50 FIP was even gloomier than his ERA, and he was hit exceptionally hard by left-handers, yielding a .277/.315/.545 batting line to same-handed hitters in 2015. MLBTR projected Abad to earn $1.5MM.
Sounds like Abad move. I can see Gentry getting picked up by the Mets or Phils on a minor league deal. Abad would be a nice reclamation project for the Pirates.
Gentry won’t get picked up by anyone for $1.5 mil. He is, at best, a minor league player.
A-bad
Didn’t Oakland trade one of their top prospects for Gentry?
Good memory – it was Michael Choice, first-rounder in 2010, now age 26. He appears to have stalled out somewhat in AAA and was “purchased” by the Indians this year.
Choice was actually DFAed by Cleveland a few days after Gentry was. We should know if he clears (as he probably will) before the end of this week.
does anyone know what this does for their Rule 5 status? are they exempt because they can still reject the assignment? If claimed in the draft, can they still opt for free agency? do they just go thru normal waivers? Is this a way of opening roster spots without subjecting players to the rule 5?