The Athletics announced Friday that they’ve selected the contracts of right-handers Miguel Romero and Wandisson Charles, as well as outfielder Greg Deichmann. Oakland also announced minor league deals and non-roster invites to Spring Training for 11 players. Right-handers Domingo Acevedo, Cristian Alvarado, Argenis Angulo, Matt Blackham, Ben Bracewell, Montana DuRapau, Brian Schlitter and Trey Supak will all be in camp with the A’s next year, as will infielders Pete Kozma, Frank Schwindel and Jacob Wilson.
Each of Romero, Charles and Deichmann was in Oakland’s 60-man player pool for the truncated 2020 regular season, but none of the three made his big league debut this year. Both Deichmann (No. 13) and Romero (No. 25) currently rank among the Athletics’ Top 30 prospects at MLB.com.
Deichmann was a second-round pick out of LSU in 2017 and has struggled at the plate in the minors due to wrist injuries, but he erupted with nine homers, two doubles and a triple in just 95 Arizona Fall League plate appearances in 2019. Romero, 26, averaged 10 K/9 and kept his ERA south of 4.00 in an outrageously hitter-friendly Triple-A setting in 2019 — a far more difficult task than one might expect at first glance. Just 28 of the 143 Triple-A pitchers with at least 70 innings managed a sub-4.00 mark thanks to the introduction of what was widely believed to be a juiced ball in an already hitter-friendly setting.
Among the non-roster invitees, Kozma jumps out at the most recognizable name. The former Cardinals shortstop has long been touted as a defensive wizard but has never been able to provide much in the way of offense to accompany his proficiency with the leather. DuRapau’s agents announced his signing last week, as we previously covered. The 34-year-old Schlitter is a well-traveled journeyman who logged 9 2/3 frames with the A’s in ’19. Supak was once a well-regarded prospect with both the Brewers and Pirates but will look for a fresh start with the Oakland org. Schwindel, a right-handed-hitting first baseman, got a very small cup of coffee with the 2019 Royals.
Blackham sounds delicious
Goes great with some swiss cheese, onions and mustard, I hear.
I really enjoyed watching Schwindel & Kozma, when they played for my Mud Hens.
I still think Montana DuRapau was on the Ru Paul show.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Lol. I called him Montana DuRuPaul, a drag queen from Helena.
Wasn’t Acevedo once a highly regarded prospect? I’m surprised he never got a chance in NY, his numbers look pretty good in the minors.
it seems like they were actively holding him back for some reason
I think Supak is a really solid signing… he was fantastic in 122 IPs in AA in 2019 then had a REALLY rough few games at AAA. But overall he has posted very impressive stats throughout the minors and I was surprised last season that he was let go without ever getting a shot in the majors considering how impressive his minor league track record had been.
His ceiling is as a 5th starter or middle relief.
Acevedo and Supak are nice pieces
Schlitter seems like he’s had way too much minor league success to not really have been given many chances in the majors. He even had a very successful season in Japan and a few years ago posted an ERA below 2.00 in AAA yet he’s only had one season where he really got significant ML innings. Looking at his numbers his wildly fluctuating K/9 rates are odd (some times having above 9 K/9 and then other times below 5 K/9) but other than that he’s seemed to be incredibly effective at limiting runs in the minors and seems weird he’s gone entire seasons posting even sub 2.00 ERAs in AAA and still not pitching in the majors that season. Who knows maybe he’s just a guy who’s stuff doesn’t translate — but someone who’s stuck with it this long (34 for a minor leaguer is quite old) — he’d be a cool story if he winds up sticking around in the majors this year and actually providing solid innings!
yeah, dont see why he hasnt gotten another shot yet. reminds me of Caleb Thielbar in that way
A’s did not Protect either Buddy Reed or Lazarito? Granted, they are both Offensively-challenged but the raw athleticism is there. Reed is known for his outstanding range in Center field.
I remember when the A’s were good, wait, that never happened. Sorry! The A’s are a very dysfunctional team. At some points they look like they could be one of the best teams, just to be proven a couple moments later to be a pretender. Unbelievable!
A bunch of guys who will never be good, but for the A’s will somehow block their top prospects from reaching the majors