The Athletics announced this afternoon they’ve outrighted infielder Vimael Machín off the 40-man roster. Oakland’s 40-man roster now sits at 38. Additionally, Oakland announced that non-roster invitee Eric Thames has been reassigned to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Machín has suited up with the A’s in each of the past two seasons after being selected out of the Cubs organization in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. The left-handed hitter has tallied 108 combined MLB plate appearances, putting up a .179/.264/.200 slash line without a home run. The Puerto Rico native fared much better on optional assignment to Las Vegas, however. In 393 Triple-A plate appearances last year, he hit .295/.389/.479 with 11 homers. Along the way, he walked in an impressive 12.5% of his trips to the plate while striking out just 18.3% of the time.
With just over one year of big league time under his belt, Machín doesn’t have enough service to refuse an outright assignment. He’ll head to Las Vegas and remain in the organization as a non-roster depth option. With Machín off the big league club, it looks as if the A’s will open the season with an infield group of Jed Lowrie, Tony Kemp, Elvis Andrus, Kevin Smith and Sheldon Neuse.
It’s a moderate surprise Thames won’t be in that mix. The slugging first baseman joined the organization on a minors pact over the offseason. He’d been slated to spend the 2021 campaign with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, but he missed virtually the entire season after rupturing an Achilles in his first game. Lost season notwithstanding, Thames looked a good candidate to play first base for an Oakland team that traded Matt Olson to Atlanta. Instead, it seems the A’s will rely on a combination of Lowrie, corner outfielder Seth Brown and perhaps catcher Stephen Vogt at the position.
Whether Thames will wind up reporting to the Aviators is unclear. It’s not uncommon for non-roster deals for veterans of his ilk to contain opt-out clauses at the end of Spring Training if the player doesn’t make the big league club.
Who on this putrid A’s roster is better than Thames?
My thoughts exactly. The A’s should start their rentals / veterans in hopes of trading them for prospects then pivot towards the younger talent mid season.
absolutely no team is going to give A’s anything for Thames….even if they put him out there what is he going to hit low .200’s maybe hit 10-15 HRs by the time July rolls around. cannot hit Lefties, barely hit Righties as he is slug or bust.
A’s are better running through prospects to see which pans out
Watch for Chrstian Pache, Daulton Jefferies, and Zach Gelof to make impact in 22
Tomorrow, Dom Smith will be the answer to this question.
You can have Dom for Frankie.
they wont deal montas they have too many youngsters in their current lineup…montas gives them a sure fire innings pitcher
I don’t think the prospect haul for 2 vs 1.5 years is hugely different, particularly when teams are trying to make big moves at the deadline. Giving Montas a half year to show that he can consistently perform (instead of just that one steroid free year) should also increase his value.
Matt Stairs?
4 life.
Also, Mark Ellis.
Honestly Thames is probably only better than Vogt, A Allen, Bolt, and McKinney, but they all play premier positions and besides fan favorite Vogt are much younger with more potential
Thames has always carried a good obp and has the pop, someone will give him a shot especially with all 30 teams carrying the DH. Good character too where my tribe at, glaring holes all over the line’up
Well the Tribe are probably in 4th place at best. And honestly they are likely in last place because the Royals are coming too. The AL Central is going to be a really tough division this year and definitely next year.
Not sure how good his Glove was at First Base? Kind of hard to go from a Gold Glover like Matt Olson to a DH-type playing First Base, like Eric Thames.
A’s have plenty of Players that can Fill the DH role too. So guessing it was a Numbers crunch.
Was hoping they would give Billy McKinney a hard look, as he can play 1B or OF.
Dreq Jackson making the roster?
*Drew
Nope, he got assigned to Triple-A today
A’s being the A’s.
Might Greg Bird be an option here. He asked for his release from Toronto.
why would they want an almost 30 year old who has not hit over .200 since 2015?
The A’s will surprise everyone and take Hosmer to score more young talent, and also avoid being cited in the next CBA negotiations.
Thames will report to AAA. He lives in Las Vegas, so why not play at “home” (half the games) until there’s an opportunity?
Plus, it’ll be good practice since the A’s will be moving to Vegas eventually.