The A’s announced they’ve designated infielder Matt Davidson for assignment. Oakland also placed Dany Jiménez on the 15-day injured list, put Sam Moll on the COVID-19 list, and recalled four players: Nick Allen, Sheldon Neuse, Domingo Tapia and Kirby Snead.
Oakland didn’t need to create a 40-man roster spot for any of Allen, Neuse, Tapia or Snead. Davidson, though, is out of minor league option years. The A’s were thus left with the decision to keep him on the big league roster or take him off the 40-man entirely. With Davidson collecting just four hits while striking out ten times in eight games in an Oakland uniform, the club will turn back to Neuse and Allen in the infield at his expense.
Davidson has made 13 total big league appearances this year, as he also suited up five times with the D-Backs. He’s managed just a .147/.216/.324 showing against MLB arms, but the right-handed hitter has torn the cover off the ball in Triple-A. Between Arizona’s and Oakland’s top affiliates, Davidson owns a .306/.389/.711 line with 15 home runs in only 139 trips to the plate.
The extreme hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League no doubt has propped up those numbers, but Davidson has also flashed some power potential over parts of six MLB seasons. He’s a career .220/.290/.430 hitter in a bit more than 1100 plate appearances. Davidson’s .209 ISO (slugging minus batting average) is strong, but his huge strikeout totals and low walk rates have led to persistent issues reaching base.
Oakland will have a week to trade Davidson or run him through waivers. The latter outcome seems likelier given his lack of recent success against big league pitching. The 31-year-old has already cleared waivers once this season. He elected free agency last time around, and he’d have the right to do so again if he goes unclaimed.
Jiménez hits the IL with a shoulder strain; his placement is retroactive to June 19. Signed to a minor league contract over the winter, the righty has surprisingly jumped into a high-leverage role for manager Mark Kotsay. Jiménez has collected the first 11 saves of his career, pitching to a 4.38 ERA through 24 2/3 innings. He hadn’t allowed an earned run through the end of April, but Jiménez has been tagged for 12 runs (all earned) in 15 2/3 frames going back to the beginning of May.
Nothing tastes better than swapping out turds for other turds. FU John Fisher. FU Billy “never led a team to the World Series yet somehow Brad Pitt made a movie about me” Beane
Whew, that’s a little intense!
Swings & misses a lot, he fits right into todays BB. Someone will pick him up, hit 15 hr. in 139 PA with a .306 BA in AAA this year. Someone will scarf him up in a heartbeat.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Blame Fisher, but Beane can only work with the resources he’s given, which isn’t much. He can’t make any significant signings in FA, and can’t even retain his own impact players long term. He’s forced to shop in the bargain bin for ‘diamonds in the rough’, and has to gut every good team he builds after a short run to restock the farm, or lose his players for nothing in FA.
It’s a rough cycle that only Fisher can end. The Rays are an anomaly. Beane’s A’s have been pretty successful considering the situation.
Beane has checked out for the last few years. You can tell he has done nothing this year to even pretend he cares. In the past he would have been picking up players that was under valued but this year just AAA waiver guys.
Agreed … And why does Beane have to replenish his farm system every few years? hmmmm …. wait a minute, let me think …. hmmm …. wait, it’s coming to me …. oh yeah, it’s because he makes BAD DRAFT PICKS!!!
Or it could be his budget requires him to call up minor leaguers to fill out the roster. Cheap players. I would be more worried about a team that didn’t have to replenish their minor league system. That would mean it wasn’t producing players the major league team could use.
Its different this year than previous years. A’s even when bad would search the waiver wire for young players to give a chance to play. This year its just picking up very bad players that are not young. I saw one player that they should have picked up just go by them to be claimed by another bad team. Instead he picks up davidson?
Beane is not even the GM… why do people incessantly post about Beane when the GM is Forst?
Because “Moneyball” is forever burned into the public lexicon when thinking about the Oakland Athletics. The A’s are bad this year, will probably be bad next year but by 2024 they will start to be a factor and by ’25 probably a regular in the postseason for 3 or 4 years and then cycle over again. It’s what they’ve been doing since 2000 and no reason to think that won’t continue
@passed_balls it’s because beans is the guys that makes the decisions other than the owner, just like any other team that has a pbo and a gm. the pbo is the real gm and the gm is either ab overpaid secretary or ast. gm. so that’s why people still refer to beane as the gm because he makes all the moves and frost most likely deals with the paperwork
am not sure I would say he “checked out” but maybe allowing Forst leg room to be the GM
Wake me up when the A’s do something in the playoffs. One of the most storied franchises in baseball and now look at it. Sad.
Wake me up when the Angels do something in the playoffs. I’ll be a sleep for a LONG time.
A couple of Rip Wan Winkle’s we got here. I can’t get more than 2 or 3 hous a night
Just wondering, after sleeping all those years, do you wake up with morning rod? Are we talking Washington monument here?
Don’t forget Beane’s a part owner
Billy Beane is a minority part owner (about 1%) which is not bad but still the spending
return calls como from John Fisher himself. Certainly, Beane got additional money from the movie “Money Ball” but he definitely can’t count on those big resources needed to replenish A’s big league roster or the minors for that matter…
Unlike all of those other low payroll teams that have won the World Series, clearly showing Beane how it’s done?
Pinch hit homer at fenway in a losing effort was his biggest hit for the A’s. Davidson seems like a cautionary tale for Patrick Wisdom on just how fleeting fame is
Davidson is a hit or miss type hitter but mostly misses. a AAAA player that probably going overseas to play. A’s team is filled with many players like him.
Wow! Exciting news for a’s fans … both of them!!!
Your hate for the A’s is comical. How did those A’s hurt you so much?
Comical is what the a’s home attendance has been this year.
Has to be more than 2, right?
With a proxy from A’s fan UK?
Comical is how much you hate the A’s. Why you refuse to tell why you so angry on the A’s? Are you afraid we will laugh at you for being a karen? So why so much hate on the A’s speak now ….
Something is wrong with statman’s hate for the A’s. He post the same old lame jokes and bashes the A’s for years. Just why is he so afraid to say why he hates the A’s?
What really sucks is he gets up votes!
probably upvotes himself. so that is 1 upvote
Looking for 2 more, family members?
Google the word troll
Because I used to love them growing up when they had owners who also loved us fans.
Owners don’t care about the fans, otherwise it wouldn’t cost so much for tickets, concessions and parking.
Wow! How exciting it is to see how sad of a person you are… all of you!!! 😀
I thought maybe Davidson would be a 2 way guy because he can actually kind of pitch. Maybe mop up some games and bounce around the field. I do think a backup w some power and who can throw a 6 era when needed would have value.
Matt Davidson — Back to the Minors.
Kirby Snead is the telltale sign that you still don’t have to be a good pitcher to get work in MLB as long as you throw left-handed.
Matt Davidson is like like the Uber-dad of MLB. He can’t hit at all but can muscle up for a homer every once in a while, and he is a solid BP pitcher.
Get this man a Big Dogs shirt, some cargo shorts, a fresh set of NBs and he’s a coach.
Boy that deescalated fast. If you can’t make it there, you can’t make it anywhere, it’s up to you, Oaktown, Oaktown
Matt will always have opening weekend in Kaycee. Like the saying goes, what happens in Kaycee, em…um….doesn’t really happen anywhere else
June 30th, is a big day as it is one step closer to the A’s getting approved for the building of the new stadium and maybe finally the end of this cycle of selling off its stars.