The Athletics announced a huge batch of roster moves today. They selected the contracts of catcher Willie MacIver and infielder Logan Davidson. They also recalled left-hander Jacob Lopez, infielder CJ Alexander and outfielder Denzel Clarke. Infielder Gio Urshela was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring, opening one spot. They opened three more by optioning right-hander Carlos Durán, catcher Jhonny Pereda and outfielder JJ Bleday to Triple-A Las Vegas. They opened a fifth active roster spot by designating infielder/outfielder Seth Brown for assignment. That also opened one 40-man spot for MacIver/Davidson. A second was opened by transferring infielder Zack Gelof to the 60-day IL.
The Clarke, Urshela and Davidson moves had been previously reported. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the Clarke promotion last night and hinted that more moves could be coming, with the A’s looking to shake things up and snap a nine-game losing streak. That has certainly come to pass.
Brown, 32, has been a productive player for the A’s before but has fallen off. He hit 45 home runs between the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, slashing .224/.294/.457 for a 111 wRC+. However, he has a line of .224/.286/.385 and a wRC+ of 90 since then. That includes a .192/.311/.288 line and 79 wRC+ this year.
He was outrighted off the roster last summer but earned his way back to the big leagues. He played well enough in the second half that the A’s tendered him an arbitration contract for 2025 and the two sides avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2.7MM salary.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Brown is not quite in a position to both elect free agency and keep that money coming to him. Players with at least three years of big league service have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, but players with less than five years have to forfeit their remaining salary in order to do so. Brown came into this year with four years and 96 days of service time, putting him 76 days shy of the five-year mark. 57 days have passed in the 2025 season so far. Based on his performance, he probably won’t get claimed off waivers. More likely, he will clear and accept an outright assignment, allowing the A’s to keep him around as non-roster depth.
Bleday, 27, seemed to be having a breakout last year. The former top prospect hit 20 home runs and slashed .243/.324/.437 on the year for a 120 wRC+. Defensively, he was miscast as a center fielder but the offensive performance was certainly encouraging. Unfortunately, he is slashing .204/.291/.365 for an 86 wRC+ so far this year.
It’s possible there’s some luck in there. His batting average on balls in play was .279 last year but is down to .231 here in 2025. His barrel rate is down but his average exit velocity and hard hit rate are actually higher than last year. His strikeout rate has ticked up a bit but he’s also been walking more.
Regardless, the A’s are seemingly going to try Clarke in center for a while. Bleday can try to get into a groove in the Pacific Coast League and perhaps return to the big leagues after a bit of a refresher. He came into this season with his service count at 2.055. If he stays down the rest of the year, he won’t get to the three-year mark in 2025, delaying his path to free agency. But if he’s recalled in the not-too-distant future, he’ll still have a shot to get there.
Amid the rest of the shuffle, MacIver gets called to the big leagues for the first time. The A’s have Shea Langeliers as their primary catcher but Pereda has been backing him up lately. With today’s swap, it seems MacIver will get a shot at holding that backup job.
The 28-year-old MacIver was drafted by the Rockies way back in 2018, in the ninth round, and has been grinding in the minors since then. He reached free agency after 2024 and signed a minor league deal with the A’s coming into 2025. He has put up a monster .389/.469/.548 line in 147 Triple-A plate appearances this year. His .480 BABIP is surely not sustainable but his 12.2% walk rate and 18.4% strikeout rate are both good figures.
As for Gelof, he began the season on the 10-day IL due to hamate surgery. He started a rehab assignment at the end of April but that lasted just three games before he was pulled off due to a stress reaction in his ribs. He hasn’t started a new rehab assignment yet. His 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so is technically eligible for reinstatement a few days from now. However, that doesn’t seem likely, as he’ll surely need a few weeks of minor league games at some point to get into game shape.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
So glad the Phillies didn’t give up the farm for one year wonder Bleday.
Bleday is still young, he’ll be back. Jacob Lopez could be an intereting add for the A’s.
miller – I guess you could say JJ wasn’t dy-no-mite ;O)
FPG – that’s funny. I’ve seen that show, long time ago. JJ Weatherholt is going to be a good player for the Cardinals, he will be ip soon, Cardinals are a good team. Your Saux are coming around, Devers is raking. Campbell to first is a nice fit, Mayer and Anthony up soon. Should be a good run for the postseason. The White Sox won’t be part of it 🙂
didn’t realize AJ Puk was considered giving up the farm
Heres the ‘more moves to come’ segment of a 9 game loosing streak. They were 2 game over .500 till then
What took them so long?
Used to have hope for CJ Alexander when he was a young Braves prospect.
I for one, once had plenty of ROPE for CJ Alexander, until he used all that slack and hung up his career before it even started. Shawshank redemption style.
What a bummer they couldn’t flip Bleday last year at his peak.
I don’t believe Bleday is done yet.
Is he fun yet? At least?
I think Bleday is the A’s version of Victor Robles. Spend a few years bouncing from AAA to majors, showing flashes of brilliance, but never establishing consistency. Then one day he lands somewhere like KC or MIL and everything clicks.
Could be so. Last year he set a Oakland A’s record for a centerfielder with 43 doubles (Dave Henderson) Plus his 20 home runs. I hope he’s not an also ran.
I’m glad they DFA’d Brown, even if the move was 5 years too late.
Seriously! They should just pay the fans instead of paying subpar non mlb quality “Athletes” to pretend they might be good at acting like Major League Baseball players. I thought Brad Pit was just portraying Billy Bean in a cheap sports flick but come to find out he’s been running the show for 20 years now!?! The hell is going on in West Sacramento?! Or just North East of home and West of Hell?? all things considered Seth Brown was the longest tenured A’s roster imposter and besides an unwarranted All Star game invite He’s been a quality bull pen catcher or simulated game base runner and a real company man. The Fisher family thanks you for you service Seth. As a token of or appreciation here’s a coupon for 10% off at a participating Old Navy store.
Good for Willie MacIver. I was hoping he would get a cup of coffee (or more) with the Rockies, but apparently they had too much talent to keep him around. Meanwhile, Jacob Stallings, a spry 35, is having trouble hitting his WIFE’S weight at the plate.
LV Aviators season ticket holder here. MacIver has been very good this year. He has been hitting very well, and doing well behind the plate. It’s a shame they didn’t call him up earlier, because at one time he was the hottest hitter in all of minor league baseball with an average above .400 after 20+ games. I’m rooting for him to do well now that he’s been called up.
He played well for the Rockies farm teams too, but he didn’t have the “prospect pedigree” of a Drew Romo, so he just got passed on the depth chart. I hope he does well for them too.
Trade Bleday to the Mets for Marte( Mets pay contract) and a prospect flyer.
Thanks but no thanks…
Yuchhh. Bleday offers nothing to the Mets.
Firing Mark Kotsay and Scott Emerson would be a way to “shake things up”. Seriously, why the A’s are hanging on to a manager with a .374 winning percentage is lunacy. Why players would want to play for a manager who agrees to a job where the owner is encouraging tanking. Emerson has done nothing in his tenure as A’s Pitching Coach to deserve keeping his job.
The A’s aren’t a serious franchise they should be relegated to a AAA team
It’s lunacy that Kotsay has been able to even reach a .374 win percentage with the talent he’s been given. This is an ownership problem and has been for quite some time.
Makes you realize how actually good Bob Melvin was as a manager in Oakland. Literally made Fisher look like a caring owner for those 10 years.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_Manage…
Please…Melvin quit on the A’s.
As an A’s fan watching players not progress, sacrifice bunt and fail to field their position is just a nightmare. The experience of witnessing Kotsay manage a MLB pitching staff is like giving a gorilla a dozen eggs and expecting an omelette; it’s just not going to happen. The pitchers have no idea what their roles are and his visits to the mound usually are too late and he makes matters worse. I don’t buy the idea he didn’t have talent – lots of manager don’t have talent. They find a way to play decent baseball and win a few games. Kotsay goes out of his way to make dumb moves when he has zero pressure on him.
What free agent would look at Kotsay and say, “yah, there’s a guy who will get the best out of me and help the team win.”
If only they could bunt they’d be a winning franchise. Need to hire a good bunting coach asap.
You didn’t share any examples of managers doing better with the same talent. Kotsay has never had a competitive squad or even a group of players reasonable people would think a manager could lead to contention.
Emerson is worth keeping around just for the comedic value to the team. Watching him run out to the mound with his elbows flapping in the breeze is hilarious. He has got to be the most uncoordinated person I have ever seen.
Someone will try to trade for him to play LF
Pirates should think about getting Bleday for a young pitcher like Harrington or Ashcraft. Worth a shot. A’s pitching situation is bad and they seem to be playing so many guys out of position the defense is probably hideous. I seen them playing Andujar back at 3B and Seth Brown in center. Not to mention Rooker and a catcher in left.
That’s a team he could definitely help. But they shouldn’t trade a good pitching prospect to get him.
I wonder if the Red Sox will take a chance on Seth Brown for their first base problem. He’s seen reps there in the past.
These suggestions are getting increasingly desperate…
Anybody suggest Dom Smith yet?
6 months ago I dreamnt that Seth brown was traded to the angels. Sure could happen now. I saw him for a brief moment on the angel game on tv, he looks good. They should pick him up. Sleeper
Where ya putting him?
He’s a sleeper alright. For about five months of each season.
18 months ago i dreamnt that a rookie hit, two, two run homers in one game.
Note: i hope the rookie is kyren paris, or christian moore
Note: that dream, is code for a 2nd angel ring in 2025
When he was with the Marlins JJ could build an at bat like an all star. The walks always looked good.
Unfortunately when he got a pitch to hit, all too often he would foul it straight back or ground it weakly to second.
So, since Sherman has been owner of the Marlins, they have drafted the following current MLB position players
Nick Fortes
Nasim Nunez
Kameron Misner
So who’s manning the hot corner? Davidson, Scheman, Alexander, Andujar? Surprised Hernaiz didn’t get the call…
As a LV Aviators season ticket holder who has seen Hernaiz play quite a bit, his strong point on defense is that he gets every ball that he doesn’t have to get his uniform dirty going after.