The Athletics announced that left-hander Brady Basso was optioned to Triple-A after being reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To create 40-man roster space, Austin Wynns was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL, which means that the catcher’s 2025 season is officially over.
Wynns was acquired in a trade with the Reds in June, as the A’s needed some catching help when Shea Langeliers was sidelined by an oblique strain. Wynns appeared in 22 games for the Athletics before an abdominal strain sent him to the 15-day IL earlier this week, and the injury has already been deemed serious enough to close the book on his seventh Major League season.
The backstop will finish with a .291/.321/.544 slash line over 110 plate appearances, with the big majority of that production coming over a scorching-hot stretch with Cincinnati. Wynns hit .400/.442/.700 over 43 PA with the Reds, as opposed to a .222/.242/.444 slash in 67 PA with the A’s that bears a much closer resemblance to his overall career numbers.
While we’re dealing with small sample sizes here, the fact that Wynns has an .883 OPS over his last 130 trips to the plate at the MLB level should help him land another minor league contract this offseason. The Athletics have arbitration control over Wynns for 2026 so it is possible the team might consider keeping him aboard as a veteran catching option behind Langeliers. If he is non-tendered, Wynns will be on the move again after already suiting up for six different teams during his seven years in the bigs. Wynns has hit .239/.282/.362 with 19 homers over 783 career plate appearances, with the bulk of that playing time coming as a backup with the Orioles from 2018-21.
A 16th-round pick for the A’s in the 2019 draft, Basso made his Major League debut last season and posted a 4.03 ERA over 22 1/3 innings, starting the last four of his seven total appearances. Basso hasn’t been able to follow up due to a shoulder strain that arose during Spring Training, and then resurfaced in June to interrupt a minor league rehab assignment. Basso has logged two appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas since restarting his rehab work earlier this week. If healthy, the southpaw will likely get another look on the Athletics’ roster before the 2025 season is through.
Glad Wynns is still chasing his dream and had that strong work with the Reds. I liked him with Baltimore although his bat really never translated to the bigs.
I like Wynns but the A’s are better off giving his AB’s to MacIver or Susac or even McGuire. Someone that actually fits into their competitive window and needs MLB experience.
In case anyone is wondering about catcher Nick Schwartz, who was recently promoted up to the Triple A Las Vegas Aviators: He may literally be the worst defensive catcher in the entire history of professional baseball. Seriously. I’m a season ticket holder for the Aviators. I know that the 3 games that Schwartz has played is a tiny sample size. But Schwartz has no chance whatsoever of throwing out any base runner. In yesterday’s game, the Tacoma Rainiers stole THIRTEEN bases. 13 stolen bases in 13 tries. In Wednesday’s game, they “only” stole six. However, there were four others that must have been ruled defensive indifference because Schwartz didn’t even attempt a throw. Schwartz hasn’t thrown out a single base runner yet. And oh, by the way, he’s hitless too. So, root for Daniel Susac to get back in the lineup and continue to develop.