MONDAY: De Aza has in fact opted out, Slusser tweets.
SUNDAY: Alejandro De Aza is expected to exercise the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the A’s on Monday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. De Aza is the second notable A’s veteran to opt out in as many days, after Ross Detwiler used his clause earlier today.
De Aza signed his deal with Oakland in January and would’ve earned $1.25MM if he had cracked the roster. Instead, it looks like the A’s will go with Mark Canha and Jaff Decker as their primary backup outfielders, though Slusser notes that Dacker could be on the outs if the Athletics decide on an eighth reliever rather than a fourth bench player. (Utilityman Adam Rosales can play a corner outfield spot in a pinch.)
De Aza, who turns 33 in April, is coming off a tough season with the Mets that saw him hit .205/.297/.321 in 267 PA. This was much less playing time than De Aza expected to receive when he originally signed with New York last winter, though after the Mets unexpectedly re-signed Yoenis Cespedes, De Aza fell behind Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, Michael Conforto and Juan Lagares on the depth chart.
From 2011-15, De Aza hit a solid .270/.335/.413 over 2324 PA and he owns a similar batting line in his career splits against right-handed pitching. Since De Aza is a left-handed bat who can provide passable defense at all three outfield spots, I’d guess that many of the teams linked to Angel Pagan (such as the Braves, Blue Jays, Phillies, Nationals, or Pirates) could potentially check in on De Aza’s services.
So the A’s have literally one player on their 25 man who can play center?
De Aza would make sense for the Jays. They could use another left-handed bat. They could get rid of Upton Jr. who has had an awful spring, hitting below .200, to make room. for De Aza.
Bucs do not need this guy!
I am not sure this was the right move. De Aza seems like a hard nose player based off the spring training games I listened to. very interested to see how Decker performs at the big league level.
Bring him home.
Makes a lot more sense for the Reds off their bench than Hernan Iribarren.