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Athletics Select Chad Smith

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The A’s announced this afternoon that they had selected the contract of right-hander Chad Smith. Smith will replace right-hander Angel Felipe, who is headed to the paternity list, on the active roster. The club had an open spot on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was necessary to clear space for Smith.

Smith, 28, was outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster earlier this month to make room for Manny Pina’s return from the 60-day injured list. Smith now returns just a few weeks later to help Oakland’s relief corps cover the middle innings alongside the likes of Austin Pruitt and Tayler Scott. Smith struggled significantly in his first stint with the A’s earlier this year, posting a 6.75 ERA in 12 innings of work across nine appearances. The results at the Triple-A level haven’t been much better, as Smith’s 7.88 ERA in 24 innings at the Triple-A level is well below par even for the heightened offensive environment found in the Pacific Coast League.

In joining the active roster, Smith will cover for Felipe, a 25-year-old righty who made his major league debut with the A’s earlier this month after the club claimed him off waivers from the Padres back in June. In 6 1/3 innings of work across five appearances out of Oakland’s bullpen, Felipe boasts a 1.42 ERA with a solid 24% strikeout rate, though his 16% walk rate certainly leaves something to be desired.

Orioles Acquire Shintaro Fujinami From A’s

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The Orioles added an upside play to their bullpen, acquiring Shintaro Fujinami from the A’s. Minor league reliever Easton Lucas is going back to Oakland in a one-for-one swap. Baltimore designated infielder Josh Lester for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot.

Fujinami signed a one-year, $3.25MM free agent contract over the winter. The A’s took a flier on his upside despite an inconsistent decade-long run in Japan. The 6’6″ righty brought high-octane stuff but a spotty performance track record and wobbly control to the big leagues.

A cursory glance at Fujinami’s season line would suggest the experiment didn’t pay off. He concluded his A’s tenure with an 8.57 ERA through 49 1/3 innings. No other pitcher with 40+ frames has allowed more than eight earned runs per nine.

That ghastly season line is skewed by an incredibly poor first couple months. Initially penciled into the starting rotation, Fujinami was tagged for a 14.26 ERA across seven starts. The A’s understandably kicked him mostly to relief work by late April.

Fujinami’s 5.40 ERA over 31 2/3 relief innings isn’t eye-catching itself. That’s also skewed by some growing pains early on. The 29-year-old has worked scoreless outings in 15 of his last 20 appearances. Since May 27 — an admittedly arbitrary endpoint — Fujinami owns a 3.32 ERA in 21 2/3 frames. He’s striking hitters out at a quality 25.6% clip against a modest 7% walk rate in that time.

There’s risk in placing too much emphasis on a player’s recent trajectory compared to their overall body of work, of course. It’s perhaps easier to buy into Fujinami’s stronger results of late given the quality of his arsenal. Working in shorter stints has pushed the average velocity on his four-seam fastball from an already strong 97 MPH to the 99-100 MPH range. He’s also leaned more heavily on a 93-94 MPH split while scaling back on his mid-80s cutter.

Baltimore will hope the simplified pitch mix and continued experience against big league hitters allows Fujinami to maintain his form of the past six weeks. He’ll add a power arm to the middle innings of an already excellent relief corps. Baltimore’s bullpen entered play Wednesday ranked eighth in the majors with a 3.79 ERA. They’re fourth with a 26.1% strikeout percentage.

It’s a little more top-heavy than the typical bullpen, though. Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano have been fantastic at the back end, while veteran Danny Coulombe has excelled as the top southpaw. Bryan Baker and Mike Baumann have been generally effective, but both have issued a few too many walks. Fujinami is far from a control artist himself, but he provides skipper Brandon Hyde with another option to bridge the gap to Cano and Bautista.

The addition is solely about 2023. Fujinami will be a free agent again at season’s end. Even though he’ll only have one year of major league service, players signing out of Asian professional leagues are almost always granted the ability to return to the open market once their MLB contract plays out. Baltimore will take on the approximate $1.3MM in salary still owed to the righty through the end of the season.

Oakland offloads a small amount of cash and brings in an upper level relief option. Lucas is a 6’4″ southpaw who was selected by the Marlins in the 14th round of the 2019 draft. Miami traded him to Baltimore over the 2019-20 offseason for veteran infielder Jonathan Villar.

The 26-year-old is amidst a strong season in the upper minors. He’s split his time almost evenly between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. Over 29 2/3 combined frames, he owns a 2.73 ERA with an excellent 31.9% strikeout percentage and tolerable 9.5% walk rate. He’s holding left-handed hitters to a .200/.265/.378 batting line.

Lucas will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft if he’s not added to the 40-man roster at the end of the season. Considering his upper minors success and Oakland’s MLB-worst 5.72 bullpen ERA, he’ll probably get a big league look at some point in the coming weeks.

It’s the first of what is likely to be multiple moves for both clubs. The A’s have already stripped the roster most of the way down, but players like Paul Blackburn, Tony Kemp and Seth Brown could still find themselves on the move. Baltimore has pulled ahead of the Rays (on a percentage point basis) in the AL East and figures to look for rotation upgrades over the next two weeks.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported Fujinami was being dealt to the Orioles and that Lucas was the return. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and Martín Gallegos of MLB.com had previously observed that Fujinami was saying goodbye to his Oakland teammates.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

A’s Release Garrett Acton

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The A’s have placed reliever Garrett Acton on release waivers, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. The move drops Oakland’s 40-man roster tally to 39.

Acton, 25, made his big league debut after the A’s selected his contract in mid-May. He pitched six times, allowing eight runs in 5 2/3 innings. Oakland optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas at the end of the month. Two weeks later, he was placed on the minor league IL with an undisclosed injury. He hasn’t pitched since June 11.

MLB rules prohibit teams from placing injured players on outright waivers. If the A’s wanted to take Acton off the 40-man roster, their options were to put him on the major league 60-day IL or release him. The former course of action would’ve required paying him at the prorated portion of the $720K MLB minimum for whatever time he was on the shelf. Instead, Oakland has opted for the release (which isn’t uncommon in situations like this).

If Acton goes unclaimed on waivers, he’ll be a free agent. Players in this scenario often re-sign with the team that just released them on a new minor league pact — thereby remaining in the organization without occupying a 40-man spot — but the Illinois product would have the ability to explore other opportunities.

Oakland hasn’t announced a corresponding move. It’s possible they’ll select the contract of a hitter who isn’t currently on the 40-man roster, however. First baseman Ryan Noda will be placed on the 10-day injured list tomorrow, relays Martín Gallegos of MLB.com (Twitter link). He has a fracture in his jaw that’ll keep him out for an indeterminate period of time.

Noda remarkably played through the injury yesterday against the Red Sox and hit a homer and a double. It was the continuation of a strong rookie season for the left-handed hitter, who has been an excellent find in the Rule 5 draft. The 27-year-old has a .229/.375/.418 line with 11 homers and a massive 17.6% walk rate through his first 341 big league plate appearances.

A’s Claim Tayler Scott From Red Sox

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The A’s announced they’ve claimed reliever Tayler Scott off waivers from the Red Sox. Boston had designated the right-hander for assignment over the weekend. He’ll take the 40-man roster spot vacated by the Shintaro Fujinami trade.

Scott, 31, is joining his third organization of the season. He signed a minor league pact with the Dodgers in January and cracked the L.A. roster in May. He made six appearances before being designated for assignment and traded to the Red Sox. Scott got into four contests before Boston DFA him as well.

Between the two clubs, he’s allowed nine runs (eight earned) over 9 2/3 innings. Scott has a 10.18 ERA over 38 career MLB frames split across five organizations and three separate seasons. The former fifth-round draftee has allowed around four earned runs per nine both at the Triple-A level and in parts of two seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball though.

That includes an excellent 1.59 ERA over 22 2/3 Triple-A frames this year. He can be optioned to the minors for the remainder of the season and is still multiple years away from arbitration eligibility. He’ll serve as affordable depth for an Oakland bullpen with an MLB-worst 5.72 ERA.

Athletics’ Drew Rucinski, Yacksel Rios Require Season-Ending Surgery

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Athletics right-handers Drew Rucinski and Yacksel Rios will see their 2023 seasons draw to a close early due to injury, per MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos (Twitter links). Rios underwent surgery yesterday to repair an axillary branch aneurysm in his right shoulder. Rucinski will require back surgery to address what was described by the team in late June to be a degenerative condition. Both players are on the 60-day injured list already.

Rucinski, 34, had hoped to establish himself in the big leagues this season after starring in the Korea Baseball Organization for the past several years. The journeyman righty had just 54 big league innings under his belt prior to this season, all coming between 2014-18. He didn’t pitch particularly well in that time (5.33 ERA) but spent the 2019-22 seasons with the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization, pitching to a combined 3.06 ERA in 732 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander displayed remarkable consistency overseas, with his ERA sitting between 2.97 and 3.17 in all four of his KBO campaigns.

When his latest contract with the Dinos expired after the 2022 campaign, Rucinski set his sights on a return to North American ball. The A’s, hoping to find similar success to the D-backs (Merrill Kelly) and Mariners (Chris Flexen) in their own KBO dealings, signed Rucinski to a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $3MM.

Clearly, things haven’t gone as hoped. Rucinski pitched just 18 innings for Oakland, missing time first with a stomach illness, then with a knee sprain and now this current back injury. He was perhaps never at 100 percent, as the righty was tagged for 18 runs on 27 hits and 14 walks with just six strikeouts in his 18 frames for the A’s. His contract has a $5MM option for the 2024 season, though that’ll surely be bought out.

Rios, acquired in a cash deal with the Braves last month after he triggered an upward mobility clause in his contract, pitched in just three games for the A’s. In a total of 1 2/3 frames, he yielded seven runs on three hits and six walks. It was a substantial downturn from the excellent 2.49 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate the hard-throwing Rios had posted in Triple-A with the Braves.

Rios has seen time in parts of six big league seasons, pitching to a combined 6.32 ERA in 98 1/3 frames. He throws hard, misses bats and has had decent results in Triple-A (4.12 ERA in six seasons), so he should get another look as a depth option somewhere in the offseason. For now, he’ll accrue Major League service time and salary on the 60-day IL. That’ll take him over three years of MLB service, making him eligible for arbitration this winter. He’ll be a non-tender candidate for the A’s following the season.

Athletics, Zack Godley Agree To Minor League Deal

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The A’s have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Zack Godley, MLBTR has learned. He’d been pitching with the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the independent Atlantic League. He’s headed to Triple-A Las Vegas for the time being and will make his first start for the Aviators on Friday.

Godley, 33, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since a brief look with the 2021 Brewers. The right-hander was a solid member of the Diamondbacks’ rotation back in 2017-18 when he tossed 333 innings of 4.10 ERA ball with an above-average 24.7% strikeout rate against a higher-than average 9.4% walk rate.

Though Godley looked to have locked down a spot at the back of the Arizona rotation with that performance, he struggled in three subsequent seasons, in part due to injury. He spent time on the injured list with a flexor strain in 2020 and finger injuries in 2021. Overall, in the three seasons following that nice run in ’17-’18, Godley limped to a 6.75 ERA in 124 innings at the big league level.

Since 2022, Godley has been pitching in the Atlantic League, where he’s amassed 125 2/3 innings of 4.73 ERA ball. It’s not an eye-catching number, but he’s posted nice strikeout and walks rates, fanning 28% of his opponents against a 7.8% walk rate.

For the A’s, adding any and all veteran rotation depth they can find makes sense. Oakland starters have MLB’s second-worst ERA this year, with their 6.37 mark narrowly leading the 30th-ranked Rockies (6.44). Left-hander JP Sears, who has a 3.99 ERA in 106 innings on the year, is the only A’s starter with an ERA under 5.00. Oakland also has James Kaprielian, Mason Miller and Drew Rucinski on the injured list — the latter two on the 60-day IL. Down in Triple-A, 40-man options include Kyle Muller and Adrian Martinez, but both have struggled in a hitter-friendly Vegas setting.

Godley will add some experienced depth to Oakland’s group and give them an option for a spot start or simply to eat some innings at the back of the big league staff if they’re concerned about potential workload management for younger arms in the season’s second half.

Athletics Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Jacob Wilson

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The Athletics have agreed to terms with first-round pick Jacob Wilson, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com. Wilson will receive a signing bonus of $5.5MM, well below the $6.63MM slot value for the sixth overall pick.

Wilson, 21, is the son of Jack Wilson, who played in the majors from 2001 to 2012 and was an All-Star with the Pirates in 2004. The younger Wilson is a shortstop who attended Grand Canyon University. He hit .412/.461/.635 in 49 games for the Antelopes this year, stealing eight bases in the process. Elite contact ability is a standout trait of his, as he was only punched out in 4.4% of his college plate appearances.

Coming into the draft, he was a consensus top 25 guy in the draft class, though none of the major outlets ranked him as high as he was chosen. Baseball America was the most bullish, ranking him #9, while both MLB.com and FanGraphs had him at #10, ESPN at #17 and Keith Law of the Athletic placed Wilson 24th. All outlets generally consider him strong enough defensively to stick at shortstop. The hit tool gets the highest praise while his power potential is the greatest unknown at the moment.

Although none of those outlets had Wilson as high as sixth in the class, where he was selected, but his $5.5MM bonus is closer to the value of the 10th overall pick. By saving over a million on their first-rounder, perhaps the A’s will have more cash to spread around to their other selections.

Athletics Outright Tyler Wade

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The Athletics announced a number of roster moves today, including the previously reported promotions of prospects Tyler Soderstrom and Zack Gelof, as well as the recall of right-hander Freddy Tarnok. In corresponding moves, they placed left-hander Richard Lovelady on the 15-day injured list and catcher Manny Piña on the 10-day injured list, as well as outrighting infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade. The club already had one vacancy on its 40-man roster and the outright of Wade creates a second, making room for both Soderstrom and Gelof.

Wade, 28, signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason and has twice now been selected for brief stints with the big league club before being outrighted. He was with the A’s for about two weeks in April, in addition to joining the club for the past four weeks or so. He’s managed to get into 26 games this year and take 55 trips to the plate, hitting .255/.309/.314 in those for a wRC+ of 81.

He’s never been able to hit much at the big league level, as shown by his career batting line of .217/.293/.300 in 709 plate appearances. His best attribute is his versatility, as he’s lined up at all three outfield spots in his career and the three infield positions to the left of first base. He also brings a speed element, having stolen 42 bases in his career, including succeeding in all four of his attempts this year.

Wade was once an intriguing prospect while with the Yankees but his lack of offensive output has limited him to bench/utility roles thus far. This is the second time this year he’s passed through waivers unclaimed. Players with previous career outrights or more than three years of major league service time have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency. Wade qualifies on both counts though he accepted an outright assignment to Las Vegas earlier this year.

A’s To Promote Tyler Soderstrom

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The A’s are promoting top catching/first base prospect Tyler Soderstrom before Friday’s game against the Twins, MLBTR has confirmed. The call-up was first reported by Christopher Correa of the Turlock Journal.

Oakland selected Soderstrom with the 26th overall pick out of a California high school in 2020. The left-handed hitter was regarded as a bat-first catcher on draft day. He’s lived up to that profile in the minors, hitting .272/.333/.525 in 260 professional games.

Soderstrom has been a top young talent for the past couple seasons. He participated in the Futures Game in 2021 (which he did again last weekend) and ranked among Baseball America’s top 25 prospects the following year. Soderstrom traversed three minor league levels last season, hitting .267/.324/.501 while spending the majority of his time in High-A.

He’s spent the entire 2023 campaign with Triple-A Las Vegas. Soderstrom has popped 20 home runs and slugged .536 in 69 games in that extremely hitter-friendly environment. He’s posted middling strikeout and walk numbers, drawing free passes just 6.6% of the time against an elevated 27.6% strikeout percentage. His .303 on-base percentage is last among the 68 hitters with 200+ plate appearances in the Pacific Coast League.

Of course, the 21-year-old was generally facing pitching much older than him at the top minor league level. Heading into the season, Soderstrom was on the Top 100 lists at all of BA, The Athletic, ESPN and MLB Pipeline. Scouting reports are effusive in their praise for his offensive ability. Soderstrom is credited with one of the best hit/power combinations of any player in the minor leagues.

The biggest question, as has been the case since draft day, is his eventual position. Prospect evaluators suggest he’s a well below-average receiving catcher who’s likely to move off the position. That’s before considering the presence of Shea Langeliers, whom the A’s have used behind the dish as their potential long-term replacement for Sean Murphy.

Soderstrom has split his time between catcher and first base with Las Vegas this season. He’s gotten 35 starts behind the plate, 24 nods at first base and nine outings as a designated hitter. Catcher and first are the only positions he’s played in pro ball, though both Baseball America and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel suggested he could be athletic enough to handle third base or the corner outfield if he doesn’t catch regularly.

A’s skipper Mark Kotsay will presumably find ways to get Soderstrom in the lineup on an everyday basis. He could take some starts from Langeliers while working in at first base or DH. Rule 5 draftee Ryan Noda is having a strong rookie campaign and will presumably play whichever of first base or DH that Soderstrom isn’t manning. Brent Rooker and Seth Brown seem likely to take most of their reps in the corner outfield.

There haven’t been many causes for celebration for A’s fans this season. Friday’s game will offer the fanbase and organization a glimpse of what they hope is a more exciting future. Soderstrom joins 2021 second-round selection Zack Gelof in getting his first MLB nod. Gelof isn’t quite the caliber of prospect Soderstrom is, but they’re both generally regarded among the top handful of young talents in the organizational pipeline.

Because he appeared on the preseason Top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, Soderstrom would be eligible for a full year of service time if he can squeeze out a top-two finish in AL Rookie of the Year balloting. That’s a tall task with less than half a season’s worth of playing time, however. It’s likely he’ll end up shy of a full service year; in that case, he wouldn’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 season and is controllable through 2029. Future assignments to the minor leagues could push that back further.

The A’s have one opening on the 40-man roster after waiving right-hander Adam Oller this week. They’ll need to create another vacancy to select the contracts of both Gelof and Soderstrom.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Athletics To Promote Zack Gelof

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The Athletics are planning to add infield prospect Zack Gelof to their roster prior to Friday’s game, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The club already has a vacancy on their 40-man after losing right-hander Adam Oller off waivers to the Mariners earlier today.

Gelof, 23, was selected by the A’s in the second round of the 2021 draft.  He’s generally considered to be a very talented hitter, though one with a penchant for aggressiveness that can make him strikeout prone. Last year, he played 96 games between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .270/.352/.463 for a wRC+ of 107. He walked in 11.4% of his plate appearances but struck out at a 27.5% clip. This year, he’s played in 69 Triple-A games, striking out in 27.9% of his trips to the plate but walking in 13.3% of them. His .304/.401/.529 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 122 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Defensively, Gelof was a third baseman in college but concerns around his throwing arm have led the A’s to gradually move him to second base, the only position he’s played this year. Speed could be a factor in his game as well, with Gelof having stolen 20 bases in 25 attempts this year. He’s currently considered the #3 prospect in the Athletics’ system by MLB Pipeline and #5 at FanGraphs.

The A’s have used various players at the keystone this year, none of whom have locked down a job. Tony Kemp has played regularly, though he’s hitting just .197/.286/.283 and is capable of playing other positions. It’s a similar story for Jace Peterson, who’s slashing .209/.299/.309 but is capable of moving elsewhere. Ditto for Aledmys Díaz, who’s hitting .209/.260/.286 in a multi-positional role. Jordan Diaz has hit at a subpar rate in a small sample of 32 games this year and can be optioned to the minors.

It seems like Gelof will get a chance to square off against big league pitching and see if he can take over the second base job in Oakland. This will be his first time on a 40-man roster, meaning the club can retain him for six seasons beyond this one, even if he’s up in the majors for good. Future optional assignments could potentially push that back but the focus in the immediate future will likely be on seeing how he performs. The club is the worst in the majors right now with a record of 25-67, giving them plenty of incentive to try out young players like Gelof as they try to build a better roster for future campaigns.

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