Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Athletics Rumors

Outrighted: Herget, Neuse, Sanchez

By | at

A few updates on some recently DFA’ed players who passed through waivers, per the league’s transactions log at MLB.com…

  • Righty Kevin Herget, designated for for assignment Friday by the Rays, went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Durham. Herget made his big league debut as a 31-year-old rookie this season after grinding through the minor leagues and independent baseball for more than nine years. He tossed just 2 2/3 frames and yielded a pair of runs in that time but also recorded his first big league strikeout. Even if Herget doesn’t get another look with the Rays in 2022, his excellent work in Triple-A this year should generate interest in minor  league free agency this winter. In 93 2/3 frames, he’s pitched to a 2.98 ERA with a strong 24.9% strikeout rate and an outstanding 3.9% walk rate.
  • Athletics infielder Sheldon Neuse cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 27-year-old logged a career-high 293 plate appearances in 2022 but recorded just a .214/.273/.288 slash with four homers, four doubles and a pair of triples in that time. Neuse has consistently produced at the Triple-A level, where he’s slashed .299/.353/.471 in 1559 plate appearances, but he’s only managed a .212/.262/.296 slash in 420 Major League trips to the plate. Neuse has spent the bulk of his pro career playing third base, but he does have just over 750 innings of experience at second base and at shortstop — in addition to brief cameos at first base and in the outfield corners.
  • Veteran right-hander Aaron Sanchez, whom the Twins designated for assignment Friday, remains in the organization after clearing waivers and being assigned outright to Triple-A St. Paul. Injuries, most notably shoulder surgery, have blown up the once-promising career of Sanchez, formerly the No. 34 overall draft pick by the Blue Jays and the 2016 American League ERA leader. Since tossing 192 innings with a flat 3.00 ERA in ’16, Sanchez has thrown just 524 1/3 Major League innings (plus another 103 minor league innings) in a span of six seasons. Still just 30, Sanchez has pitched decently in Minnesota this season, tossing 27 innings with a 4.00 ERA, 25-to-7 K/BB ratio and 53.8% ground-ball rate.

A’s Designate Sheldon Neuse For Assignment

By | at

The A’s announced that they have designated infielder Sheldon Neuse for assignment in order to open a roster spot for infielder Ernie Clement, who was claimed off waivers from the Guardians yesterday. The move drops Oakland’s 40-man roster count to 39.

Neuse, 27, began this year in DFA limbo, as the Dodgers cut him loose on December 1, just as the lockout was about to begin. Shortly after the lockout ended in March, he was claimed off waivers by the A’s and has been oscillated between Oakland and Triple-A Las Vegas this year. He’s fared extremely well in Vegas with a .398/.407/.611 line across 25 games, but hasn’t been able to replicate that at the big league level. In 89 games for the A’s this year, he’s hit .214/.273/.288 for a wRC+ of 67.

This has generally been the story of Neuse in recent years as both 2019 and 2021 also saw him post above-average marks in Triple-A but substandard results when in the show. In 147 career MLB games, he’s hit .212/.262/.296 while striking out in 29.8% of his plate appearances. Since the trade deadline has passed, the A’s will have no choice but to put Neuse on outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days.

Another team might be tempted to put in a claim based on Neuse’s continued success at Triple-A. He is in his last option year and wouldn’t need an active roster spot for now, though he will be out of options next year. He also brings defensive versatility to the table, having appeared at all four infield positions this year, as well as spending some time in the outfield corners last year. If he finds a new home and clicks in a new jersey, he can be retained well into the future given that he just crossed one year of MLB service time here in 2022.

A’s Claim Ernie Clement From Guardians

By | at

The A’s announced they’ve claimed infielder Ernie Clement off waivers from the Guardians, who’d designated him for assignment earlier this week. Oakland also recalled reliever Sam Selman from Triple-A Las Vegas and placed right-hander Joel Payamps on the 15-day injured list with a lumbar strain. The A’s already had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no additional corresponding move was necessary.

Clement changes organizations for the first time in his career. A fourth-round pick out of Virginia in 2017, the right-handed hitter spent a few seasons generally ranked at the back half of Cleveland’s top 30 prospects. One of the game’s highest-contact batters, he worked his way up the minor league ladder and eventually earned a spot on the 40-man roster heading into the 2021 campaign. After opening last season with Triple-A Columbus, he received his first MLB call last June.

The 26-year-old has bounced on and off the active roster over the past year-plus. Clement has tallied 294 major league plate appearances, hitting .214/.273/.274. He’s only picked up three home runs and doubles apiece, and his well below-average exit velocities have muted his overall offensive impact. He’s continued to showcase excellent bat-to-ball skills against MLB arms, though, making contact on greater than 85% of his swings and only going down on strikes in 14.6% of his plate appearances (well below this year’s 22.3% league average). He’s been better overall in the minors, hitting .261/.311/.419 with a 13% strikeout rate over 238 Triple-A plate appearances.

In addition to his plus contact skills, Clement offers a fair bit of defensive versatility. He’s capable of playing anywhere on the infield, with the bulk of his professional experience coming at shortstop. He’s played mostly second and third base in the majors, with brief stints both at shortstop and in left field. The A’s have plenty of long-term uncertainty on the infield, giving Clement an opportunity to at least carve out a utility role if he can make a bit more impact from a power perspective.

Clement is in his second minor league option year, so the A’s can bounce him between Oakland and Triple-A Las Vegas through the end of next season if he holds his spot on the 40-man roster. He won’t be arbitration-eligible until after the 2024 season at the earliest.

Stephen Vogt To Retire After 2022 Season

By | at

Two-time All-Star and fan-favorite Stephen Vogt has decided to retire from Major League Baseball at the end of the 2022 season. The veteran catcher shared his plans to call it a career after ten years in the big-leagues with Janie McCauley of the Associated Press. 

Stephen Vogt | Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Originally a twelfth-round pick by the Rays in 2007, Vogt made his MLB debut with Tampa in 2012 at age 27, going hitless in all 25 of his at-bats during his first season. Traded to Oakland the following April, Vogt saw his hitless streak extend to 0-for-32 before finally connecting on his first hit (a home run).

Despite his slow start, Vogt quickly endeared himself to A’s fans with his heroics in the 2013 postseason. In the ninth inning of a scoreless Game 2 of the ALDS, Vogt lined a single with the bases loaded to walk off the Tigers and even the series at one game apiece.

Vogt’s role expanded during the 2014 season, logging a total of 84 games as a catcher, first baseman, left fielder, right fielder, and designated hitter. To the tune of a .279/.321/.431 slash, Vogt helped propel the A’s to a wild card berth. To this day, cheers of “I believe in Stephen Vogt!” continue to ring out at RingCentral Coliseum during his plate-appearances — a callback to his original stint in green and gold.

The next few years would see Vogt develop into one of the most dependable and productive catchers in the league. From 2014 to 2016, he swatted 41 home runs, drove in 162 runs, and posted a wRC+ of 105, good for seventh amongst catchers. Though he spent most of his prime years behind the dish, Vogt continued to collect innings at first base, left field, and right field, for Oakland. His blend of offensive production with defensive versatility earned him nods to the American League All-Star team in 2015 and 2016.

The A’s designated Vogt for assignment in June of 2017 after he struggled during the first half. He finished the season in Milwaukee, where he accumulated a .789 OPS for a contending Brewers team. Just when Vogt looked as if he was back on track, a shoulder injury kept him out for all of 2018, threatening his career. When the Giants gave him an opportunity by signing him to a minor-league deal at the beginning of 2019, Vogt relished it. He slashed .263/.314/.490, hit 10 home runs in 99 games, and re-established himself as a productive big-leaguer.

Vogt went on to spend the COVID-shortened 2020 and the beginning of 2021 with the Diamondbacks, before being traded to the Atlanta Braves, with whom he earned a World Series ring. Oakland welcomed him back on a one-year contract at the beginning of 2022, where he will finish his playing career. Altogether, Vogt will have amassed with well over 700 games played, more than 500 hits, and nearly $14MM earned by the time his season ends. Vogt himself summed up his roller coaster career, telling McCauley:

“I haven’t always been the best player. I’ve been one of the best players in the league, I’ve been one of the worst players in the league. I’ve been injured and everywhere in between, I’ve been DFA’d twice, I’ve been traded, I’ve been non-tendered, you name it. I’ve been the guy that knew he was going to have a job next year to the guy that had to fight for his job next year, and just always go out and earn it.”

Though his retirement spells the end of his playing career, it seems that Vogt will not be able to stay away from the game for long. Renowned for his clubhouse presence and reputation as a beloved teammate, Vogt drew high praise from former A’s (now Padres) manager Bob Melvin, who told McCauley that he is bullish on Vogt’s managerial potential: “What he means to a clubhouse is immeasurable… [Vogt] definitely has a future in managing.”

Vogt himself said in 2020 that he’s “always wanted to manage,” so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see him mentioned in potential coaching and managerial searches down the line.

Kurt Suzuki To Retire After 2022 Season

By | at

Longtime big league catcher Kurt Suzuki will retire once the 2022 season concludes, he tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. That comes the day after the Hawaii native’s 39th birthday.

“I feel like it’s time,” Suzuki told Fletcher. “I’ve had a great run, won a World Series, All-Star Game. Played 16 seasons. I’ve accomplished a lot of things I never would have dreamed of. I felt like it’s time for the next chapter. My three kids, all they’ve known is baseball.”

Suzuki began his professional career in 2004. A second-round pick of the A’s out of Cal State Fullerton, he made it to Oakland three years later. Suzuki debuted in June 2007 and cemented himself as the A’s primary catcher from essentially that point forward. The right-handed hitter topped 130 games every year between 2008-11, generally hitting at a slightly below-average level overall but better than average for a catcher. Suzuki’s high-contact approach made him a solid offensive backstop for much of his time in Oakland, and the A’s dealt him to the Nationals in the summer of 2012.

After finishing out that season in Washington, Suzuki wound up back in Oakland via trade in August ’13. He qualified for free agency for the first time after that year, signing with the Twins. Suzuki bounced back from a couple down offensive years to hit .288/.345/.383 and earn an All-Star nod that year, and Minnesota signed him to a two-year extension that summer. His production dipped during his final two seasons in Minnesota, but he rebounded with one of the best years of his career after signing with Atlanta going into 2017. He popped a career-best 19 home runs and hit .283/.351/.536 through 81 games, earning a midseason extension for a second season with the Braves.

Suzuki didn’t quite replicate his 2017 production, but he posted another above-average offensive season to wrap up his time in Atlanta. After hitting .271/.322/.444 with 12 longballs, he landed another multiyear deal in free agency. Heading into the 2019 campaign, the Nationals inked Suzuki to a two-year, $10MM deal to pair with Yan Gomes behind the dish. That contract paid off in year one, as the veteran hit another 17 homers with a .264/.324/.486 line in 85 regular season games. Suzuki saw his most extensive playoff action during the Nats run a World Series title that year. That included a go-ahead homer off Justin Verlander in the seventh inning in Game 2 of the World Series, the biggest play in a win that gave Washington a 2-0 series lead.

After another solid showing with Washington during the shortened 2020 campaign, Suzuki has played the last two seasons on successive one-year pacts with the Angels. He’s had a couple down years to wrap up his career, working primarily as a backup in Orange County.

Suzuki’s career totals won’t be finalized until the season concludes, but he’s not likely to change his ledger all that much over the final two weeks. As he noted, Suzuki has played in 16 consecutive big league seasons and surpassed 1600 games. He owns a .255/.314/.388 line with 143 home runs, 729 runs batted in and 594 runs scored. Suzuki made an All-Star game and played a key role on a World Series team. Baseball Reference values his career around 20 wins above replacement. FanGraphs, which factors in Suzuki’s below-average pitch framing metrics, pegs him around nine wins.

Independent of that discrepancy in value, there’s little doubt about the impressiveness of a major league career that lasted more than a decade and a half. It’s possible he’ll continue his baseball career in some capacity, as Suzuki indicated he’d be happy to discuss the possibility of assuming a non-playing role with Halos general manager Perry Minasian (with whom he’s also familiar from their overlapping stints in Atlanta). MLBTR congratulates Suzuki on his lengthy career and wishes him all the best in his post-2022 endeavors.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Athletics Promote Jordan Diaz, Place Ramón Laureano On IL

By | at

Sep. 18: The A’s have announced the promotion of Diaz, with outfielder Ramón Laureano headed to the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain in a corresponding move. The severity of the injury isn’t clear, but with just over two weeks remaining on the schedule, it’s possible that Laureano’s season is over. He returned from serving an 80-game PED suspension in May and has hit .211/.287/.376 this year with 13 home runs and 11 stolen bases.

Sep. 17: The Athletics are preparing to call up prospect Jordan Diaz, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase (Twitter link).  Oakland already added Diaz to the 40-man roster during the offseason, so they’ll just need to make one move to add Diaz to the active roster.

The 22-year-old Diaz will be making his Major League debut, six years after signing with the A’s for a fairly modest $275K bonus during the 2016-17 international signing period.  After showing flashes of his potential at the plate in 2017-19, Diaz returned from the lost 2020 minor league season to hit .288/.337/.484 with 13 homers over 365 plate appearances at high-A ball in 2021.  Beginning 2022 in Double-A, Diaz has just kept on hitting, with a combined .326/.366/.515 slash line with 19 home runs at Double-A Midland (407 PA) and Triple-A Las Vegas (120 PA).

This hitting prowess has been Diaz’s calling card, with evaluators impressed by his polish and his increasing power, though he doesn’t take walks all that often.  Diaz has yet to settle into a defensive role, as he began his career as a third baseman but has increasingly seen more time at first base (plus a handful of games as a second base and left fielder).  If Diaz is just a first base/DH-only type, he’ll need to deliver even more at the plate to make up for these defensive limitations.  The A’s will probably give him at look at both corner infield spots over the final two weeks of the regular season.

MLB Pipeline ranks Diaz eighth on its list of Oakland’s top prospects, while Baseball America is a bit less bullish in rating Diaz 17th.  Also of note, BA’s scouting report writes that “opposing teams have coveted Diaz in trade talks in the past,” so it’s fair to assume that rival scouts will be paying some extra attention to Diaz’s first exposure to Major League pitching.  The rebuilding A’s are more in a position to be adding rather than subtracting any quality youngsters from their organization, though Billy Beane’s front office has been known to swing some creative deals.

Athletics Outright Skye Bolt

By | at

The Athletics announced that outfielder Skye Bolt has been reinstated from the injured list and outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas.

The A’s also announced the outrights of outfielder Luis Barrera and right-hander Domingo Tapia, who were known to have been designated for assignment. In the case of Bolt, however, there had not been any previous indication he had lost his roster spot, though Oakland apparently quietly passed him through waivers in recent days.

The 28-year-old outfielder has had a challenging season, dealing with multiple injuries. He was first placed on the IL just a few days into the season due to an oblique strain. He began a rehab assignment in May but then suffered a strained hamstring and got transferred to the 60-day IL. He was activated in late June and lasted about a month before his next IL stint, this time for a right knee patella subluxation.

In between all of that time on the shelf, he got into 42 MLB games and hit .198/.259/.330 for a wRC+ of 73. He’s out of options, meaning the club wasn’t able to send him down to the minors without first exposing him to the waiver wire, though he’s apparently cleared and will head to Vegas. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time, he will have to accept the assignment. He will stick in the A’s organization without occupying a roster spot.

Outrights: Aguilar, Beaty, Garcia, Barrera

By | at

A handful of players recently designated for assignment have gone unclaimed on waivers in recent days.

  • The Angels announced today that outfielder Ryan Aguilar was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 28-year-old is now in line for what’ll be the first Triple-A experience of his career. Aguilar had never played above Double-A before he was called up last month — first as a temporary replacement for players unable to travel to Toronto and then as a formal addition to the 40-man roster. Aguilar only got into seven games during his MLB look, though, striking out in 14 of 26 plate appearances before being designated for assignment last week. He’d struck out in 27.2% of his plate appearances at Double-A Rocket City this year, but he’d also drawn walks at an incredible 19% clip and posted a huge .280/.427/.517 showing in 88 games there. The lefty-hitting outfielder will stick in the organization for now, but he’ll qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the year if he’s not reselected onto the 40-man roster.
  • Infielder/outfielder Matt Beaty has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Padres, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Acquired from the division rival Dodgers before the season, Beaty only appeared in 20 games with San Diego and hit .093/.170/.163 without a home run. He lost the bulk of the year to a shoulder impingement. It’s been a tough season, but the left-handed hitter is only a year removed from a productive .270/.363/.402 showing over 234 plate appearances with Los Angeles. Beaty surpassed three years of MLB service this season, giving him the right to refuse an assignment to Triple-A El Paso in favor of free agency.
  • The Orioles announced that right-hander Rico Garcia was outrighted to Triple-A Norolk. Baltimore designated the 28-year-old for assignment over the weekend upon claiming Cam Gallagher off waivers. Garcia has appeared in six big league games this season, working eight frames of four-run ball. He’s only struck out two batters, but he has a more impressive 27% strikeout rate in 30 1/3 innings with the Tides this year. Garcia has never previously been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of service, so he’ll stick in the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot. He’ll be eligible for free agency at the end of the season if not added back to the roster.
  • Athletics outfielder Luis Barrera has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, according to his MLB.com transactions log. Barrera lost his roster spot when Oakland claimed Conner Capel from the Cardinals last week. The left-hander has tallied a career-high 85 MLB plate appearances this year, hitting .234/.294/.338 with his first home run. Barrera has slightly below-average numbers in Triple-A and has been outrighted twice this season, giving him the right to test free agency this time around.

Daulton Jefferies Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

By | at

Athletics right-hander Daulton Jefferies underwent a Tommy John surgery on Friday, the team announced.  Jefferies had already undergone a season-ending thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in July, and now this TJ procedure will surely keep him out of action until the start of the 2024 season.

It is a brutal turn of events for the 27-year-old right-hander, who now faces dual rehabs and a lot of uncertainty about his future.  This is also the second Tommy John procedure of Jefferies’ young career, as his first surgery wiped out most of his 2017 and 2018 seasons in Oakland’s farm system.  Given this checkered health history, it is fair to wonder if Jefferies will be able to return to the mound whatsoever, let alone return and become an effective Major League pitcher.

The 37th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Jefferies was seen as one of the Athletics’ top pitching prospects on his way up the minor league ladder, and he has appeared in each of the last three MLB seasons.  After tossing two innings in 2020, Jefferies threw 15 frames in 2021 and then 39 1/3 innings this year, with a 5.75 ERA to show for his career to date in the Show.

The A’s were hoping Jefferies could step into a regular role in the starting rotation this year, and things seemed promising early, when the righty had a 1.17 ERA over his first three starts and 15 1/3 innings.  However, batters then began to find a lot more success against Jefferies, whose 16.3% strikeout rate didn’t help his cause.  While Jefferies has some respectable strikeout totals in the minors, he hasn’t been able to miss many bats at the big league level.

Jefferies will continue to amass big league service time while on the injured list, and while he is controlled through the 2027 season, that long-term view isn’t as important to the A’s as the more immediate need to just get Jefferies healthy.  With another rebuild taking place in Oakland, the Athletics were hoping that Jefferies could step forth as a potential cornerstone for the next winning A’s club.

Athletics Outright Brent Honeywell

By | at

The A’s announced that right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Honeywell, 27, was drafted by the Rays in 2014 and spent years being considered one of the best prospects in the game. He cracked Baseball America’s top 100 list for five straight years from 2016 to 2020. He stayed on that list for so long both because of his talent and because repeated injuries prevented him from exhausting his prospect status.

Honeywell required Tommy John surgery in early 2018, which wiped out that entire season. In June of 2019, he fractured a bone in his right elbow while working his way back to the mound, making it two straight lost seasons. In May of 2020, while the pandemic had put the season on pause, he underwent a decompression procedure on his right ulnar nerve. That eventually made it three consecutive campaigns without Honeywell taking the mound in an official game of any kind.

In 2021, he finally was healthy enough to pitch, making his MLB debut for the Rays. They only let him throw 4 1/3 innings at the big league level, however, leaving him in Triple-A most of the year. He threw 81 2/3 frames there with a 3.97 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate.

Those weren’t eye-popping numbers, though it probably would have been unrealistic for Honeywell to just jump to ace-like results after three lost seasons. The A’s acquired him from the Rays in November, hoping that another healthy year could perhaps allow Honeywell to rediscover some of the form that made him such a hot prospect in previous years. Unfortunately, he was dealt another injury setback, diagnosed with an olecranon stress reaction in his elbow in March. That landed him on the 60-day IL to start the year, where he’s been until today. The club didn’t announce that Honeywell had been designated for assignment but they evidently passed him through waivers in recent days.

Since he was on the 60-day IL, Honeywell wasn’t occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. He was about to, however, as he began a rehab assignment August 16. Rehab assignments for pitchers come with a 30-day maximum, meaning Honeywell was nearing his activation point. Instead, the A’s put him on waivers and passed him through. This is his first career outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time. He will stick with the A’s without retaking a spot on the roster. In 11 2/3 innings as part of his rehab, he logged an ERA of 8.49, though likely somewhat marred by a .405 BABIP. He’s struck out 19.3% of batters and walked 7% in that small sample.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top