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Miguel Romero

Outrights: Stewart, Romero

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A pair of players recently designated for assignment have cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.

  • The Orioles announced this afternoon they’ve outrighted corner outfielder DJ Stewart to their top affiliate in Norfolk. Stewart has a bit shy of the three years of MLB service required for a player to refuse the first outright assignment of their career. He’ll remain with the Tides — where he’d been on optional assignment before he was DFA last week — and try to play his way back onto the 40-man roster. A former first-round pick, the 28-year-old Stewart has appeared in 195 MLB games over the past five seasons. He owns a .213/.327/.400 line in 622 plate appearances, almost exactly league average offensive production by measure of wRC+. Coupled with below-average defensive metrics in both left and right field, that fine but unexciting output at the dish wasn’t enough for the lefty-hitting Stewart to hold his roster spot. He’s a .255/.353/.442 hitter over 773 Triple-A plate appearances.
  • Athletics right-hander Miguel Romero was outrighted to their highest affiliate in Las Vegas over the weekend, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Like Stewart, he has never been outrighted before and doesn’t have three-plus service years, so he’ll stick in the organization as a non-roster player. Romero, also 28, has yet to make his MLB debut. Oakland selected him to the 40-man roster over the 2020-21 offseason, but he spent all of last season on optional assignment in Las Vegas. Romero was tagged for a 6.27 ERA with just a 15.7% strikeout rate in that extremely hitter-friendly environment last year. He’ll look for better results with the Aviators in an effort to get back onto the 40-man roster.

A’s Place Stephen Vogt On Injured List, Designate Miguel Romero For Assignment

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12:48pm: It’s a grade 2 MCL sprain for Vogt, per John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle.

12:01pm: The Athletics announced several roster moves prior to today’s game against the Orioles. Catcher Austin Allen has been reinstated from the Covid IL. Christian Bethancourt, one of the substitute players that was called up to cover for the club’s recent roster shortcomings, has had that “substitute” designation removed from his status. Stephen Vogt, who left yesterday’s game with a right knee sprain, has been placed on the 10-day injured list. Right-handed pitcher Miguel Romero has been designated for assignment.

After a big selloff that saw the club ship out many of its best players this winter, the A’s made a couple of modest investments in veterans to fill out the roster. Vogt and Jed Lowrie each received a one-year, $850K deal to take some at-bats and act as mentors to the crop of youngsters who would be auditioning for roles in Oakland’s future plans. Vogt, 37, will now be on the shelf for at least ten days with this knee injury. The club didn’t provide a timeline on his expected return.

Allen was one of six Oakland players that landed on the Covid IL on Monday. He will be the second of that cohort to return to the club, after A.J. Puk was reinstated yesterday. Allen played well in 72 games at Triple-A last year, hitting .317/.351/.584. As several A’s have either gone on the restricted list or Covid IL in recent days, Bethancourt was one of the substitute players called up to help out. With Vogt now out for an undetermined amount of time, it seems he will stick around. Allen will likely be the backup catcher behind Sean Murphy, with Bethancourt serving as the third string backstop but also shuffling around to other positions.

Romero, turning 28 on Saturday, has been pitching in the Oakland system since 2017. From 2019 to 2021, Baseball America ranked him between #26 and #30 among the prospects in the system. The club added him to their 60-man player pool in the shortened 2020 season and then gave him a 40-man roster spot ahead of that year’s Rule 5 draft. He spent last year in Triple-A, making 13 starts and 15 relief appearances. Over 74 2/3 innings, his 6.27 ERA came with a 15.7% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Over 5 2/3 innings so far this year, he has a 9.53 ERA in that small sample. Despite those recent results, he still has options and could attract the interest of a team looking for pitching depth. In 2019, he threw 72 2/3 Triple-A innings with much better outcomes: 3.96 ERA and 25% strikeout rate, but a concerning 11.1% walk rate.

A’s Add Three To 40-Man Roster, Announce Several Minor League Signings

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The Athletics announced Friday that they’ve selected the contracts of right-handers Miguel Romero and Wandisson Charles, as well as outfielder Greg Deichmann. Oakland also announced minor league deals and non-roster invites to Spring Training for 11 players. Right-handers Domingo Acevedo, Cristian Alvarado, Argenis Angulo, Matt Blackham, Ben Bracewell, Montana DuRapau, Brian Schlitter and Trey Supak will all be in camp with the A’s next year, as will infielders Pete Kozma, Frank Schwindel and Jacob Wilson.

Each of Romero, Charles and Deichmann was in Oakland’s 60-man player pool for the truncated 2020 regular season, but none of the three made his big league debut this year. Both Deichmann (No. 13) and Romero (No. 25) currently rank among the Athletics’ Top 30 prospects at MLB.com.

Deichmann was a second-round pick out of LSU in 2017 and has struggled at the plate in the minors due to wrist injuries, but he erupted with nine homers, two doubles and a triple in just 95 Arizona Fall League plate appearances in 2019. Romero, 26, averaged 10 K/9 and kept his ERA south of 4.00 in an outrageously hitter-friendly Triple-A setting in 2019 — a far more difficult task than one might expect at first glance. Just 28 of the 143 Triple-A pitchers with at least 70 innings managed a sub-4.00 mark thanks to the introduction of what was widely believed to be a juiced ball in an already hitter-friendly setting.

Among the non-roster invitees, Kozma jumps out at the most recognizable name. The former Cardinals shortstop has long been touted as a defensive wizard but has never been able to provide much in the way of offense to accompany his proficiency with the leather. DuRapau’s agents announced his signing last week, as we previously covered. The 34-year-old Schlitter is a well-traveled journeyman who logged 9 2/3 frames with the A’s in ’19. Supak was once a well-regarded prospect with both the Brewers and Pirates but will look for a fresh start with the Oakland org. Schwindel, a right-handed-hitting first baseman, got a very small cup of coffee with the 2019 Royals.

Athletics Add Six Players To 60-Man Pool

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The Athletics on Wednesday announced the addition of six players to their 60-man player pool: infielders Eric Campbell and Robert Puason, right-handers Wandisson Charles and Miguel Romero, and outfielders Luis Barrera and Brayan Buelvas will all join the group. Campbell will head to Oakland to join the team’s big leaguers, while the other five will head to the Athletics’ alternate training site.

Campbell, 33, is the lone member of the bunch with Major League experience. From 2014-16, Campbell was an up-and-down utility option for the Mets, appearing at all four infield spots and both corner outfield positions while hitting .221/.312/.311 in 505 plate appearances. Campbell spent the 2017 season in Japan and has been with the Triple-A clubs for the Marlins and Athletics organizations. In all, he’s seen action in parts of six Triple-A campaigns and batted a combined .310/.417/.480 in 1880 plate appearances.

Among the prospects, Puason is the most well-regarded of the bunch. The 17-year-old signed with the A’s as the headliner of their July 2 class of international prospects a year ago, inking a hearty bonus of nearly $5MM. A switch-hitting, 6’3″ shortstop with plus speed, a strong throwing arm and projectable hitting tools, Puason is a long ways from the Majors and surely won’t be considered for a role with Oakland’s big league club in 2020. He’s yet to even suit up for a game with the Oakland’s affiliate in the Dominican Summer League, but the A’s clearly want to ensure that his first full season in the organization affords him some game reps — even if only in simulated games — and some time with the coaching and player development staff.

Barrera, though, is a much more near-term option for the A’s. The 24-year-old hit .321/.365/.513 in 54 Double-A games last year and ranks ninth among Oakland farmhands at MLB.com. He split the 2019 season between center field and right field and is on the Athletics’ 40-man roster, so it’s highly feasible that he could get the opportunity to debut in the event of some injuries on the Major League club.

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