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Padres Claim Nick Martini

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1:04pm: San Diego announced the move. Martini will join the active roster on Thursday, per an announcement.

12:49pm: In an intriguing development, the Padres have claimed outfielder Nick Martini off waivers from the Athletics, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). The corresponding roster maneuvering isn’t yet known.

It’s a bit of a surprise to see the San Diego org summoning the bartender for the 29-year-old, left-handed-hitting outfielder. It remains to be seen whether Martini will have a shot at holding his roster spot over the course of the offseason.

To be sure, Martini seemed likely to be claimed by some team — so much so that it might’ve been expected he wouldn’t have made it to the San Diego organization’s spot on the waiver priority list. But the Friars already have an outfield mix that includes Wil Myers, Hunter Renfroe, Manuel Margot, and Josh Naylor. Only Naylor hits from the left side, but the club also still controls the southpaw-swinging Travis Jankowski.

Making any use of Martini this year will surely mean reducing the opportunities available to those other players. If nothing else, Jankowski’s roster footing now seems more tenuous than ever.

Perhaps the Friars think Martini could be a fourth outfielder candidate in 2020. He’s optionable, which certainly helps. There are some shades of Alex Dickerson, who was jettisoned earlier this year by the Pads. But holding open a role for Martini would create a tight squeeze once Franchy Cordero is added back to the mix, even assuming Naylor is sent back to Triple-A. It’s also certainly possible the Padres simply see this as a value proposition and intend to explore offseason trade possibilities involving any number of current assets.

Regardless, it’s clear that Martini stirred real interest in the San Diego front office. He certainly impressed in a 55-game big-league debut showing last year, though the A’s never saw fit for a second round this season. While he received only 13 MLB plate appearances in 2019, Martini did boast a .328/.432/.482 slash line and impeccable 51:49 K/BB ratio over 329 plate appearances at Triple-A.

Sean Murphy Could Be Candidate For September Promotion

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  • With the Athletics looking to add a third catcher when rosters expand, they’re set to choose between minor leaguers Sean Murphy and Dustin Garneau, manager Bob Melvin told Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. “There will be a lot of talk leading up into Sunday on who that will be,” Melvin said. The more hyped option is certainly Murphy, one of the best prospects in baseball (MLB.com ranks him 44th). The 24-year-old has gotten his first extensive action at the Triple-A level this season and laid waste to enemy pitchers, whom he has teed off on for a .337/.415/.702 line (158 wRC+) with 10 home runs in 123 plate appearances. However, injuries have led to an abbreviated campaign for Murphy, and the A’s might not promote him yet if they don’t expect him to garner much playing time. In that case, the edge would go to the veteran Garneau, who was with Oakland earlier in the season before it outrighted him to Triple-A on Aug. 19.

Matt Harvey Could Opt Out Of Contract

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Matt Harvey’s just under two weeks into his time with the Athletics organization, and the union between the two sides might not last much longer. The right-hander told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the minor league contract he signed with the team Aug. 14 includes a chance to opt out this Thursday. It’s unclear how interested Harvey is in taking advantage of that opportunity, but Slusser posits that the club might not have room to call him up in the coming days.

Harvey made his third start for the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas on Tuesday, when he surrendered four runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings. Harvey was much more effective in his previous two outings, combining for 10 frames of five-hit, two-run ball with 11 strikeouts against no walks. That was unquestionably one of the best two-start stretches of 2019 for the 30-year-old Harvey, who limped to a 7.09 ERA/6.35 FIP with 5.88 K/9 and 4.37 BB/9 over 59 2/3 frames with the Angels before they released him July 23. The Halos ate the rest of the former Mets ace’s $11MM salary in the process.

With roughly a month left in the regular season, Harvey would like to showcase himself in the bigs before another trip to the open market in the winter, Slusser notes. Ideally for Harvey, he’ll be able to enter some team’s rotation before the season’s out. It’s in question whether he’ll be able to do that as an Athletic, though, with Slusser pegging him as a relief candidate for the club.

The wild card-contending A’s are riding with a rotation of Mike Fiers, Chris Bassitt, Tanner Roark, Brett Anderson and Homer Bailey at the moment, and rehabbing left-handers Sean Manaea and Jesus Luzardo may be above Harvey on the starting pecking order when they’re healthy enough to return to the majors. Meanwhile, the A’s might prefer righties Paul Blackburn and Daniel Mengden to Harvey for a bullpen spot, per Slusser, which could help influence him to exercise his opt-out clause.

Latest On Ramon Laureano

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  • Athletics center fielder Ramon Laureano has been on the shelf since July 29 with a shin injury, though it’s possible he’ll return without embarking on a rehab assignment, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Laureano has been racking up at-bats at the A’s minor league complex, and he could rejoin the team this weekend or during an upcoming homestand that starts next Tuesday, Slusser suggests. Oakland has done well without Laureano, evidenced by the fact that it holds the AL’s second wild-card spot, but he has been one of the drivers of its success this season. The 25-year-old has slashed .284/.334/.518 with 21 homers, 12 steals and 3.0 fWAR through 419 trips to the plate.

Athletics Designate Nick Martini

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The Athletics have designated outfielder Nick Martini for assignment, per a club announcement. His designation will make 40-man room for just-promoted first baseman/outfielder Seth Brown.

Martini was a seventh-round pick of the Cardinals in 2011 who proved to be a shrewd minor league signing for the Athletics last season. He earned his first major league promotion in the first week of June in 2018 and then proceeded to slash an impressive .296/.397/.414 (129 wRC+) with 1.3 fWAR in 179 plate appearances, though he only hit one home run over that span. Unsurprisingly, the left-handed Martini did just about all of his damage against righty pitchers.

Even though Martini was an easily above-average hitter at the major league level a year ago, he hasn’t been much of a factor in the bigs this season. The 29-year-old collected just 13 PA with the 2019 A’s before they cut him, instead spending almost all of the campaign with their Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. Across 329 trips to the plate, Martini has put up a strong .328/432/.482 line in the minors with eight home runs and almost as many walks (49) as strikeouts (51), good for a 129 wRC+ that matches his MLB production from 2018. With two minor league options left, it’s possible someone will claim Martini on waivers.

Athletics To Select Seth Brown’s Contract

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The Athletics are set to select the contract of first baseman/outfielder Seth Brown from Triple-A Las Vegas, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The club already has a full 40-man roster, so it’ll need to make a corresponding move.

The 27-year-old Brown will take the 25-man spot of outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who’s going on the injured list. Brown is now set for his major league debut four years after joining the Athletics as a 19th-round pick in 2015.

Currently in his first year of Triple-A ball, Brown is among many Pacific Coast League hitters who have feasted on opposing pitchers. He has mashed a whopping 37 home runs in 500 plate appearances at the level this year. The lefty-swinging Brown’s power has helped him to a terrific .297/.352/.634 batting line, which is 25 percent better than the league-average output, per FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.

A’s To Place Stephen Piscotty On Injured List

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The Athletics will place outfielder Stephen Piscotty on the 10-day injured list due to a high ankle sprain, manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle).  Piscotty was seen in the clubhouse prior to Sunday’s game wearing a walking boot on his right foot, MLB.com’s Chris Haft writes.

Piscotty originally suffered the injury back on August 17, after making a slide into second base.  He missed one game but then returned to the lineup, as it seemed like the A’s hoped a light schedule (off-days on both Monday and Friday) this week would help Piscotty heal up without an IL stint.  However, he’ll now head back to the injured list for the second time this season.

The outfielder has hit .252/.312/.416 with 13 home runs over 389 plate appearances this season.  Despite a 41% hard-hit ball rate that ranks as the best of his career, Piscotty hasn’t been able to translate that better contact into more production at the plate, with only a .323 xwOBA (.313 wOBA), 93 wRC+ and 95 OPS+ this season, a marked dropoff from an impressive 124 OPS+/125 wRC+ performance in 2018.

Piscotty also missed all of July recovering from a right knee sprain, which allowed Mark Canha to take the bulk of playing time in Piscotty’s customary right field spot.  Canha has taken that ball and run with it, posting a .275/.390/.546 slash line and 22 homers (including the two dingers he hit today in Oakland’s 5-4 loss to the Giants).

It isn’t known how long Piscotty will be out of action, though the A’s are expecting to get another everyday outfielder back within the week as Ramon Laureano is continuing his recovery from a shin fracture.  Laureano’s return would move Canha from center field to right field until Piscotty is back, with Robbie Grossman and Chad Pinder holding the fort in left field.  Once September 1 hits, of course, the A’s will also have the benefit of some extra depth thanks to the expanded rosters.

Laureano To Receive Rehab At-Bats

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  • Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano will get at-bats in Arizona in the next several days, according to information from manager Bob Melvin relayed to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser (link). Laureano has been out since July 28th with a leg injury, and previous reports indicated that he would get some at-bats with High-A Stockton before ultimately being activated. In his first extended big league look, Laureano provided the club with 419 at-bats of .284/.334/.518 production in 2019 while doing some nice things on the outfield grass (his 8 outfield assists rank him 3rd among centerfielders).

A’s Release Marco Estrada

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The Oakland Athletics released starting pitcher Marco Estrada today, the team announced.

The move doesn’t come as a total surprise, as Estrada has not pitched for Oakland since April 16th. It’s a disappointing turn nonetheless for the veteran Estrada. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser tweets that Estrada was simply unable to get healthy, which led to his release.

After his 5th and final start of the season on April 16th, the A’s placed Estrada on the injured list with a lumbar strain, but didn’t officially move him to the 60-day injured list until July. Since the end of July, Estrada made 5 starts between three levels of the minor leagues, but he just hasn’t gotten healthy enough to make his way back to the big league club.

Estrada seemed like a good fit for Oakland’s patchwork rotation when he signed a one-year, $4MM deal late in January. His five starts all resulted in Oakland losses, however, and he’ll finish his tenure with a 6.85 ERA/7.53 FIP.

Should this be the end of the line for the 36-year-old Estrada, he would finish 62-68 in 194 career stars and 89 relief appearances with a 4.29 ERA/4.45 FIP/4.59 xFIP totaling 12.3 rWAR/11.4 fWAR. A 12-year career that began in DC with the Nationals has included stops with the Brewers, Blue Jays, and now Athletics.

Athletics Outright Dustin Garneau

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The Athletics outrighted catcher Dustin Garneau to Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday after he cleared waivers, the team announced. Garneau has been outrighted in the past, meaning he could have turned down the assignment in favor of free agency. However, he’ll stay in the organization, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com tweets.

The well-traveled Garneau was a member of the A’s organization back in 2017, but he has spent just a couple weeks with the franchise this season. The A’s claimed Garneau off waivers from the division-rival Angels on Aug. 3, only to designate the 32-year-old for assignment last Friday when fellow catcher Josh Phegley returned from the injured list.

Garneau was plenty effective with Oakland before it booted him from its roster, hitting .294/.368/.588, though he posted those numbers over a mere 19 plate appearances. While Garneau previously slashed a playable .232/.346/.362 in 82 PA with the Halos, the lifetime .207/.290/.343 mark he has logged over 381 attempts since his MLB career began in 2015 with the Rockies pales in comparison. Garneau has been a respectable hitter at the Triple-A level, though, having batted .259/.334/498 and totaled 60 homers in 1,198 trips to the plate.

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