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Athletics Rumors

Injury Notes: Powell, Ramirez, Blackmon, Rodriguez, Indians

By Kyle Downing | April 8, 2018 at 8:58am CDT

Athletics outfielder Boog Powell is headed to the DL after suffering a knee sprain, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The left-handed-hitting Powell has hit just .167/.200/.292 in the first week of the season, though he did impress with a 135 wRC+ in limited action with the A’s last season. Powell beat out top prospect Dustin Fowler for the starting center field job during spring training, but he’ll now be absent for at least ten days while rehabbing.

Other injury notes from around baseball…

  • Maria Guardado of MLB.com tweets that Angels righty J.C. Ramirez exited his most recent start with “forearm tightness”. It’s highly disturbing news for the Halos; Ramirez was diagnosed with a partially-torn UCL in his throwing elbow last season, but elected to go with stem cell surgery rather than opt for a Tommy John procedure. Ramirez has thrown 6 2/3 innings this season; he’s struck out four opposing hitters while allowing seven earned runs on seven hits and seven walks.
  • Rockies star Charlie Blackmon is dealing with some back spasms, but told reporters he is not injured (h/t Nick Groke of the Denver Post). “It was a little bit tight for most of the game and kept getting tighter. I’ve dealt with it before and been all right.” Blackmon, of course, just signed an extension with Colorado and is a key component to their contention plans this season.
  • The Red Sox have officially activated left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez from the 10-day disabled list. Right-hander Marcus Walden has been optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket in a related move. Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes that Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson are expected to pitch out of the bullpen for the time being, as the Sox have a number of off days coming up; those days will eliminate the need for a fifth starter for the time being. The 25-year-old pitched to a 4.19 ERA last season in 137 1/3 innings last season, and is coming off a winter knee surgery.
  • Jordan Bastian of MLB.com has the latest updates on a number of Indians injuries. Right-hander Danny Salazar (shoulder) is still unable to throw off a mound with “full intensity”, so he’s still a few weeks away from game activity. Third baseman Giovanny Urshela (hamstring), on the other hand, is just a week away from possibly starting a minor-league rehab assignment. Left-hander Ryan Merritt (knee) has resumed throwing and is scheduled to pitch an extended spring game on Wednesday, while righty Cody Anderson (elbow) is finally back to throwing off a mound following Tommy John surgery in March of 2017; he’s “several week away” from potential game activity. Of these four players, only Anderson has a minor-league option remaining, meaning the Tribe will be facing a significant roster crunch in the near future. In other Tribe injury news, Lonnie Chisenhall has officially been placed on the 10-day DL. Tyler Naquin has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus to take his place (h/t Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal.
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Boston Red Sox Cleveland Guardians Colorado Rockies Los Angeles Angels Oakland Athletics Boog Powell Brian Johnson Charlie Blackmon Cleveland Indians Cody Anderson Danny Salazar Eduardo Rodriguez Giovanny Urshela Hector Velazquez Marcus Walden Ryan Merritt

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Athletics Claim Trayce Thompson

By Jeff Todd | April 7, 2018 at 3:45pm CDT

SATURDAY: Thompson has officially joined the 25-man roster, with the A’s announcing that righty Daniel Gossett has been optioned to Triple-A to make room.

THURSDAY: The Athletics have claimed outfielder Trayce Thompson off waivers from the Yankees, per a club announcement. Thompson had only recently joined the New York organization after being claimed from the Dodgers.

Oakland has bumped righty Paul Blackburn to the 60-day DL to open a roster spot. Because he is out of options, Thompson will need to join the active roster, unless the A’s decide to try to squeeze him through waivers — as the Yanks just did, unsuccessfully.

Thompson, 27, could fulfill a reserve outfielder role for an Oakland organization that is currently sporting a three-man bench. He struggled quite a bit in 2017, of course, and followed that up with a miserable stint in the Cactus League. But Thompson was an effective player in the 2016 campaign, when he turned in 262 plate appearances of .225/302/.436 hitting with good glovework and top-of-the-line baserunning.

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New York Yankees Oakland Athletics Transactions Trayce Thompson

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A’s To Promote Franklin Barreto, Place Chad Pinder On 10-Day DL

By Mark Polishuk | April 7, 2018 at 1:04pm CDT

The Athletics will place utilityman Chad Pinder on the 10-day DL due to a hyperextended left knee, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  In a corresponding move, Oakland will also call up one of their top prospects, infielder Franklin Barreto.

Pinder suffered the injury during Thursday’s game and, while it wasn’t serious enough for him to leave the field that night, the A’s decided to be cautious after Pinder’s pregame workout yesterday.  Oakland has two off-days next week but also a two-game interleague series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, so the extra bench depth was required for the extra substitutions often necessary in NL games.

This will be Barreto’s third visit to the big leagues after a brief stint with the A’s last summer and another call-up in September once the rosters expanded.  The 22-year-old didn’t show much at the plate, posting just a .602 OPS over 76 plate appearances, though he did perform much better (.290/.339/.456) over 510 PA for Triple-A Nashville in his first extended taste of Triple-A pitching.  Barreto has been a staple of top-100 prospect lists for several years, including high grades from Baseball America (which ranked him as the 43rd best minor leaguer in the sport), Baseball Prospectus (63rd) and MLB.com (66th) prior to this season.

Depending on how long Pinder is out, this could end up being another relatively brief call-up for Barreto, as the A’s obviously want to see him playing every day in the minors rather than only receiving sparing playing time as a big league bench player.  (Service time considerations are also surely a factor for the organization.)  Marcus Semien and Jed Lowrie are still locked in as Oakland’s regular middle infield combo, plus Matt Chapman has quickly become a fixture at third base, not that Barreto has ever played the hot corner.  Barreto does seem in line for some work, however, as he is currently the only backup infield option on Oakland’s 25-man roster.

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Oakland Athletics Transactions Chad Pinder Franklin Barreto

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Athletics Acquire Josh Lucas From Cardinals

By Kyle Downing | March 31, 2018 at 11:09am CDT

The Cardinals and Athletics have swapped a pair of right-handers. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that reliever Josh Lucas is headed to the A’s, with the Cardinals receiving minor-league starter Casey Meisner in exchange.

The 27-year-old Lucas made his majors debut last season with St. Louis, tossing 7 1/3 relief innings across five appearances. He struck out seven hitters and walked four while allowing three earned runs. Across the past two seasons in the Cardinals’ farm system, the righty posted a K/9 north of 10 and a ground ball rate of nearly 50%. He has 49 career MiLB saves, but was designated for assignment by the Cards earlier this week, a move that came as something of a surprise considering that Lucas seems to carry some upside.

The towering 6’7″ Meisner had a solid showing with the A’s High-A affiliate last season, posting a 3.98 ERA with 9.64 K/9. However, he struggled a bit upon a midseason promotion to Double-A; after that point, the 22-year-old averaged fewer than five innings per start while seeing his walk rate nearly double and his strikeout rate plummet to 5.64 K/9. Meisner was selected by the Mets in the third round of the 2013 draft, and subsequently traded to the A’s in exchange for reliever Tyler Clippard.

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Oakland Athletics St. Louis Cardinals Transactions Casey Meisner Josh Lucas

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AL Notes: Santana, Rodon, Fowler/Powell, A’s Park

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | March 29, 2018 at 6:40pm CDT

Twins skipper Paul Molitor revealed to reporters today that the team’s top starter, Ervin Santana, is “a bit” behind schedule (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). Santana has been limited to throwing soft baseballs into a screen, and a return in May now looks considerably likelier than a return in late April. Santana underwent surgery to repair an injury to the middle finger on his right hand back in February. When he’s ultimately ready to return, he’ll join a new-look rotation that includes newcomers Lance Lynn and Opening Day starter Jake Odorizzi, as well as returning righties Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • Meanwhile, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn provided the media with a positive update on the rehab progress of left-hander Carlos Rodon (Twitter link from Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). Rodon, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder back in September, has begun throwing sliders in his bullpen sessions, which are up to 30 to 35 pitches each, per Hahn. A return in late May isn’t out of the question, which would give the Pale Hose a rotation boost a bit sooner than they previously expected.
  • The Athletics optioned top prospect Dustin Fowler to Triple-A Nashville to begin the season, leaving Boog Powell to open the season as Oakland’s center fielder. A’s GM David Forst spoke highly of both outfielders in an email to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, noting that Fowler “worked incredibly hard to rehab his knee injury and amazingly put himself in a position to help us as soon as he’s needed.” Forst added that he expects Fowler to contribute at the big league level sooner rather than later. Manager Bob Melvin, Slusser notes, voiced a preference to bring Fowler to the Majors when he’s ready to stay rather than risking the possibility of rushing him and needing to send him back down. Fowler already has 95 days of MLB service time after spending the second half of last season on the DL, so the decision to option him isn’t tied to a desire to delay his free agency or any other such service manipulation.
  • In their latest ballpark-related initiative, the Athletics have announced (Twitter link) that they wish to obtain the O.Co Coliseum and its surrounding property in exchange for taking over $135MM in debt relating to the site. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Matier & Ross dove into the interesting bid, which represents the latest new plot twist in a long-running drama. Generally, while the A’s are not committed to the site, the club is also concerned that alternative bidders might acquire it with other intentions — perhaps leaving the organization with only one site option (Howard Terminal) for a long-sought new park. In a follow-up tweet, the Chronicle duo reported that the team and municipality have agreed upon “exclusive talks over ballpark development,” potentially involving either of the two remaining site options, though just what that entails is not immediately clear.
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Chicago White Sox Minnesota Twins Oakland Athletics Boog Powell Carlos Rodon Dustin Fowler Ervin Santana

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Athletics Outright Raul Alcantara

By Jeff Todd | March 28, 2018 at 12:41pm CDT

The Athletics have outrighted right-hander Raul Alcantara to Triple-A, MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. The out-of-options reliever will have the right to reject the assignment, having already been outrighted previously.

Alcantara, 25, had been in competition to take the club’s last bullpen slot. Instead, he’ll end up in the upper minors — either with the Oakland organization or, if he chooses, another team.

The results at the MLB level have been lacking for Alcantara, who has been knocked around in 46 1/3 total big league frames and surrendered six earned runs while recording just two strikeouts in his 8 2/3 innings this spring. But he has impressed in his time at Triple-A in the past two campaigns, working to a 1.82 ERA in 79 1/3 innings with 6.1 K/9 against 1.1 BB/9.

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Oakland Athletics Transactions Raul Alcantara

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Athletics Prospect A.J. Puk Recommended For Tommy John Surgery

By Mark Polishuk | March 27, 2018 at 8:34pm CDT

8:34PM: As per a statement released by the A’s, Dr. James Andrews has recommended that Puk undergo Tommy John surgery to correct UCL damage in his throwing elbow.  Andrews provided the second opinion after Dr. Doug Freedberg made an initial diagnosis.  The procedure would put Puk out of action for an estimated 12-15 months, and it seems likely that Oakland would err on the longer side of that timeline for precautionary reasons.

6:28PM: A’s manager Bob Melvin confirmed that Puk is getting a second opinion but didn’t provide details on the specifics of the injury, MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets.

5:45PM: Athletics left-handed pitching prospect A.J. Puk was shut down last week due to biceps soreness, and now there are concerns that Puk may have a ligament problem in his throwing elbow, according to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman.  Puk “was thought to be” looking for second opinions after initial meetings with doctors since his shutdown, which would hint at a larger issue.  Another possible ominous sign, as noted by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link), is that the A’s themselves have yet to go on record about Puk’s injury, not even to confirm the initial diagnosis.

The worst-case scenario for ligament issues, of course, would be Tommy John surgery, which would sideline Puk until midway through the 2019 season.  The A’s have already lost Jharel Cotton to TJ surgery this spring and Paul Blackburn has also been sidelined with a forearm strain, though Puk going on the shelf would represent a big setback for both the club and for one of the game’s best prospects.

Puk entered the spring as the consensus pick as Oakland’s top minor leaguer, with ESPN.com’s Keith Law ranking the southpaw 13th on his list of the top 100 prospects in baseball.  (Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and Fangraphs all had Puk 30th, while MLB.com ranked him just behind at 32nd on their top-100 lists.)  Puk only added to his stature with a strong showing in Oakland’s spring camp, though a rough performance in his final appearance led to the shutdown, and Heyman observes that Puk’s velocity had dropped over his last two outings.

Drafted sixth overall in 2016, Puk had already reached Double-A last season and it was expected he would make his MLB debut at some point this season.  After his good start in spring camp, there was even some chatter that the A’s would give him an aggressive promotion right to the big leagues, though obviously now the team will be as careful in possible in getting Puk back onto a mound at all, if possible.

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Newsstand Oakland Athletics A.J. Puk

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Offseason In Review: Oakland Athletics

By Connor Byrne | March 24, 2018 at 11:27pm CDT

This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series.  Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.

After posting their third straight sub-.500 campaign in 2017, which they opened with a paltry $81MM-plus payroll, the Athletics will start the new season with an even lower outlay. They’re set to check in at around $70MM, the cheapest total in the majors and the franchise’s lowest since 2013, and the MLBPA has taken notice. The union filed a grievance against the A’s and three other small-spending, revenue sharing recipients last month, though nothing has come of it to this point. Having been atop the A’s baseball department since 1998, executive vice president Billy Beane has grown accustomed to Oakland’s relative lack of financial resources. And in spite of the A’s inability to throw money around, the on-field product seems to be on the upswing, thanks in part to the winter efforts of Beane and general manager David Forst.

Major League Signings

  • Yusmeiro Petit, RP: two years, $10MM
  • Jonathan Lucroy, C: one year, $6.5MM
  • Trevor Cahill, RHP: one year, $1.5MM
  • Total spend: $18MM

Trades And Claims

  • Acquired OF Stephen Piscotty from the Cardinals for IFs Yairo Munoz and Max Schrock
  • Acquired RP Ryan Buchter, 1B/DH Brandon Moss (since released) and $3.25MM in cash for RHPs Jesse Hahn and Heath Fillmyer
  • Acquired RP Emilio Pagan and IF Alexander Campos from the Mariners for 1B Ryon Healy
  • Acquired C Jonah Heim from the Rays for IF Joey Wendle
  • Acquired RHP Jake Bray from the Orioles for OF Jaycob Brugman
  • Acquired OF Ramon Laureano from the Astros for RHP Brandon Bailey
  • Claimed LHP Jairo Labourt from the Reds (the A’s later released Labourt)

Option Decisions

  • Exercised IF Jed Lowrie’s one-year, $6MM option

Notable Minor League Signings

  • Brett Anderson, Slade Heathcott, Simon Castro, Steve Lombardozzi, Eric Jokisch, Jarret Martin, Anthony Garcia, Nick Martini

Notable Losses

  • Hahn, Healy, Wendle, Josh Smith, Michael Brady, Chris Smith

Athletics Depth Chart; Athletics Payroll Information

Needs Addressed

At a combined $11.5MM, three free-agent signings will take up a decent chunk of Oakland’s season-opening payroll. The most noteworthy member of the group, catcher Jonathan Lucroy, didn’t ink a deal until March 12, making him one of the prominent victims of a famously slow-developing free-agent market. MLBTR predicted a two-year, $24MM contract for Lucroy at the outset of the offseason, but interest in the two-time All-Star was scarce after he he underwhelmed between Texas and Colorado in 2017.

The 31-year-old Lucroy is coming off the worst offensive season of his accomplished career, having hit .265/.345/.371 (82 wRC+) in 481 plate appearances, even though he racked up nearly as many unintentional walks (46) as strikeouts (51). He experienced a power outage that overshadowed his impressive strikeout-avoiding abilities, largely because while others around the game have worked to hit more fly balls, Lucroy went in the opposite direction. Lucroy hit grounders at a 53.5 percent rate (the 10th-highest mark in the sport), a massive increase over the 41.1 percent figure he put up from 2010-16. Moreover, the once-pristine pitch-framing grades he used to earn on the defensive side continued to drop off to an alarming extent, as this table from FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan indicates.

When you add those factors up, it’s no wonder Lucroy went four-plus months without a job. At the same time, though, he’s not far removed from a 2016 campaign in which he accounted for an excellent 4.6 fWAR, and Steamer is projecting 2.9 fWAR in 2018. ZiPS offers a far less enthusiastic forecast (1.9), meanwhile, but that would still be a palatable outcome for an A’s team that paid relatively little for Lucroy and isn’t tied to him for the long haul. And with the Bruce Maxwell–Josh Phegley tandem not inspiring much confidence, Oakland looked like a logical fit for Lucroy in the months before it signed him –  especially given that Maxwell is in legal trouble as a result of an early offseason arrest for a gun charge.

Shortly after they reeled in Lucroy, the A’s reunited with someone who figures to pitch to him this year, righty Trevor Cahill, whose signing came in response to starter Jharel Cotton’s season-ending injury. The 30-year-old Cahill had some of the top years of his career as a full-time starter in Oakland from 2009-11, but he has since shifted between teams’ rotations and bullpens to mixed results.

Most recently, Cahill struggled across 21 appearances (14 starts) with the Padres and Royals last year, when he pitched to a 4.93 ERA/5.28 FIP with an untenable walk rate (4.82 BB/9). Injuries were a major problem in 2017 for Cahill, who went on the disabled list three times because of shoulder and back issues. It’s hard to expect much from Cahill in 2018 (judging by his salary, the A’s agree). Because Cahill’s not stretched out enough to begin the year as a major league starter, he’ll open as depth – something the A’s need in the wake of the Cotton news, not to mention top prospect A.J. Puk’s biceps soreness and Paul Blackburn’s forearm strain.

Months before the Lucroy and Cahill signings, the A’s struck early in free agency when they committed a two-year, $10MM guarantee to workhorse reliever Yusmeiro Petit, who stood out with the division-rival Angels last season. Petit has been quietly superb at times since breaking out with the Giants in 2013, and that was especially true in 2017. The 33-year-old led all relievers in innings (87 1/3, excluding the four he picked up as a starter) and registered 1.9 fWAR out of the bullpen (tied with ex-Athletic Ryan Madson for 13th best in the league). Along the way, he managed a 2.76 ERA/2.85 FIP and appealing strikeout and walk rates (9.95 K/9, 1.77 BB/9).

Going forward, it would be overly optimistic to expect the soft-tossing Petit to be nearly that good again. He was subpar as recently as 2016, after all, and isn’t the darling of projection systems heading into the new year. As is the case with the Lucroy and Cahill additions, though, the price tag is low enough that Petit won’t exactly have to turn in an elite-caliber season to justify the signing. The hope is that he’ll be at least perform with reasonable effectiveness while continuing to eat innings, thus aiding an unspectacular-looking starting staff.

Joining Cahill and Petit in the A’s new-look bullpen will be two trade acquisitions, righty Emilio Pagan and lefty Ryan Buchter. The A’s got Pagan from the division-rival Mariners as part of a deal involving first baseman/former third baseman Ryon Healy, who shouldn’t be all that tough for Oakland to replace. Healy is young (26), cheap and had a memorable debut in 2016, but a lack of walks (4.1 percent) and a high batting average on balls in play (.352) made the .305/.337/.524 line he enjoyed in 283 PAs as a rookie hard to fully buy into. It wasn’t surprising that Healy came back to earth over 605 PAs last year (he batted a league-average .271/.302/.451), when his walk problem got even worse (3.8 percent) and his BABIP was a more normal-looking .319.

With third baseman Matt Chapman and first baseman Matt Olson having exploded on the scene in 2017, not to mention the presence of big-hitting DH Khris Davis, there was no clear path to at-bats in Oakland anymore for Healy. Consequently, Beane and Forst turned him into Pagan (also 26), who experienced his first MLB action last season and opened eyes in the process. After compiling consistently good numbers in the minors from 2013-17, Pagan came up and gave the Mariners quality production (3.22 ERA/3.28 FIP, 10.01 K/9, 1.43 BB/9 in 50 1/3 innings). Like Petit, Pagan seems to be capable of working more than your typical reliever, having gotten three or more outs in 13 of 34 appearances in 2017.

Buchter is also a reliable source of frames, as the 31-year-old collected 63 or more in each of his first two seasons. The former Padre and Royal has been steady overall, evidenced by a 2.85 ERA/3.82 FIP and 10.02 K/9 against 4.04 BB/9. Buchter has also been roughly as effective versus same-sided hitters (.249 wOBA against) and righties (.271), meaning he’s not just a lefty specialist. So, at the cost of the now-gone Brandon Moss (whom the A’s are paying $5MM through next season to not play for them), the up-and-down Jesse Hahn and decent pitching prospect Heath Fillmyer, the A’s seemingly did well to land Buchter’s four years of affordable control.

On the negative side, it’s worth noting that Buchter managed a horrid grounder percentage in 2017 (32.9), as did Petit (32.9) and Pagan (22.3). It’s anyone’s guess whether they’ll be able to continue limiting home runs this year, then, after they each allowed HRs at rates of 11 percent or less last season. If there’s an obvious reason for hope on that front, it’s that all three have helped cancel out their lack of grounders by inducing lots of infield pop-ups. Buchter has a 16.5 percent infield fly rate for his career, while Petit was at 18.6 last season and Pagan 12.2.

Buchter, Petit and Pagan will hope to keep tamping down dingers in 2018, but it’s the opposite for right fielder Stephen Piscotty, whom the A’s acquired from the Cardinals for infield prospects Max Schrock and Yairo Munoz in December. That came after the A’s flirted with acquiring the likes of Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Steven Souza Jr. and Adam Duvall. In the end, they emerged with Piscotty, who did cost them a couple interesting young players. Schrock is the Cardinals’ 10th-ranked prospect at MLB.com, and Munoz has already earned a roster spot in St. Louis.

It’s not hard to see why the A’s are bullish on Piscotty, who held his own from 2015-16 – a 905-PA span in which he slashed .282/.348/.467 (121 wRC+). Piscotty stumbled to .235/.342/.367 line (92 wRC+) in 401 PAs last season, but the 27-year-old was going through a hellish off-field situation in St. Louis, as his mother has been battling ALS back in Northern California. Now Piscotty – a Pleasanton, Calif., native – will be closer to her and have an opportunity to bounce back in a familiar setting. It should help his cause that the A’s park, the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, was roughly middle of the pack in terms of HR friendless for right-handed hitters a year ago, whereas St. Louis’ Busch Stadium ranked among the most difficult venues for RH batters.

If Piscotty does revisit his 2015-16 form in his return home, he’ll be an absolute bargain on the extension the Cardinals gave him a year ago (he’s guaranteed roughly $30MM through 2023). At the very least, he should be a marked upgrade defensively over the right fielders Oakland trotted out last year. The A’s group was among the worst at the position then; meantime, Piscotty collected eight Defensive Runs Saved and paired that with a 1.7 Ultimate Zone Rating. All said, he has accounted for 12 DRS and a 4.1 UZR in 2,588 innings in right field since debuting in 2015.

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Questions Remaining

Performance- and depth-related questions abounded across the A’s starting staff even before the loss of Cotton and the injuries to Puk and Blackburn. The 26-year-old Cotton likely would have occupied a season-opening spot even after he disappointed across 129 replacement-level innings in 2017. Now that he and Blackburn aren’t available (Puk would’ve started the season in the minors even if healthy), Oakland will enter the year with a starting quintet of Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Daniel Mengden, Andrew Triggs and Daniel Gossett, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday. There’s seemingly not a lot to be optimistic about there after Graveman, Manaea and Triggs, and even they’re more of an adequate trio than a lights-out one. Mengden has been mediocre at best across 115 innings and 21 starts (5.24 ERA, 4.31 FIP), and Gossett has been worse during his 91 1/3 frames and 18 starts (6.11 ERA, 5.59 FIP).

Looking beyond that group, Cahill’s not at full strength (as mentioned), nor is recent minor league signing/oft-injured old friend Brett Anderson (who hasn’t been any kind of a solution since 2015), and Raul Alcantara is apparently hanging on to his 40-man roster spot by a thread. No other starting options are on the A’s 40-man, leaving them to hope either their current in-house, healthy hurlers suffice or Puk gets over his injury and debuts to strong results this year. He’s one of several intriguing A’s pitching prospects – Jesus Luzardo, James Kaprielian, Grant Holmes and Logan Shore are a few others – but none of those guys are locks to contribute much this season.

It’s not A’s management’s fault that the team’s starting depth has taken such a late-spring hit, but adding a satisfactory starter over the winter still wouldn’t have been the worst idea. The A’s tried for Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani, even offering him a chance to line up in the outfield, but he spurned them and every other team for Anaheim.

There were more realistic free agents than Ohtani available, including Doug Fister (one year, $4MM from the Rangers), Jaime Garcia (one year, $8MM from the Blue Jays), Chris Tillman (one year, $3MM from the Orioles), Jhoulys Chacin (two years, $15.5MM from the Brewers) and Andrew Cashner (two years, $16MM from the O’s). Nobody from that unexciting quintet would have killed the A’s from a payroll standpoint or cost a draft pick to sign. Nevertheless, though, they didn’t show any reported interest in veteran starters. That probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise after Beane expressed a lack of enthusiasm over the available options early in the offseason.

The bullpen, on the other hand, was a clear area of focus for the A’s, judging by both the previously highlighted newcomers and their interest in relievers they didn’t land (Joakim Soria, Brian Duensing and Tony Watson, to name three). Overall, it’s a promising cast, one headlined by closer Blake Treinen, Petit, Pagan and Buchter. Santiago Casilla, Liam Hendriks and Chris Hatcher represent other well-known options who have experienced major league success at times. Of course, things could still go haywire, which often happens with bullpens. You wonder whether the HR bug will start biting any of Petit, Pagan or Buchter, as mentioned earlier, and none of the Casilla-Hendricks-Hatcher troika prevented runs at an above-average clip last season. It’s now possible Casilla won’t even make the team, per Slusser, despite the fact that he’s due $6MM to close out a two-year contract.

On the position player side, there’s certainly reason for hope, especially on account of Chapman and Olson. Those two now look like the A’s long-term corner infield tandem after bursting on the scene in different ways last year. Chapman, 24, didn’t offer all-world offensive production (.234/.313/.472, 108 wRC+ in 326 PAs), but he’s already there defensively (17 DRS, 9.2 UZR). Thanks in part to Chapman’s presence, the A’s are projected to improve in the field in 2018, though there’s still a lot of work to do on that front from a team standpoint.

Unlike Chapman, the 23-year-old Olson made his name at the plate last year, crushing 24 homers in just 216 PAs and slashing .259/.352/.651 (162 wRC+). A step(s) backward this year is inevitable for Olson, who’s not going to see 41.4 percent of his fly balls leave the yard again (even Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were “only” in the mid-30s last season). However, the fact that Olson authored a sky-high .378 xwOBA in 2017, placing him among several household names, speaks to the quality contact he made and suggests offensive stardom may indeed be in the offing.

Elsewhere, the A’s look to be in OK shape in the middle infield, where shortstop Marcus Semien and second baseman Jed Lowrie are set to start. The A’s picked up Lowrie’s inexpensive option after a 3.5-fWAR 2017, and Beane had nothing but praise for him around that time, yet the team still reportedly considered trading him during the winter. Lowrie could make for an in-season trade piece in 2018 if Oakland’s out of contention approaching the summer deadline (and if he’s healthy, which hasn’t always been a given), perhaps opening the door for 22-year-old Franklin Barreto or Jorge Mateo, also 22, to make an impact in the majors.

Mateo joined the Athletics in last summer’s Sonny Gray trade with the Yankees, as did Dustin Fowler, who may start in center for the A’s on Opening Day. The 23-year-old Fowler, who has made a remarkable recovery since suffering a serious knee injury during his MLB debut with the Yankees last July, is competing with Boog Powell for the No. 1 role. Fowler is the A’s long-term hope in center, but they’re not against sending him to the minors and turning to a Powell-Jake Smolinski duo to begin the year, according to Slusser. Regardless, the A’s are going to have an unproven starter in center, though they did try to guard against that in free agency. Oakland made veteran Austin Jackson a one-year offer, but he instead headed to the Bay Area rival Giants on a two-year pact.

With AJax in San Francisco, Fowler or Powell/Smolinski will be flanked in Oakland by the aforementioned Piscotty in right and Matt Joyce in left. There’s little question about what the A’s will get from Joyce, who, aside from a dreadful 2015 with the Angels, has hovered around average throughout a career that began in Detroit in 2008. Another such campaign in 2018 would be an acceptable outcome for the A’s, who are paying Joyce an inoffensive amount ($6MM) to conclude a two-year deal. Like Lowrie (and even the previously highlighted Lucroy), Joyce could be midseason trade bait if Oakland’s out of contention.

Overview

There are clear issues, particularly in their pitching staff, but this looks like the most interesting A’s team since the 2014 version that won 88 games and earned a playoff trip. That’s not to suggest a return to the postseason this year is likely – far from it – as the A’s would have to topple a slew of other hopefuls in what should be a crowded American League race. Odds are that the A’s postseason drought will extend to a fourth season, but a push toward the .500 mark shouldn’t be an unrealistic goal. That would require a leap similar to the one Oakland made last year, when it notched 75 wins after amassing 69 in 2016.

How would you grade the A’s offseason work? (Link for app users.)

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2017-18 Offseason In Review MLBTR Originals Oakland Athletics

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AL West Notes: Jepsen, Mariners, Pagan, Bautista

By Mark Polishuk | March 23, 2018 at 11:34am CDT

Some rumblings from around the AL West…

  • Veteran righty Kevin Jepsen has allowed only one run over 9 1/3 Spring Training innings, making him a strong bet to win a spot on the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes.  Jepsen didn’t pitch in the majors in 2017 after a terrible spring camp with the Diamondbacks that led to a temporary absence from the game, as Jepsen took a couple of months to rehab a dead arm.  Once he felt healthy, he caught on with the Nationals on a minor league deal, though the biggest step in his turn-around came after a tip from catcher Spencer Kieboom allowed Jepsen to regain some of his old velocity.  Jepsen was a very effective reliever as recently as 2015, so Texas may have found a much-needed bullpen reinforcement for the cost of a minor league contract.
  • The Mariners thought so highly of Emilio Pagan as both a player and a person that GM Jerry Dipoto described the swap that sent Pagan and minor leaguer Alexander Campos to the Athletics for Ryon Healy as “probably the most painful trade we’ve made,” Dipoto tells Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  “In a group that’s not unused to changing bodies, a lot of guys were crushed we traded Emilio.  He’s an unbelievable guy, a tremendous human being, he does all the right things,” Dipoto said.  Pagan made his MLB debut in 2017 and immediately became a key cog in Seattle’s bullpen, posting a 3.22 ERA over 50 1/3 innings and recording 56 strikeouts against just eight walks.  Pagan has continued to hone his game this spring, telling Slusser that he has increased usage of his changeup and also been throwing more inside fastballs to hitters.
  • Contrary to some reports out of Mexico, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports (Twitter link) that the Astros aren’t signing Jose Bautista.  Given the Astros’ loaded roster, there wouldn’t have seemed to be much of a spot for the veteran slugger, particularly since he is coming off a sub-replacement level season in 2017.  There hasn’t been much in the way of concrete news about Bautista this winter, though the former Blue Jays slugger recently said he was still trying to find the best fit for he and his family amidst multiple Major League offers.
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Houston Astros Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners Texas Rangers Emilio Pagan Jose Bautista Kevin Jepsen

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Paul Blackburn Has Right Forearm Strain

By Jeff Todd and Kyle Downing | March 22, 2018 at 6:00pm CDT

6:00pm: Blackburn will be shut down for ten days, says manager Bob Melvin (h/t Jane Lee of MLB.com).

4:18pm: The Athletics rotation has taken another blow, this time involving righty Paul Blackburn. He is dealing with a right forearm strain, as Jane Lee writes in a piece for MLB.com. It now seems all but certain that Blackburn will not be ready to join the staff to open the year. With the rotation already missing Jharel Cotton and recent signee Trevor Cahill not quite ready to go, that leaves Oakland with much less depth to begin the season than had been anticipated. Lee suggests that “by default”, the A’s early-season rotation is now set to consist of Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Daniel Mengden, Andrew Triggs and Daniel Gossett.

The 24-year-old Blackburn made ten starts last season in his first taste of major-league action. While the righty pitched to a nice 3.22 ERA and a 56.3% ground ball rate, his 4.76 xFIP and shockingly low 3.38 K/9 left some question marks surrounding his capability to repeat that level of run-prevention.

Blackburn was a supplemental first round pick of the Cubs back during the 2012 draft. He came to the Athletics organization by way of a 2016 trade that sent Danny Valencia to the Mariners. Blackburn made his major-league debut on July 1st, 2017, when the righty allowed zero earned runs in six innings against the Braves.

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Oakland Athletics Paul Blackburn

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