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A’s Place J.B. Wendelken On Injured List, Recall Jordan Weems

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The A’s placed J.B. Wendelken on the injured list with a strained left oblique today, per the team. They recalled Jordan Weems to take his spot in the bullpen.

Wendelken has been a major player out of the A’s bullpen so far this season, appearing in 15 games and tossing 12 1/3 innings with a 4.38 ERA/3.09 FIP, 43.6 percent groundball rate, 24.1 percent strikeout rate, and 8.6 percent walk rate. A too-high .368 BABIP has negatively affected Wendelken’s bottom line so far this season. His fastball velocity has been down to 93.3 mph, and he’s gotten very few hitters to chase (nine percent chase rate). Still, he’s avoided barrels (only one allowed this season) and largely done a nice job of limiting hard contact.

Weems was signed as a minor league free agent after beginning his career as a third round pick of the Red Sox back in 2011. He brings a three-pitch mix to the bullpen, pairing a 94-to-95 mph heater with a slider versus right-handers and a change-up versus lefties. He’s back on the active roster after a little more than a week at the alternate site. He has three appearances on the year totaling 2 1/3 innings, giving up one earned run on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.

A’s Sign Cam Bedrosian

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The Athletics have signed right-hander Cam Bedrosian to a minor league contract, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). He’ll open the year with their top affiliate in Las Vegas.

The 29-year-old Bedrosian is no stranger to the AL West, having spent the majority of his career in the division-rival Angels’ bullpen. The Halos non-tendered Bedrosian this winter and, after latching on with the Reds on a minor league deal, he broke camp with Cincinnati on the heels of a strong spring showing. Bedrosian punched out 16 of the 32 hitters he faced during Cactus League play en route to that Opening Day roster nod.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse once the regular season was underway. Bedrosian was rocked for seven runs on 10 hits, including a pair of homers, while posting a 7-to-6 K/BB ratio in 5 2/3 innings.

That said, Bedrosian has a strong track record with the Angels. From 2016-20, he gave them 225 innings of 3.20 ERA ball with a 3.74 SIERA, a 25.1 percent strikeout rate and a 9.1 percent walk rate. He’s missed fewer bats in recent years after seeing his strikeout rate peak in 2016-17, but Bedrosian has been a largely reliable bullpen option who even saw a bit of an uptick in fastball velocity this year in Cincinnati. He’ll give the A’s a rather experienced depth option to call upon should injuries or poor performances among their big league relief corps necessitate some personnel change.

Jerry Blevins Announces Retirement

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Veteran reliever Jerry Blevins has retired from baseball, he announced Tuesday on Twitter (click here to read his statement). The left-hander had been with the Mets on a minor league contract.

Now 37 years old, Blevins entered the pros as a 17th-round pick of the Cubs in 2004. He never pitched for the Cubs, however, as they traded him to the Athletics as part of a deal for catcher Jason Kendall in 2007. Blevins debuted in the majors that year, which began a fairly long run in Oakland. He stuck with the A’s through 2013 and notched ERAs ranging from 2.48 to 3.70 in four different seasons as a member of the club.

Despite his solid production in an A’s uniform, they moved on from him heading into 2014, sending Blevins to the Nationals for outfielder Billy Burns. That proved to be the lone season in Washington for Blevins, whom the Nationals traded to the Mets for outfielder Matt den Dekker before the 2015 campaign.

Blevins missed almost all of his first season as a Met because of a fractured pitching arm, but he returned to deliver outstanding results over the next two years. In a 91-inning span from 2016-17, Blevins put up a 2.87 ERA with a 30.6 percent strikeout rate and a 9.9 percent walk rate. However, Blevins couldn’t replicate that success in 2018 – his last year with the Mets – and then reunited with the A’s on a minor league deal in the ensuing offseason. Oakland wound up trading Blevins to Atlanta before the 2019 season, which will go down as his final year in the majors. Although Blevins threw 32 1/3 frames of 3.90 ERA ball that season, he couldn’t make it back to the bigs on a minors deal with the Giants in 2020 or with the Mets this season.

In all, Blevins appeared in parts of 13 MLB seasons and posted a 3.54 ERA with 508 strikeouts in 495 1/3 innings. Blevins was especially tough on lefties, whom he held to a weak .213/.270/.313 line. MLBTR congratulates Blevins on a very solid career and wishes him the best in his post-playing days.

Yonder Alonso Joins MLB Network

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Recently retired slugger Yonder Alonso has joined the MLB Network as an on-air analyst, the network announced in a Tuesday press release. He’ll debut as a guest co-host on Intentional Talk this Friday.

“I am beyond thankful to be joining MLB Network’s team, and I can’t thank everybody enough that has helped me get to this point,” Alonso said in today’s press release. “Having just retired, I look forward to having fun and contributing new insights about the game to baseball fans all over the world.”

The 34-year-old Alonso announced his retirement back in November after a 10-year big league career split between the Padres, Athletics, Reds, Rockies, Indians, Mariners and White Sox. The No. 7 overall pick in the 2008 draft, Alonso finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting with the Padres in 2012 and was an All-Star with the 2017 A’s. He finished up his playing days with a career .259/.332/.404 batting line and an even 100 home runs.

Mike Fiers To Work Out Of Bullpen

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  • The Athletics activated Mike Fiers from the IL on Monday, but the longtime starter will work out of their bullpen for the time being, manager Bob Melvin informed reporters (including Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). That means the A’s will stick with a five-man rotation consisting of Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo and Cole Irvin. Fiers – who missed the first few weeks of the season with a lumbar strain – will try to bounce back from a disappointing showing 2020 showing in which he notched a 4.58 ERA/5.41 SIERA in 59 innings.

Latest On A's Ballpark Plans

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  • In figures released on Friday, the Athletics’ plans for their new ballpark at the Howard Terminal site in downtown Oakland will cost $1 billion for the stadium itself, and roughly $12 billion for development projects in the surrounding area.  (Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times has the details.)  The bulk of the costs would be covered by the team and private developers, though the A’s asked the city to provide $855MM for infrastructure improvements.  That money would come from taxes related to the project, but a statement from Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said that while “the city is willing to bring to bear its resources to help make this vision a reality…today’s proposal from the A’s appears to request public investment at the high end for projects of this type nationwide.”  The Athletics have requested that Oakland’s city council vote on the project before the end of the summer.

Latest On Jonathan Lucroy

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Free agent catcher Jonathan Lucroy has turned down a few minor-league offers in hopes of landing an MLB opportunity, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The 34-year-old has been on the open market since electing free agency after he was outrighted off the Nationals’ roster last week.

Lucroy is obviously far removed from his days as one of the sport’s premier backstops, having struggled to a .248/.315/.350 line with declining defensive metrics between 2017-19. He only played in one game for the Red Sox last season and unsurprisingly had to settle for a non-roster invitation to Spring Training with the White Sox over the winter.

The veteran backstop performed well this spring, but Chicago turned to younger options to back up Yasmani Grandal. Lucroy hit the open market and signed with the Nationals, who were down their presumptive catching tandem of Yan Gomes and Alex Avila due to COVID-19 spread within the organization. He made the Opening Day roster and played in five games, going 5-14 with a double and two strikeouts. Shortly after Gomes and Avila cleared health and safety protocols, though, Washington designated Lucroy for assignment.

The veteran cleared waivers and again hit free agency, but Nationals manager Dave Martinez expressed interest in bringing him back (presumably on a minor-league deal). It seems Lucroy and his representatives at Excel Sports Management remain willing to hold out for a more direct path back to the majors for now.

Murray suggests the Yankees, Blue Jays and Athletics as potential fits for Lucroy, although it’s unclear if any of those clubs have expressed interest. New York only has two catchers on the 40-man roster but current backup Kyle Higashioka is off to an incredible start to the season. Toronto is in the opposite situation. The Jays have four catchers on the 40-man, but their current big league options (Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen) haven’t played well early on. The A’s have a pair of 40-man options (Austin Allen and the struggling Aramís García) who could back up starter Sean Murphy. Lucroy spent the 2018 season with Oakland.

Mike Fiers Nearing Return

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  • The Athletics could activate right-hander Mike Fiers from the IL in the coming days, according to Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. The A’s have gone the first few weeks of the season without Fiers after he suffered a lumbar strain that was initially diagnosed as hip inflammation. Fiers, 35, had a rough 2020 – 4.58 ERA/5.41 SIERA in 59 innings – but the A’s still brought him back on a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee in free agency. He figures to slot back into the A’s rotation when he returns, though it’s unclear whom Fiers will replace if the team sticks with a five-man starting staff.

Pirates Claim Ka’ai Tom, Designate Anthony Alford For Assignment

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The Pirates have claimed outfielder Ka’ai Tom off waivers from the Athletics and designated fellow outfielder Anthony Alford for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster, per a club announcement. Tom, the Athletics’ selection in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, was designated for assignment by Oakland earlier this week. He’ll maintain his Rule 5 designation with the Pirates, meaning he cannot be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers and being offered back to his original organization, the Indians.

Tom, 26, went just 1-for-16  in limited action with the A’s, but he forced his way onto their Opening Day roster with a huge spring showing: .310/.412/.552 with a homer, two doubles, a triple and four walks against eight strikeouts through 34 trips to the plate. His last minor league season was similarly encouraging, as he logged a combined .290/.380/.532 in 554 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A, adding 23 homers and five steals.

Tom has never rated as a top prospect, but he has a rock-solid track record spanning his entire minor league career and his days as a star at the University of Kentucky. Following the Rule 5 Draft in December, FanGraphs Eric Longenhagen wrote: “Tom is one of those prospects who makes me wonder, “Are we all idiots?” because he has a consistent track record of above-average offensive performance all the way from college through the upper minors, and yet because he’s a little guy without huge power he is consistently dismissed by scouts.”

The Bucs ought to be able to give Tom plenty of leash to show he has the chops to continue that strong performance in the big leagues. He started just four games with a win-now A’s club, but the Pirates aren’t expecting to win much of anything in 2021 and can afford to give him regular playing time if they choose. Alford and Dustin Fowler had been splitting time in center field for the Pirates, but neither has hit so far, leading to today’s roster shuffle.

Alford, also 26, is a wildly gifted athlete and former two-sport star who didn’t fully commit to baseball until more than two years after he was drafted. He was one of the most touted talents in the 2012 draft but worked out a deal with the Blue Jays that allowed him to play football in college. He continued doing so until Sept. 2014, and in the years since that time he’s battled injuries — most notably wrist surgery and a torn hamstring. He’s still tallied just 117 plate appearances in the Majors since his 2017 big league debut.

Alford ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects from 2016-18 on virtually any publication of note, but his opportunities to this point have been limited. He was 2-for-24 with the Pirates this season, and he carries a career .150/.222/.262 batting line in the Majors. Pittsburgh will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he clears, the Pirates can keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him. He’d then presumably be in line for everyday reps with their Triple-A club once the season gets underway.

Athletics Designate Ka’ai Tom For Assignment

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April 20: The A’s have formally announced Tom’s DFA. The move clears roster space for Stephen Piscotty to be reinstated from the paternity list. Oakland also announced that lefty Reymin Guduan has been reinstated from the 10-day IL and will serve as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Twins.

April 19: The Athletics have designated outfielder Ka’ai Tom for assignment, per the MLB transactions page (h/t: Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). Tom was a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland, and he’ll be offered back to the Indians if he clears waivers.

The 26-year-old Tom earned a roster spot in Oakland thanks to a strong spring, during which he slashed .310/.412/.552 with four extra-base hits (two doubles, a home run and a triple) in 34 plate appearances. But Tom was unable to carry that performance into the regular season, as he collected just one hit (a single) and six strikeouts in 16 PA before the A’s designated him.

Tom hasn’t produced in the majors yet, but he has done well in the minors since the Indians used a fifth-round pick on him in 2015. During the most recent minors season in 2019, Tom put together a .290/.380/.532 line with 23 homers in 554 plate trips between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

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