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A’s Option Ryan Noda

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The A’s optioned first baseman Ryan Noda to Triple-A Las Vegas following today’s win over the Pirates. Oakland hasn’t announced a corresponding move, but MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos tweets that they could reinstate third baseman J.D. Davis from the 10-day injured list before Friday’s series opener against the Marlins.

It’s a quick turn of events for the A’s Opening Day first baseman. The second pick in the 2022 Rule 5 draft, Noda not only stuck on the roster but was one of Oakland’s best hitters as a rookie. He hit 16 homers with a .229/.364/.406 slash through 495 plate appearances. Between a very patient approach and below-average contact rate, Noda struck out at a huge 34.3% clip. Yet he also walked at a massive 15.6% rate — a top ten mark in MLB — and hit for enough power to be a productive offensive player.

That has not been the case in 2024. An 0-4 showing this afternoon dropped his season line to .128/.242/.198 in exactly 100 trips to the dish. Noda has taken another 12 free passes, but he has punched out 32 times. He hasn’t done any kind of damage, hitting just one homer and a trio of doubles. That longball and one of the doubles came against the Guardians on April 20. Noda doesn’t have a knock since then, as he has gone hitless in his last 11 appearances.

Skipper Mark Kotsay has continued to give Noda regular run against right-handed pitching. They’ll need to go in another direction for at least the next couple of weeks while he works to get back on track in the Pacific Coast League. Switch-hitting Abraham Toro has moved to first base for the A’s last two games against left-handed starters. Max Schuemann has stepped in at Toro’s customary second base spot for those contests.

If Davis is indeed ready to return from the adductor strain that has cost him the past two weeks, he’ll likely return to third base. That could push Tyler Nevin across the diamond. The right-handed hitting Nevin, whom the A’s claimed off waivers from the Orioles a month ago, connected on his fourth homer of the season in today’s game and is up to a .325/.375/.500 slash over 88 plate appearances.

Latest On A’s Stadium Plan

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The A’s have retained an investment banking firm in an effort to procure $500MM in private funding towards the construction of their Las Vegas ballpark, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The A’s are prepared to offer minority ownership shares in the franchise to potential investors as they put together financing for their estimated $1.5 billion stadium.

Last summer, Nevada lawmakers approved $380MM in public funding — taking the form of state tax credits, county-issued bonds and a county credit — to offset a chunk of the cost. Shortly thereafter, MLB approved the A’s relocation efforts. A political action committee has sued the state in an effort to overturn the public funding law, but there’s no indication that’s currently a serious threat to the relocation.

Even with the public money in hand, the A’s are set to pay upwards of $1.1 billion in estimated construction costs. Shaikin notes the public funding law requires the A’s to present a specific financing plan for their balance. The organization is evidently looking for half a billion dollars in outside investment to meet those obligations.

While the financial specifics were previously unclear, dangling ownership shares to investors has long been the organization’s plan. Owner John Fisher told Howard Stutz of the Nevada Independent in January that he was considering selling minority stakes to Vegas-area investors. Fisher made clear in that interview that he and his family “would retain majority ownership and (continue to) oversee operations” of the franchise.

The A’s plan to complete construction on their 33,000-seat facility on the Vegas strip in time for the 2028 season. They’re playing their final year in Oakland before a three-year move to Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park between 2025-27.

The A’s Overpowering Closer

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In what’ll be another rough season for the A’s, the front office is looking for young players to establish themselves as key long-term pieces. In the first few weeks, no one has shown more promise in that regard than Mason Miller.

Miller was a third-round pick in 2021. His stuff had taken a major step forward during his final collegiate season. As The Athletic’s Stephen Nesbitt wrote last week, Miller had a hard time keeping on weight and maintaining his strength until he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2018. While the primary concern was in allowing Miller to navigate a serious health condition, learning how to manage the issue permitted the 6’5″ righty to rapidly bulk up. His velocity spiked into the mid-upper 90s, leading the A’s to roll the dice on his upside.

Injuries essentially robbed Miller of traditional minor league development. He lost almost all of the 2022 season to shoulder issues. He had pitched all of 28 2/3 professional innings before the A’s called him up last April. He had an impressive four-start debut before reporting forearm soreness. Testing revealed a mild UCL sprain and the A’s shut him down for a few months. Miller returned in September, working 2-3 inning stints to finish the year. He closed his rookie campaign with a 3.78 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.

Oakland GM David Forst announced early in the offseason that Miller would work out of the bullpen in 2024. Forst suggested it wasn’t a permanent switch. Rather, the A’s were using the 25-year-old in shorter stints in an effort to keep him healthy before a move back to the rotation in 2025. While they certainly had high hopes that his power arsenal would translate, Miller has surpassed even the loftiest expectations in the first few weeks.

Including tonight’s four-out save in the Bronx, Miller is up to 11 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He has successfully locked down all six of his save chances. After allowing two runs in his season debut against the Guardians, he has rattled off eight straight scoreless outings. Four of those have been perfect innings in which he has recorded multiple strikeouts.

Miller has punched out 23 of 45 opposing hitters, the highest strikeout rate in the majors. His already eye-popping stuff has leveled up in short bursts. Miller’s fastball is sitting in the 100-101 MPH range. Both the heater and his upper-80s slider have been essentially untouchable.

Even in a minuscule sample, it doesn’t seem outlandish to call Miller one of the top relievers in MLB. The quality of the arsenal is self-evident. He’s missing bats at the levels we’ve seen from the likes of Edwin Díaz, Félix Bautista and Andrés Muñoz. Given his injury history, one can question whether he’ll be able to stay healthy all season. There’s no reason to doubt his talent.

Miller fell just shy of the cutoff for a full service year in 2023. The A’s control him for six seasons. He’ll qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2025-26 offseason. That’ll allow him to go through the arb process four times instead of the standard three, yet Miller could stick with the A’s through the ’29 campaign.

Opposing teams will probably try to convince Forst to put Miller on the trade block this summer, but it’s hard to see any realistic way that he gets moved. Even rebuilding clubs rarely trade relievers with the kind of talent that he possesses when they’re in their pre-arbitration seasons. That’s before considering that the A’s presumably still intend to give him a chance to compete for a rotation spot next year. If Miller turns in a full season as a top 3-5 reliever in the sport, perhaps they’d consider him too valuable to take out of the bullpen, but there’s nothing to suggest their long-term plans have changed at this point.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Zack Gelof Placed On IL With Oblique Strain

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April 25: The A’s have now made it official, placing Gelof on the IL and recalling Hernaiz as the corresponding move.

April 24: A’s second baseman Zack Gelof has been diagnosed with a left oblique strain, tweets Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The second-year infielder is likely headed to the 10-day injured list.

Oakland hasn’t provided a specific timetable for Gelof’s return, nor have they announced the variety of the strain. Even Grade 1 strains (the lowest severity) usually require multiple weeks to recover. The A’s will be hoping for a relatively quick return for one of their most talented hitters.

Gelof, a second-round pick out of UVA in 2021, was arguably the A’s best player as a rookie. He earned his first MLB call around the All-Star Break. Gelof popped 14 homers with a .267/.337/.504 batting line in his first 300 plate appearances. While he’ll need more than a half-season of strong play to establish himself as an organizational building block, his performance was a rare bright spot for a team that limped to a 50-112 record.

The right-handed hitter has started this year slowly. He’s fanned 33 times in his first 101 plate appearances, hitting .196/.260/.337. Gelof drilled a two-run homer to break a scoreless tie in the ninth and secure a 2-0 win over the Yankees on Monday before an 0-4 showing yesterday. Abdominal soreness led the A’s to scratch him from tonight’s lineup and send him for testing that apparently revealed the strain.

Gelof had started all 24 games at second base before tonight. Manager Mark Kotsay went with Abraham Toro at the keystone this evening. Toro had otherwise played either third base or designated hitter this season. If the A’s stick with Toro at second base, they could turn to Tyler Nevin at the hot corner. They recently optioned 22-year-old infielder Darell Hernaiz, who hit .103/156/.103 in his first look at MLB pitching. He seems the most logical candidate to be called back up if the A’s want to add another infielder to the big league roster. Jessica Kleinschmidt tweets that Hernaiz was removed from tonight’s Triple-A contest, seemingly in preparation for a promotion.

MLBTR Podcast: Free Agent Power Rankings, Ohtani’s Stolen Money And The A’s Moving To Sacramento

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • How can a pitcher blow a save in the seventh inning? How early can a save be blown? (38:25)
  • Do you think the Tigers will release Javier Báez? It is painful to watch him. (41:15)
  • Who could the Braves target inside or outside the organization to replace Spencer Strider? (45:15)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

2023 Rule 5 Update: April Edition

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We’re three weeks into the 2024 season, and this year’s crop of Rule 5 picks has had an atypical amount of staying power. That’s perhaps in part due to the fact that only ten players were selected in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, but as of this writing, only one Rule 5 selection has been returned to his original organization.

For those unfamiliar, in order to be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, a player must not be on his team’s 40-man roster and must have played in either parts of five professional seasons (if they signed at 18 or younger) or four professional seasons (if they signed at 19 or older). The deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 by selecting their contracts to the 40-man roster typically falls in mid-November and spurs a good deal of player movement as teams jettison borderline players and non-tender candidates from their roster in order to protect younger prospects.

A player who is selected in the Rule 5 Draft must spend the entire subsequent season on his new club’s Major League roster and cannot be optioned to the minors. The player can technically spend time on the injured list as well, but at least 90 days must be spent on the active roster. If not, the player’s Rule 5 status rolls into the following season until 90 days on the active roster have been accrued. If a team at any point decides it can no longer carry a Rule 5 selection, that player must be passed through waivers and subsequently offered back to his original organization. Any other club can claim the player via waivers, but the same Rule 5 restrictions will apply to the claiming team.

Broadly speaking, the Rule 5 Draft rarely produces impact players. There are plenty of exceptions over the years, though, with names like Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, Shane Victorino, Joakim Soria, Josh Hamilton and, more recently, Garrett Whitlock and Trevor Stephan thriving in new organizations. The Rule 5 Draft dates back more than a century and has even produced a handful of Hall of Famers: Roberto Clemente, Hack Wilson and Christy Mathewson.

It’s unlikely we’ll see any Cooperstown-bound players come from this year’s crop, but the teams who opted to select a player will be content if any of these names become a viable reliever or role player for the next several seasons. Here’s a look at this year’s group of ten Rule 5 players and where they stand. We’ll do a few of these throughout the season, keeping tabs on which players survive the season and formally have their long-term rights transferred to their new clubs.

On a Major League Roster

Mitch Spence, RHP, Athletics (selected from Yankees)

Spence, 26 next month, was the first overall pick in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, and understandably so after the 2023 season he had. His 4.47 ERA might’ve been pedestrian, but the 2019 tenth-rounder led all Triple-A pitchers with 163 innings while delivering a nice blend of strikeouts (21.8%), walks (7.5%) and ground-balls (50%). For an A’s club desperately thin on starting pitching after the slew of rebuilding-driven trades for minor league arms have failed to produce much, adding a 25-year-old arm with that type of season held obvious appeal.

Spence made Oakland’s decision easy with a monster spring showing. He pitched 17 2/3 innings and allowed only six earned runs (3.06 ERA) on 15 hits and six walks with 21 punchouts. He’s worked out of the ’pen so far in Oakland but could very well find himself making starts later in the year. Through his first 11 2/3 MLB frames, Spence has yielded four earned runs on 10 hits and four walks with a 48.4% grounder rate. He’s not in danger of losing his spot anytime soon.

Matt Sauer, RHP, Royals (selected from Yankees)

Another 25-year-old righty out of the Yankees organization, Sauer came to his new club with a much heavier draft pedigree than his now-former teammate, Spence. The Yankees selected the 6’4″ righty with the No. 54 overall pick back in 2017, but Sauer didn’t develop as quickly as hoped. He was set back by 2019 Tommy John surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season. He’s never topped 111 innings in a season, but Sauer rebuilt some prospect pedigree with a nice 2023 season that saw him pitch 68 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball in Double-A. He whiffed 29.5% of his opponents, albeit against a less palatable 10.3% walk rate.

Like his former teammate, Sauer had a nice spring that made the decision relatively easy for his new club. In 10 2/3 innings, he held opponents to three earned runs (2.53 ERA) on 13 hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts. He opened the season in the Kansas City bullpen and has thus far pitched five innings, allowing a pair of runs in that time. Sauer has walked four of his 25 opponents and fanned just two thus far. It’s a small sample, of course, but he’ll need to reverse that early trend to hang onto his roster spot — especially if the Royals continue their hot start and find themselves contending into the summer.

Anthony Molina, RHP, Rockies (selected from Rays)

The 22-year-old Molina worked as a starter in the Rays’ system last year, taking the ball 28 times (27 starts) and pitching 122 innings with a 4.50 ERA. The undersized righty has garnered praise for a solid-average heater and above-average changeup, and he showed good command in 2023 after struggling with walks earlier in his minor league career. Molina continued to show good command in spring training (in addition to a massive 60.5% grounder rate), but the regular season has been brutal for him thus far. In three appearances, he’s been tattooed for a dozen runs on 13 hits and four walks with just two strikeouts. The Rockies can afford to be as patient as they want. They’re 4-13 on the season and were never expected to contend. Still, Molina will need to improve on his early performance in order to stick on the roster.

Nasim Nunez, INF, Nationals (selected from Marlins)

The Nationals have effectively played the season thus far with a 25-man roster. Nunez made the Opening Day squad but has been M.I.A. since. He’s appeared in just five of Washington’s 16 games and received only two plate appearances, going hitless in that meaningless sample. Nunez is an all-glove and speed prospect who hit just .224/.341/.286 in Double-A last season. He did go 52-for-59 in stolen base attempts, and scouting reports have long touted his defensive excellence at shortstop. He hit just .152/.200/.182 in 35 spring plate appearances.

It’s fair to wonder how long the Nats can essentially punt a roster spot by keeping Nunez on the bench, but like the Rockies, they’re not expecting to contend this season anyhow. One would imagine that from a pure developmental standpoint, they need to find a way to get Nunez into some games and start getting him some playing time, but for now, the team appears content to just hide the 23-year-old on the bench.

Ryan Fernandez, RHP, Cardinals (selected from Red Sox)

Fernandez, 25, has just four appearances out of the St. Louis bullpen so far and has been understandably deployed in low-leverage spots while he acclimates to the majors. He’s pitched fairly well in sparse duty, holding opponents to three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings. Fernandez has averaged just under 96 mph on his heater, fanned seven opponents and issued three walks. His swinging-strike rate isn’t close to where it’s been in his minor league work, but his wipeout slider has been strong thus far. Fernandez has finished off eight plate appearances with that pitch, picking up four strikeouts and yielding only one hit. Nothing he’s done so far makes it seem like he’ll be cut loose anytime soon.

Justin Slaten, RHP, Red Sox (selected by Mets from Rangers; traded to Red Sox for LHP Ryan Ammons)

While most Rule 5 relievers are eased into low-pressure spots, that hasn’t been the case with the Sox and Slaten. He held a four-run lead to pick up a seven-out save in the team’s fourth game of the season, and the 6’4″ righty has since tallied three holds out of Alex Cora’s bullpen. In 10 1/3 innings, Slaten has allowed only one run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. Add in 6 1/3 shutout innings in spring training, and he’s looked more like a seasoned veteran than a 26-year-old who entered the season with all of 8 1/3 innings above the Double-A level. Slaten has immediately made himself an important part of Boston’s roster, and while a prolonged slump could always change things, he looks like a keeper right now.

Stephen Kolek, RHP, Padres (selected from Mariners)

Kolek, who’ll turn 27 tomorrow, began his big league tenure with four runs in 1 2/3 innings over his first two appearances. He’s since bounced back with 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball, fanning 11 hitters against three walks along the way. He punched out nearly a quarter of his opponents in Triple-A last year and did so with a huge 57.5% ground-ball rate. He hasn’t picked up grounders at such a strong level just yet (43.5%), but San Diego probably isn’t second-guessing their decision to select him. He’s already picked up a pair of holds, and his recent run of success has dropped his ERA to 4.35. Command has been a problem for Kolek in the past, but he’s only walked 8.9% of his opponents against a 26.7% strikeout rate so far.

On the Major League Injured List

Shane Drohan, LHP, White Sox (selected from Red Sox): Drohan underwent shoulder surgery in late February and is on the 60-day IL. There’s no telling yet when he’ll be medically cleared to return. As noted in the intro, Drohan needs 90 days on the active roster to shed his Rule 5 designation; even if he spends the entire 2024 campaign on the injured list, his Rule 5 status will carry over into 2025 until he picks up those 90 active days.

Carson Coleman, RHP, Rangers (selected from Yankees): Coleman is also on the 60-day injured list. Unlike Drohan, it was well known at the time of his selection that he’d be IL-bound to begin the year. Coleman had Tommy John surgery last year and is expected to be out until midsummer at the least.

Returned to Original Organization

Deyvison De Los Santos, INF, Guardians (returned to D-backs): De Los Santos has big raw power but a well below-average hit tool. The Guardians selected him on the heels of a 20-homer campaign in Double-A with the D-backs, but he hit just .227/.227/.318 in 44 spring appearances before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and getting returned to the Snakes. He’s had a big performance in a return-trip to Double-A.

Injury Notes: Garrett, Davis, Lowe, Verlander

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The Marlins have been without left-hander Braxton Garrett all season. A shoulder impingement sent the 26-year-old to the injured list to begin the year. Garrett seemed to be nearing a return to the majors after throwing six innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Jacksonville last week, but he has run into a bit of a setback. Manager Skip Schumaker told reporters that Garrett felt a “dead arm” when throwing a bullpen session today (link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com).

That isn’t believed to be related to the shoulder injury, yet it could push back his return all the same. Schumaker said Garrett will go for further testing. Getting the former #7 overall pick back in fairly short order would be a needed boost for a club that is off to the worst start in franchise history (3-14). Garrett was a key piece of the rotation a year ago, working 159 2/3 innings with a 3.66 ERA.

A few other injury notes:

  • The A’s placed J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list shortly before tonight’s game against the Cardinals. The third baseman has a right adductor strain. Speedy outfielder Esteury Ruiz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas in his place. Davis has gotten the nod at the hot corner for 14 of Oakland’s first 16 contests. He’s off to a slow start, hitting .196/.255/.373 with a lofty 29.1% strikeout rate. Manager Mark Kotsay turned to Abraham Toro at third base tonight.
  • Rays outfielder Josh Lowe could be nearing his season debut. Skipper Kevin Cash said that Lowe will head out on a rehab stint with Triple-A Durham on Thursday (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Lowe was delayed early in camp by inflammation in his left hip. As he worked back from that issue, he strained his right oblique. That knocked him out of game action for a month. Lowe is coming off a breakout season, having hit .292/.335/.500 with 20 homers and 32 steals in 501 plate appearances. The Rays have used Richie Palacios and Amed Rosario in a right field platoon with Lowe on the shelf. They’ve each hit well in the early going, but they’re both capable of bouncing around the diamond once Lowe is ready to return to the lineup.
  • Justin Verlander has one final hurdle to clear before he’ll make his season debut. Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters that the three-time Cy Young winner will throw a bullpen session tomorrow (X link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). If that goes according to plan, Verlander will be reinstated from the 15-day injured list for this weekend’s series in Washington. The 41-year-old is coming off a four-inning rehab stint with Double-A Corpus Christi, in which he threw 78 pitches.

Ken Holtzman Passes Away

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The Cubs announced that former big league left-hander Ken Holtzman passed away recently. Per an obituary from Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Holtzman had been hospitalized for the past three weeks due to heart problems. He was 78 years old.

Holtzman was born in St. Louis in 1945. He attended the University of Illinois and was selected from there by the Cubs in the 1965 draft. It didn’t take him long to get to the big leagues, with the Cubs calling him up later that same year.

He only made three appearances in 1965 but got a more proper debut in 1966. He made 34 appearances for the Cubs, 33 starts, and tossed 220 2/3 innings with a 3.79 earned run average. In 1967, he was serving in the National Guard and only able to pitch on weekends, but he made the most of his time in that limited role. He made 12 starts and went 9-0 that year, posting a 2.53 ERA in 92 2/3 innings.

With his military obligations completed, he was able to return to a full-time role. 1968 was the first of nine straight seasons in which he made at least 30 appearances and tossed at least 195 innings. Those Cubs teams of the late ’60s and early ’70s were pretty decent, finishing above .500 each year from ’67 to ’72, but not making the playoffs in any of them. Holtzman was a key component of those clubs, taking the ball and posting generally solid results. That included a no-hitter that he tossed against the Braves in 1969 and another against the Reds in 1971.

Prior to the 1972 season, Holtzman was traded to the Athletics for fellow southpaw Rick Monday. The move to Oakland seemed to suit Holtzman. From 1972 to 1975, he tossed at least 255 1/3 innings in each season with his ERA never finishing higher than 3.14. He was selected to the All-Star team in ’72 and ’73 and the A’s won the World Series in three straight years from ’72 to ’74, with Holtzman playing a big part in those titles. Over those three years and in 1975, he pitched in 13 postseason games with a 2.30 ERA in 70 1/3 innings. He even hit a home run in the ’74 series, with the DH not being implemented in the World Series until 1976.

Holtzman was traded to the Orioles prior to the 1976 season and then to the Yankees in the middle of that campaign. He stayed with the Yanks for a while as his playing time faded, getting traded back to the Cubs midway through the ’78 campaign. He made 23 appearances in 1979 with a 4.59 ERA in what eventually proved to be his last season.

His entire big league career resulted in 451 appearances with a 174-150 record and a 3.49 ERA. He pitched two no-hitters, made a couple of All-Star teams and won three rings. Per Hochman, Holtzman has the most wins for a Jewish pitcher in MLB history, with his 174 just ahead of the 165 wins of Sandy Koufax.

MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball community in sending our condolences to the Holtzman family, as well as his many friends and fans around the game.

Athletics Select Max Schuemann

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The Athletics announced that outfielder Brent Rooker has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a costochondral cartilage injury. Infielder/outfielder Max Schuemann was selected to take Rooker’s place on the active roster. To open a spot for Schuemann on the 40-man, right-hander Luis Medina was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Rooker was removed from Sunday’s game to due abdominal soreness, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com, and hasn’t played since. Costochondral cartilage is connected to the ribs, which tracks with his reported soreness. The club has not provided any timeline for Rooker’s expected absence.

He had a late-bloomer breakout last year at the age of 28, hitting 30 homers for the A’s tough also striking out at a 32.7% clip. He played in eight games this year, starting in right field twice but mostly serving as the designated hitter. His absence will mean the club can rotate various guys through the DH slot and give plate appearances to their young and developing hitters.

It will also allow Schuemann to make it to the majors for the first time in his career, just a couple of months ahead of his 27th birthday, which is in June. A 20th-round selection of the A’s in the 2018 draft, Schuemann didn’t get a lot of attention from prospect evaluators until a breakout season in 2021.

That year, he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, playing 119 games between those three levels. He paired a 10.1% walk rate with a 19.6% strikeout rate and slashed .271/.372/.388 for a wRC+ of 111. He also stole 52 bases in 57 tries and bounced around to various infield and outfield positions.

Going into 2022, Baseball America ranked him the #27 prospect in the system while FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention. That year, he continued to get on base at a decent clip and steal bases at the Double-A level, but he struck out in 39% of his Triple-A appearances. That was in a small sample of 41 trips to the plate over 11 games, but it perhaps suggested he was overmatched at the top level of the minors.

But Schuemann continued to improve in 2023. He finally got an extended stretch of Triple-A playing time, 433 plate appearances in 103 games, and responded well. He only hit nine home runs but drew walks at a 14.3% rate while keeping his strikeouts down to a 20.1% clip. He slashed .277/.402/.429  for a wRC+ of 109 while stealing 20 bases in 29 tries.

Per Melissa Lockard of The Athletic, Schuemann went to the Dominican Republic for some winter ball a few months back but was hit in the head with a pitch in his first game, then sat out the rest of the season. Whatever effects there were from that HBP seemed to have passed by the spring, as he hit .294/.405/.382 during Cactus League play.

During his minor league career, Schuemann has played all four infield positions and all three outfield spots. He’ll presumably plug into that roll for the big league club, bouncing all around the diamond as needed while the rebuilding A’s audition their young players for roles in the future of the club.

As for Medina, he was diagnosed with a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in early March. His timeline isn’t clear but he hasn’t yet begun a rehab assignment and the club evidently doesn’t expect him back soon. This transfer means he will be eligible to be activated before late May.

A’s Outright Zach Jackson

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Athletics right-hander Zach Jackson went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment and has been assigned outright to Triple-A, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Jackson has fewer than three years of service time and does not have a prior outright in his career, so he can’t reject the assignment in favor of free agency. He’ll head back to Las Vegas, where he’d opened the season, and hope to pitch his way back onto the big league roster.

The 29-year-old Jackson has pitched 66 innings with Oakland over the past two seasons and turned in a sterling 2.86 ERA in that time. A look under the hood reveals more concerning issues, however, most notably including a grim 15.2% walk rate (to say nothing of a sky-high 14 wild pitches). Jackson has fanned a whopping 31.9% of his opponents in that time as well, but his lack of command is a clear red flag. He’s also benefited from seeing a minuscule 2.6% of his fly-balls become home runs — about one-fifth of the roughly 12% league average. Metrics like xFIP and SIERA, which normalize HR/FB ratio, peg Jackson at 4.23 and 3.79, respectively.

A flexor strain limited Jackson to 18 innings last year, and he’s had a tough return. In 8 1/3 spring innings, he yielded seven runs (six earned) on six hits and three walks. He’s continued to struggle through his first three appearances in Vegas, serving up four runs in two innings of work. More alarming than the runs allowed, however, are the eight walks he’s issued despite facing just 16 hitters on the season thus far.

It’s likely there’s some rust for Jackson following that 2023 injury, but he’s presumably in good health. The A’s didn’t place him on the minor league injured list, and injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers. If he can get back on track in Vegas, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in the majors. The Oakland bullpen is lacking in established relievers, currently including five pitchers with under a year of MLB service time and a pair of veteran journeymen looking to rebound (Austin Adams, T.J. McFarland).

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