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Darell Hernaiz Makes Athletics’ Opening Day Roster

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Infielder Darell Hernaiz will open the season in the majors, Oakland manager Mark Kotsay told reporters (including Jason Burke of Inside The A’s) this evening. Hernaiz was selected to the club’s 40-man roster back in November ahead of last year’s Rule 5 Draft, and his first appearance with the club this year will be his major league debut.

Hernaiz, 22, was a fifth-round pick by the Orioles in the 2019 draft and was swapped to the A’s in the deal that sent left-hander Cole Irvin to Baltimore last January. The youngster enjoyed something of a breakout campaign during his first season in Oakland last year as he slashed .321/.386/.456 in 131 games split between the Double- and Triple-A levels. Hernaiz offered little in the way of power as he hit just nine home runs last year, but the youngster showed impressive on-base skills with a fantastic 13.4% strikeout rate against a solid 8.9% walk rate. Hernaiz also has plus speed, as shown by his 54-for-64 record on the basepaths with the Orioles during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, though he swiped just 13 bags in 18 attempts with the A’s last year.

After splitting time between shortstop as well as second and third base during his time with the Orioles, Hernaiz has played shortstop almost exclusively with the A’s. In 2023, he made 13 appearances at the keystone and just one at the hot corner compared to a whopping 112 at shortstop. That changed this spring, however, as Hernaiz split time between his native shortstop and third base in hopes of improving his odds of making the big league roster due to the club’s vacancy out the hot corner. While the acquisition of veteran infielder J.D. Davis has plugged the gap at third in Oakland for the time being, the mid-spring addition didn’t stop the A’s from offering Hernaiz a spot on the big league roster to open the season after he hit a decent .313/.340/.333 during camp while striking out just 16.9% of the time across 53 spring at-bats.

Looking ahead to the regular season, Hernaiz figures to provide the A’s with a quality glove all around the infield off the bench, providing insurance behind Davis, shortstop Nick Allen, and second baseman Zack Gelof. The youngster’s high contract rates, solid plate discipline, and plus speed also figure to make him a useful bench piece who can be deployed as a pinch hitter and runner. Should injuries or ineffectiveness force a change in the club’s infield mix at some point in the season, Hernaiz figures to compete with fellow reserve infielder Abraham Toro for those reps, though it’s always possible a mid-season promotion for a prospect such as Jordan Diaz could change that calculus.

A’s Acquire Austin Adams

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The A’s announced this morning that they’ve acquired right-hander Austin Adams from the Mets in exchange for cash considerations. Adams, who had been in camp with the Mets as a non-roster invitee, has been selected to Oakland’s 40-man roster. In a corresponding move, right-hander Trevor Gott was placed on the 60-day injured list. Gott’s placement on the shelf is hardly a surprise, as it was announced last week that the righty is set to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2024 season.

Adams, 32, was an eighth-round pick in the 2012 draft by the Angels but didn’t make his MLB debut until the 2017 season when he was a member of the Nationals. He entered the 2023 season with 108 big league games under his belt between his time in Washington, Seattle, and San Diego, having pitched to a 3.90 ERA with a 3.81 FIP and a 34.2% strikeout rate during that time. Despite those solid numbers, forearm and shoulder issues had limited his ability to stay on the field and capture a regular role with any of the clubs he had pitched for, leading him to sign a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks prior to the 2023 season.

His performance in Arizona was something of a mixed bag. While the right-hander yielded an unsightly 5.71 ERA in 17 1/3 innings of work with the club prior to a season-ending ankle injury last August, Adams’s peripheral numbers suggest he may have pitched better than those results would indicate. After all, the 32-year-old hurler struck out a solid 27.2% of batters faced while walking 9.9%. That left Adams with a 3.55 xERA and a 3.72 FIP, both far more palatable numbers that are more in line with his career marks. The discrepancy can be explained by both an unusually low 61.6% strand rate and an elevated .333 BABIP, leaving Adams with both far more traffic on the basepaths than expected and those runners scoring more often than usual.

Those positive peripheral signs may have played a role in the Mets decided to sign Adams to a major league deal back in November, after he elected free agency in response to being removed from Arizona’s 40-man roster. That seemingly left Adams in position to be a key piece of the bullpen mix in Queens this season, but the club scuttled those plans by signing more proven relievers such as Adam Ottavino and Jorge Lopez later that winter. That left Adams to be outrighted off the club’s roster just before Spring Training began, though he remained in camp with the club as a non-roster invitee.

Now, Adams once again appears poised to get an Opening Day job after being dealt to Oakland. With the A’s, he figures to slot into the middle of a bullpen that heavily features young arms such as Mason Miller, Kyle Muller, and Mitch Spence. If Adams pitches well early in the season, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him take on late inning duties alongside the likes of Miller and Lucas Erceg in the Oakland bullpen.

Miguel Andujar To Undergo Meniscus Surgery; Sean Newcomb To Begin Season On A’s Injured List

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Miguel Andujar will undergo surgery to repair a torn right meniscus and will miss least 4-6 weeks in recovery, A’s manager Mark Kotsay told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters.  The Athletics will also lose another player to the season-opening injured list, as Sean Newcomb will miss time due to irritation in his surgically-repaired left knee.

Andujar’s surgery is set for Wednesday, and Kotsay said a further timeline will be established once doctors actually “get in there [to see] what the repair has to be….We could be looking at a longer timeframe.”  This will mark the second major surgery for Andujar, following a shoulder procedure in 2019 that cost him most of that season and serves as a turning point in his career.

A spectacular 2018 season with the Yankees saw Andujar finish second in AL Rookie of the Year voting, though he has since played in only 144 Major League games.  The Yankees seemed to move on from Andujar after his lost 2019 campaign, and gave him only sporadic looks on the big league roster amidst several call-ups and demotions back and forth from Triple-A.  The Pirates claimed Andujar off waivers from New York in September 2022, but this fresh start didn’t result in much more MLB playing time, as Andujar appeared in only 30 games for Pittsburgh in 2023.

Oakland acquired Andujar on another waiver claim back in November, and avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.7MM salary for 2024.  Andujar has been on fire at the plate during Spring Training, yet he’ll now face yet another frustrating setback with this knee injury.  More will be known once the surgery takes place, yet the hope is obviously for a best-case scenario that would see Andujar make his official A’s debut some time in May.

Newcomb had a lateral meniscus repair of his own on his left knee in September, and then an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee in December.  It certainly isn’t promising that Newcomb’s knee is still giving him problems, though the characterization of the issue as just “irritation” is perhaps a hint that there isn’t any further structural damage.  The Athletics will give Newcomb an extra 15 days on the IL at the start of the year to hopefully work through his soreness, and then complete any ramp-up work necessary to get him ready for his season debut.

Newcomb has seen action in each of the last seven Major League seasons, pitching mostly with the Braves before a trade to the Cubs in April 2022.  He spent most of the 2023 season in the Giants’ minor league system before being traded to the A’s and given a look on the active roster, and Newcomb then delivered a 3.00 ERA over 15 innings.  Small sample size notwithstanding, it was still a big improvement over the 7.45 ERA that the southpaw posted in 73 2/3 MLB innings over the 2020-22 seasons.  Those struggles were tied to rather extreme difficulties in limiting walks and home runs, and Newcomb still issued nine free passes in his 15 innings with Oakland.

Between Trevor Gott’s Tommy John surgery, Scott Alexander’s stress reaction in his left ribs, and now Newcomb’s knee issue, the Athletics have suddenly lost the three most experienced members of their bullpen to the IL (and, in Gott’s case, for the whole season).  Kyle Muller is now also the only left-hander remaining in the relief corps with Alexander and Newcomb sidelined, so the A’s might be on the lookout for southpaws in particular if they turn to the open market for any veteran relievers who might be available after the last rounds of Spring Training cuts.

As for Andujar, he was seemingly penciled into the regular outfield mix, but the A’s will now have to adjust to his IL stint.  Utilityman Hoy Park might now have a better chance of breaking camp, and Park has helped his case with some very impressive numbers in Cactus League play.  Park and Lawrence Butler could be backup outfield options behind the provisional starting trio of Seth Brown, JJ Bleday, and Esteury Ruiz.

Trevor Gott To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Athletics right-hander Trevor Gott has a fully torn ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo Tommy John next week, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He will miss the entire 2024 season and part of 2025 as well.

Gott, 31, signed with the A’s in the offseason, a one-year deal with a $1.5MM guarantee and performance bonuses based on appearances. Unfortunately, he won’t be unlocking any of those bonuses now and it will go down as a wasted investment for the A’s. Gott will be placed on the 60-day injured list when the club needs a roster spot and spend the year there. He’ll cross six years of service time in the process and return to free agency in the fall.

He has 243 2/3 innings under his belt with a 4.65 ERA. He split last season between the Mariners and Mets, tossing 58 innings with a 4.19 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. The Mets could have retained him via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a modest $2MM salary. But they non-tendered him instead and he landed in Oakland.

He’ll turn 32 this August while rehabbing and then will hit the open market in advance of the 2025 season. For the A’s, it opens up another spot in their bullpen for them to cycle their various young guys through and see who sticks.

A’s Release Angel Felipe

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The Athletics released reliever Angel Felipe, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. He’d been designated for assignment over the weekend.

Once the A’s took Felipe off the 40-man roster, a release was all but inevitable. The 26-year-old righty underwent Tommy John surgery last week. Injured players cannot go on outright waivers. After the DFA, the only options were to trade Felipe or release him. They weren’t going to find a trade partner due to the injury.

Felipe lost his roster spot when Oakland announced the J.D. Davis signing. The A’s could have placed him on the 60-day injured list, but that would’ve required paying him a $740K salary for the upcoming season. They’d very likely have run him through waivers at the start of next winter anyhow — players can’t stay on the injured list during the offseason — so releasing him instead made sense.

Of course, that’s a tough blow for Felipe. Assuming he clears release waivers, he’ll become a free agent. The A’s could try to bring him back on a two-year minor league deal at that point, but he’d have the freedom to evaluate other opportunities. Oakland grabbed him off waivers from the Padres last June. Felipe debuted with 14 big league outings late last season, allowing seven runs with 19 strikeouts and 13 walks over 15 frames. He has a mid-90s fastball but hasn’t consistently thrown strikes in the minors. Felipe has a walk rate north of 15% over parts of eight minor league seasons, in which he owns a 4.65 ERA.

A’s Sign J.D. Davis

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March 18: Davis would earn $750K for reaching 500 plate appearances and another $250K if he reaches 550 plate appearances, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

March 16: The Athletics have now officially announced Davis’ one-year deal for the 2024 season.

March 15: The A’s have reportedly agreed to terms with third baseman J.D. Davis on a one-year, $2.5MM free agent contract. The deal, which is pending a physical and has not yet been announced by the team, contains an additional $1MM in performance bonuses. The infielder is represented by ALIGND Sports Management.

Davis stays in the Bay Area after being released by the Giants on Monday. His time in San Francisco ended on an acrimonious note. Pushed out of the starting lineup by the signings of Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman, he was arguably a redundant fit on the San Francisco roster. The Giants also carry Wilmer Flores as a righty-hitting corner infield/DH option.

That prompted San Francisco to shop Davis on the trade market. When no deal presented itself, the Giants placed him on outright waivers. The hope was that another team would claim him and assume the $6.9MM salary which his camp had won in an arbitration hearing in February. None of the other 29 teams took that on, leading the Giants to put Davis on release waivers.

While he was no longer a great roster fit in San Francisco, the release was clearly motivated in large part by finances. Under the collective bargaining agreement, arbitration-eligible players who settle on a contract without going to a hearing are entitled to their full salary even if they’re released. Arbitration salaries determined in a hearing — whether in favor of the player or team — are not fully guaranteed until Opening Day. By releasing Davis more than 15 days before the start of the regular season, the Giants were only responsible for 30 days termination pay. That checked in a little above $1.1MM.

Davis’ deal with the A’s brings his guaranteed money for the upcoming season around $3.6MM. If he hits all of his incentives, he could get to around $4.6MM in earnings. The end of his Giants tenure will cost Davis a few million dollars, although he’ll at least have a clear path to everyday reps.

Oakland was likely to go into the year with either Abraham Toro or Darell Hernaiz logging the majority of their third base work. Toro is a career .211/.282/.354 hitter who spent most of last season in Triple-A with the Brewers. Hernaiz is a talented prospect, but he has yet to make his big league debut. Even if Hernaiz hits his way to the majors this year, he could push defensive specialist Nick Allen for playing time at shortstop. The A’s grabbed Miguel Andújar off waivers from the Pirates early in the offseason. He’s still on the roster but has played mostly in the corner outfield over the past few seasons.

Davis should be a clear upgrade over that group. The 30-year-old (31 in April) has been an above-average hitter in each of the last five seasons. Last year’s .248/.325/.413 batting line was his worst rate production since he emerged in 2019. Still, he played in a career-high 144 games and connected on 18 home runs. Davis has above-average power and draws a fair number of walks. He strikes out at a higher than average rate, yet his .268/.352/.443 slash of the last five years could earn him a spot in the middle third of Mark Kotsay’s lineup.

With between five and six years of major league service, Davis will head back to free agency next offseason. The opportunity to play on an everyday basis is surely appealing as he tries to establish himself as the #3 third base option in a free agent class that’ll include Alex Bregman and, if he opts out, Chapman. Improving his defensive grades would be a big boost to his market value. Davis has typically rated as a fringy defender. Public metrics were split on his value last season. Defensive Runs Saved had him among the least effective third basemen at 11 runs below average in 915 2/3 innings. Statcast was a lot more impressed, rating him four runs better than par.

Davis also drew interest from the Mets this week. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that he chose the A’s in part because of the guarantee that he’ll play on a regular basis. He reunites with former Giants teammates Ross Stripling, Alex Wood and Scott Alexander as veteran additions to the A’s clubhouse. As with any veteran joining a rebuilding team on a one-year deal, he’d be a clear trade candidate this summer if he’s playing at his typical level.

Oakland’s player payroll now sits around $61MM, as calculated by RosterResource. That is a little above last season’s approximate $57MM Opening Day mark but still sits last in MLB by a country mile. The A’s have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move once the contract is finalized.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the A’s and Davis were in agreement. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo had previously suggested the A’s were showing interest in Davis. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported it was a one-year, $2.5MM guarantee with $1MM in performance bonuses.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

West Notes: Black, Giants, Soderstrom

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Rockies manager Bud Black and owner Dick Monfort are discussing a contract extension that would keep Black in Colorado beyond the 2024 season, per a report from MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. Harding notes that while Black and Monfort acknowledged that they are “talking” about a deal, no agreement has been reached at this point and it’s unclear if a deal will come together prior to Opening Day, which is now less than two weeks away.

Per Harding, Monfort indicated that the club’s focus remains on preparing for the regular season, but that he nonetheless hopes that the sides will be able to reach an agreement. There’s certainly reason for optimism that the sides will eventually work out a deal in some capacity, as the veteran manager has inked one-year extensions in each of the past two springs and reporting in previous years has indicated that the Rockies and Black have a long-standing unofficial agreement on a rolling year-to-year deal where either side can walk away after any given season.

Black, 66, spent nine years as manager of the Padres from 2007 to 2015 (including a 2010 season that saw him win the NL Manager of the Year award) before joining the Rockies prior to the 2017 season. He led the club to back-to-back postseason appearances in his first two years with the club but the club has struggled badly under his leadership over the past five seasons, never winning more than 74 games in a season and even suffering the franchise’s first ever 100-loss campaign in 2023, when the team lost 103 games en route to a last place finish in not only the NL West but the entire National League; only the Royals and A’s lost more games last year. With that being said, Monfort is well-known for being loyal to his employees and valuing continuity in the organization, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that he would be interested in continuing the club’s relationship with Black beyond the 2024 campaign.

More from around MLB’s West divisions…

  • The Giants are set to enter the regular season with little certainty in their starting rotation behind staff ace Logan Webb. With veterans Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray starting the season on the injured list where they’ll be joined by youngsters like Tristan Beck and Sean Hjelle, the club figures to lean on offseason signing Jordan Hicks and top prospect Kyle Harrison to fill out the middle of its rotation. That still leaves two spots undecided, however, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted today that manager Bob Melvin brought up right-handed rookie Mason Black as one arm the club is likely to turn to for a rotation spot this season. Black, 24, was the club’s third-round pick in the 2021 draft and posted a solid 3.71 ERA in 29 starts split between the Double- and Triple-A levels last year. Slusser adds that other possibilities for the final spots in the rotation and/or bullpen mix are fellow youngster Keaton Winn and non-roster veterans Daulton Jefferies and Spencer Howard. Of course, that could all change if the club’s reported run at left-hander Blake Snell were to bear fruit.
  • The Athletics announced earlier this evening that they have optioned catcher Tyler Soderstrom to Triple-A, effectively ending the 2020 first-round pick’s bid to open the 2024 season with the club. Soderstrom, 22, was a consensus top-100 prospect entering last season as a well-regarded, bat-first catcher. Things came off the rails for the youngster upon making his major league debut, however, as he hit a paltry .160/.232/.240 in 138 trips to the plate during a 45-game stint in the majors last year. Soderstrom’s first taste of big league action saw him strike out in 31.2% of his plate appearances while recording just four extra-base hits. His struggles continued this spring as he recorded just four hits against eight strikeouts in 34 trips to the plate across 14 games, prompting Oakland to send him back to the minors for additional development time. In the meantime, the club appears likely to rely on a tandem of Shea Langeliers and non-roster invitee Carlos Perez behind the plate to open the season.

A’s Designate Angel Felipe For Assignment

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After finalizing a one-year, $2.5MM contract with J.D. Davis, the Athletics announced that they have designated Angel Felipe for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old right-hander recently underwent Tommy John surgery, and he will sit out for the entirety of the 2024 season.

Felipe made his big league debut with the A’s this past summer. In 14 appearances (15 IP), he recorded 19 strikeouts but gave up 13 walks. While he allowed only six hits – five singles and a double – his control problems led him to give up seven earned runs. This was a common theme throughout his time in the minors, as well. Felipe knows how to induce groundballs and limit home runs, but his poor command comes around to bite him more often than he’d like. With all that being said, it’s worth mentioning that Felipe gave up three of his walks and three of his earned runs in his final appearance on August 14. He went on the IL with an elbow injury the next day and would not pitch for the rest of the season. Had his elbow recovered over the winter, he would have been a candidate for Oakland’s Opening Day roster.

Instead, Felipe will sit out until some point in 2025. Given his injury status and lack of prospect pedigree, there’s a good chance he passes through release waivers unclaimed. Oakland could have freed up a roster spot for Davis by placing Felipe on the 60-day IL instead of designating the young hurler for assignment. However, by taking this route, the team avoids having to pay Felipe a major league salary. Presumably, they took those potential savings into account when they offered Davis a contract.

Ángel Felipe To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Athletics right-hander Ángel Felipe will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, with Jessica Kleinschmidt among those to relay the news. The righty will miss all of the the 2024 season and likely part of 2025 as well.

Felipe, 26, made his major league debut with the A’s last year. Claimed off waivers from the Padres in June, he went on to toss 15 innings over 14 appearances out of the Oakland bullpen in the latter parts of the 2023 campaign. He had a 4.20 earned run average in that time, striking out 29.7% of batters faced and keeping 53.3% of balls in play on the ground, but he showed a lack of control with his 20.3% walk rate.

That’s generally been the recipe with Felipe throughout his minor league career, as he has racked up lots of strikeouts and ground balls but also given out lots of free passes. He tossed 154 1/3 innings in the minors over the past three years, punching out 30.3% of opponents and getting grounders on roughly half of batted balls, but walking 12.8% of batters faced.

The A’s are deep in a rebuild and are coming into 2024 with very little that is certain in their bullpen. Sean Newcomb, Trevor Gott and Scott Alexander are the only relievers on the roster with more than three years of service time. That leaves plenty of room for some young and inexperienced hurlers to step up and seize jobs, but Felipe won’t be able to take advantage of that situation now.

Instead, he will spend 2024 rehabbing and set his sights on a return to the mound in 2025. The A’s will likely transfer him to the 60-day injured list whenever they need a roster spot. If that comes to pass, he will spend the year there collecting major league pay and service time. The A’s could also designate him for assignment but injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, meaning Felipe would have to be placed on release waivers. If they took that route and Felipe went unclaimed, they could try to re-sign him to a minor league deal, but he would be free to pursue opportunities with other clubs as well.

Offseason In Review: Oakland Athletics

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The rebuilding A’s made only a few moves to address their big league roster, as much of the offseason news continued to focus on the club’s impending departure from Oakland.

Major League Signings

2023 spending: $13MM
Total spending: $13MM

Option Decisions

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

A long and twisted series of events that leads to finding a green armadillo in Las Vegas might sound like the plot of another Hangover sequel, yet it could also describe the Athletics’ relocation efforts.  MLB owners gave unanimous approval in November to the franchise’s plan to relocate, and the team recently released some eye-popping renderings of their proposed “spherical armadillo” ballpark on the Strip, which is planned to open for the start of the 2028 season.

Much has yet to be settled until then, including the rather important detail of where exactly the A’s will be playing during the 2025-27 seasons.  Next year’s edition of the Offseason In Review could be devoted to the Salt Lake City Athletics or the Sacramento Athletics, as the Athletics have been exploring alternate cities as their short-term home.  Since NBC Sports California could opt out of its broadcast contract with the A’s if the club moves out of the Bay Area, the team’s first option is to extend its lease at the Coliseum beyond its current end date following the 2024 season, yet the city of Oakland is (unsurprisingly) not too enthused about continuing the relationship.  At least, not without possibly trying to negotiate a new expansion team out of the league in exchange for letting the Athletics temporarily stay put.

Even the Vegas end of the move isn’t exactly solidified.  The league is pushing so hard for the Athletics’ relocation that it doesn’t seem likely that the move would fall apart altogether, though questions remain — a Nevada teachers’ union has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s funding law that earmarked $380MM in public money towards the ballpark, the overall uncertainty about the new stadium’s financing and construction plans, and the fact that Las Vegas citizens seem mixed at best about the A’s coming to town.

Between all these factors and the Oakland fans’ open disdain towards owner John Fisher, it seems like several more years of awkwardness are in store before things start to turn for the Athletics organization.  Finding a silver lining in the on-field product seems like a longshot, given how the A’s have gone 110-214 over the last two seasons and seem destined for another triple-digit showing in the loss column in 2024.

Given how the Athletics have already dealt most of their prominent (and most expensive) veterans, GM David Forst didn’t do much in the way of continuing the fire sale this winter.  Forst said during the Winter Meetings that Aledmys Diaz, Seth Brown, Paul Blackburn weren’t likely to be traded, and while it can be assumed that the A’s are always listening to trade offers, the team still needs players on the roster.  And, some stronger performances from any of these more experienced names in the first half of the 2024 campaign could well bolster their trade value heading into the deadline.  Blackburn might be a key name to watch in this regard, since he is a free agent after the 2025 season and teams are forever looking to add pitching.

The rotation was a need for the A’s themselves this winter, resulting in a couple of familiar Bay Area names joining the club.  Alex Wood signed in free agency after spending the last three years with the Giants, and the A’s also lined up with the Giants on a rare trade between the local rivals in order to bring Ross Stripling to Oakland.  These two moves represent the Athletics’ biggest expenditures of the offseason, as Wood will earn $8.5MM on a one-year deal, and the A’s are covering $9MM of the $12.5MM owed to Stripling on the final year of his contract.

Neither veteran was too pleased about their usage within the Giants’ patchwork pitching tactics, but Wood and Stripling will get plenty of opportunity to work as full-time starters in Oakland.  Wood started 12 of 29 games in 2023, working as a swingman, bulk pitcher behind an opener, or in a piggyback capacity while posting a 4.33 ERA over 97 2/3 innings.  Wood’s traditionally solid strikeout and walk rates both plummeted to well below the league average last year, though it could be argued that his ever-shifting roles (and five weeks missed due to a pair of stints on the injured list) might’ve contributed to these struggles.

Stripling had an even tougher time of things with a 5.36 ERA over 89 innings, and injuries and a hybrid rotation/bullpen deployment were also a story of his season.  The right-hander did pitch better as the season went on, however, which could hint that he might have a smoother time of things in a more stable capacity as a starting pitcher.

Returning to trade deadline possibilities, a return to form for either Wood or Stripling will surely make them prime candidates to change uniforms at midseason, which could open up rotation jobs for some of the Athletics’ younger arms.  Some of this group (Joe Boyle, Kyle Muller, and Rule 5 Draft pick Mitch Spence) are already competing for the fifth starter’s role, which is open since both Luis Medina and Ken Waldichuk will begin the season on the injured list.  It remains to be seen when exactly either hurler might be back on the mound, underscoring the Athletics’ reasoning for acquiring experienced arms like Wood and Stripling.

Experience was also the watchword for the Athletics’ bullpen additions.  Of the seven pitchers who made the most appearances for Oakland in 2023, only Lucas Erceg is still with the team, so some veteran help was needed for a relief corps that is thin on Major League innings.  Trevor Gott and Scott Alexander signed low-cost one-year deals and might have hidden-gem potential, since both righties outperformed their ERAs last season.  Gott had a 4.19 ERA over 58 innings with the Mariners and Mets while not receiving any BABIP (.343) luck, while Alexander’s 3.75 SIERA was well below his 4.66 ERA in 48 1/3 innings for San Francisco.  A .325 BABIP was particularly harmful to an extreme groundball pitcher like Alexander, whose numbers might normalize if he gets better fortune with balls in play.

Gott and Alexander figure to work in setup roles no matter who (if anyone) winds up as the Athletics’ full-time closer.  Top prospect Mason Miller is making a bid for the job with a very impressive Spring Training performance, as the A’s are keeping Miller in the bullpen this year as a way of easing him back to action after a long string of injuries.  Erceg or Dany Jimenez could also be in the ninth inning mix.

The A’s mostly stood pat on the position-player side, though Tony Kemp (who signed with the Reds) was a notable departure after four seasons in Oakland.  The newly-acquired Abraham Toro is something of a replacement for both Kemp and Kevin Smith, as Toro has experience at first base, second base, and third base, and can step into the corner outfield in a pinch.  Third base figures to be Toro’s most steady position, and Toro and Diaz figure to share the hot corner until prospect Darell Hernaiz makes his expected Major League debut this season.

Zack Gelof, Nick Allen, and Ryan Noda should form the rest of the starting infield, with Brent Rooker as the primary DH and one of Shea Langeliers or Tyler Soderstrom behind the plate.  Brown, JJ Bleday, and speedster Esteury Ruiz are the projected starting outfielders, with rookie Lawrence Butler looking for a larger role and former Athletic Stephen Piscotty back on a minor league deal and looking to get back to the majors after spending 2023 in the White Sox farm system.  Miguel Andujar is an interesting wild card on the roster, as the former Yankees star prospect is looking for a fresh start after being claimed off waivers from the Pirates, and he hit well after a September call-up with the Pirates last season.

It isn’t the most inspiring lineup on paper, which is why the A’s will be hard-pressed to avoid the AL West basement.  There is some talent here, however, as Noda, Rooker, and the rookie Gelof all delivered well above-average production in 2023.  Gelof’s 133 wRC+ (from a .267/.337/.504 slash line and 14 homers) came over just 300 plate appearances, though it was enough to make the second baseman look like a potential building block for an A’s team in desperate need of some true cornerstones.

A rebuilding team is only going to spend so much on veteran players anyway, yet the Athletics’ projected payroll is the lowest in baseball by a substantial margin.  As per RosterResource’s projections, the A’s currently have only $59.3MM on the books for 2024 — well behind the $82MM in slated spending for the Pirates, who rank 29th of the 30 teams.

Fisher has been adverse to spending even when the A’s were fielding contenders, yet even beyond the lack of available money, Forst’s attempts to add any reinforcements were naturally complicated by all of the negativity surrounding the Athletics’ forthcoming move.  For players who had leverage in determining their next team, there wasn’t much interest in joining a franchise entering a lame-duck season in front of a fanbase that is understandably hostile towards the organization.  It perhaps isn’t surprising that so many of the Athletics’ additions this winter have prior experience playing for the Giants if not the A’s themselves, so the new faces are at least familiar with the Bay Area and the unusual situation facing the Athletics this coming season.

If the Athletics’ 57th season in Oakland will indeed be their last, it is probably going to be an inauspicious ending to a history that includes the “Swingin’ A’s” powerhouse teams of the 1970s, Rickey Henderson and the Bash Brothers in the late ’80s, and the Moneyball underdogs of the last two decades.  The focus will be on letting the kids play and hopefully building some momentum in the rebuild towards 2025 and beyond, no matter where the team ends up playing.

How would you grade the Athletics' offseason?
F 45.05% (937 votes)
D 27.36% (569 votes)
C 18.94% (394 votes)
B 5.29% (110 votes)
A 3.37% (70 votes)
Total Votes: 2,080
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