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Offseason In Review: Athletics

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Motivated by their temporary move to Sacramento and the fear of an MLBPA grievance that could have cut into their revenue sharing money, the A's were busy. The result: three of the four largest contracts in franchise history, and a realistic (if long shot) hope of competing for a playoff spot.

Free Agent Signings

2025 spending: $40.05MM
Total spending: $82.05MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

The A's played around .500 ball in the second half. While their rotation remained largely uninspiring, things were starting to fall into place in the lineup. As the team officially closed the book on their 57 years in Oakland, fans who are sticking with the club in Sacramento and Las Vegas could start to dream on the team pulling out of a three-year rebuild.

There were a few clear areas to address. They needed multiple starting pitchers and a third baseman, at least. The A's rarely plug holes in free agency. They'd spent less than $55MM over the previous three offseasons combined. Owner John Fisher has suggested he'd raise payroll with expected revenue increases once they get to Las Vegas in 2028. It's hard to argue the A's deserved the benefit of the doubt after years of bottom-tier spending. There were no promises about the next three seasons anyhow, as those will be played at a Triple-A park in Sacramento.

At the beginning of the offseason, general manager David Forst firmly stated that designated hitter Brent Rooker wouldn't be available. It was fair to assume the same of star closer Mason Miller. They were no longer in the "tear it down" section of the rebuild, but it wasn't clear how aggressively they'd supplement their developing lineup.

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Tommie Reynolds Passes Away

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Former big league outfielder Tommie Reynolds passed away last week at 83. His obituary is available from a Florida funeral home.

Reynolds signed with the then-Kansas City Athletics as a 21-year-old. He reached the majors that season and appeared in eight games. Reynolds didn’t play much over his first two seasons but got into 90 games in 1965. He hit .237/.327/.311 across 308 plate appearances. The A’s kept him in Triple-A for the entire ’66 season.

The Mets plucked Reynolds in that offseason’s Rule 5 draft. He hit .206 while operating mostly as a pinch-hitter during his lone MLB season in Queens. The situation reversed the following year. New York kept Reynolds in Triple-A throughout 1968. After that season, the A’s brought him back as a Rule 5 pick of their own. The righty-swinging Reynolds had his best season in his return to his original team (then based in Oakland). He hit .257 and reached base at a strong .343 clip over a personal-high 363 trips to the plate.

The A’s dealt Reynolds to the California Angels after the season. He played two seasons there and finished his career with a brief stint for the Brewers in 1972. Reynolds finished as a lifetime .226/.306/.296 hitter over parts of eight MLB seasons.

After his playing days, Reynolds joined Tony La Russa’s coaching staffs in Oakland and St. Louis. He was the bench coach on the A’s 1989 World Series team. According to his obituary, he subsequently spent two decades serving as a deacon in the San Diego area. MLBTR sends our condolences to Reynolds’ family, loved ones, friends and former teammates.

Players Currently In DFA Limbo

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The few days leading up to the start of the season bring a lot of roster shuffling. Many teams will promote a minor league signee or two who had impressed in camp. There are always a few players who are out of options who don’t break camp, meaning they’ll be made available to other clubs.

That movement will continue over the next few days. Players who are designated for assignment will know their fate within a week. That gives teams up to five days to explore trade scenarios. If they don’t line up a deal, they need to place the player on waivers, which take 48 hours to resolve. Rounding up the recent activity around MLB, here are the players currently in DFA limbo.

Cubs Outright Keegan Thompson

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The Cubs sent reliever Keegan Thompson outright to Triple-A Iowa earlier this week, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Chicago had designated the right-hander for assignment as they set their roster for the Tokyo Series.

Thompson had a tough Spring Training, surrendering three runs (all on solo homers) across 4 2/3 innings. He was one of a number of Cubs relievers who had exhausted their minor league options. His underwhelming camp squeezed him off the roster in favor of another out-of-options arm, Julian Merryweather, and non-roster invitee Brad Keller.

A former third-round pick, Thompson has pitched in parts of four big league seasons. He owns a solid 3.64 earned run average across 104 career appearances. That includes a 2.67 mark through 30 1/3 innings last year. Thompson posted an impressive 28.3% strikeout rate in that time, but he also handed out free passes at an alarming 14.2% clip.

Evidently no team was willing to carry Thompson in their middle relief group. As a player with between three and five years of major league service time, he’d need to relinquish his salary if he wanted to decline the outright assignment in favor of free agency. Thompson and the Cubs agreed to an $850K deal for his first year of arbitration eligibility. It’s likely he’ll report to Iowa to retain that salary.

Orioles Outright Roansy Contreras

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The Orioles announced that Roansy Contreras cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore announced this morning that they’d designated Contreras for assignment as they set their Opening Day roster. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so they evidently had already placed him on waivers earlier in the week before formally announcing the DFA.

Contreras finally went unclaimed after his sixth and final DFA of the offseason. He’d been claimed the first five times he hit the waiver wire: by the Rangers, Reds, Orioles, Yankees and Baltimore for a second time. Contreras held his spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster throughout the spring but had an uphill path to the regular season roster. He’s out of options, so he needed to stick in the majors or be exposed to waivers.

The 25-year-old righty pitched 68 1/3 innings of 4.35 ERA ball between the Pirates and Angels a year ago. He recorded a modest 18.8% strikeout rate while walking 10.4% of batters faced. Contreras pitched in relief last season but had started a decent number of games in Pittsburgh between 2022-23. The Orioles suggested early in camp that Contreras would be built up as a starter. It’s possible he’ll work out of the rotation in Norfolk.

Contreras was once a highly-regarded prospect in the Yankees system. He was arguably the centerpiece of the trade that sent Jameson Taillon from Pittsburgh to the Bronx. He had an intriguing rookie season in 2022, working to a 3.79 ERA through 95 frames. His velocity ticked down slightly the following year, and he allowed 6.59 earned runs per nine while his strikeout rate fell by three percentage points.

Dodgers Notes: Kopech, Hernandez, Betts

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With the Dodgers set to participate in their second Opening Day of the year after sweeping the Cubs out of Tokyo earlier this month, the club provided a handful of health updates prior to today’s game. That includes an update that right-hander Michael Kopech provided to reporters, including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, regarding the right shoulder impingement that he was placed on the injured list with prior to the Tokyo Series.

According to Kopech, he wasn’t suffering from a specific shoulder injury this spring but instead that he ramped up too quickly early in camp as his forearm was ready for a heavier workload than his shoulder at the start of Spring Training. That issue has been resolved, however, and while a stomach bug slowed him earlier this month he’s now feeling good and has begun to ramp up. In terms of her overall arm health, Kopech even went as far as to indicate to reporters that his arm is feeling better than it was last season.

The right-hander famously pitched to a sterling 1.13 ERA with a 2.54 FIP in 24 innings of work down the stretch while striking out 33% of his opponents after being traded from the White Sox to the Dodgers, and if he can put up numbers even close to that this year that should be a huge boost to a Dodgers bullpen that already features talented arms like Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and Alex Vesia. He’ll have to get back on the mound first before he can match those big expectations, but that seems likely to come at some point in April.

Kopech isn’t the only one who’s been dealing with illness lately in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Utilityman Enrique Hernandez is expected to miss the season opener today and may not even be present in the ballpark, as relayed by ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. Gonzalez notes that Hernandez has been struggling to keep food down due to the illness, and manager Dave Roberts added that his hope is that Hernandez’s illness is not the same was the one that kept Mookie Betts out of the Tokyo Series. Betts lost more than 15 pounds due to the sickness and was sent back to the U.S. ahead of the rest of the club to recover.

If Hernandez proves to be that level of ill, a stay on the injured list can’t be entirely ruled out though he remains day-to-day for the time being. He figures to be a fixture of the club’s lineup against left-handed pitchers, though the presence of options like Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas should help to fill the void created by Hernandez’s absence if he needs a few days off. A trip to the injured list, meanwhile, could open the door for James Outman to return to the majors or, perhaps, for Hyeseong Kim to make his big league debut after being optioned to the minors to start the season.

Speaking of Betts, the superstar is back in the Dodgers’ starting lineup today after missing the Tokyo Series. As noted by MLB.com’s Andres Soto, Betts remains day-to-day after dropping down to just 157 pounds due to the illness, but he’s started to put that weight back on and strength tests have indicated he’s back to normal. Obviously, the return of Betts to the lineup should be a huge catalyst for the Dodgers, who had to go without two of their three MVP hitters during the Tokyo Series but figure to have a lineup that’s more or less back to full strength going forward. If Betts does need a day off here or there, Rojas and Tommy Edman are both capable of handling shortstop in his stead.

Astros Notes: Bregman, McCullers, Garcia, Walker

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Astros owner Jim Crane spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Chandler Rome) about a handful of topics today, most notably the club’s pursuit of a reunion with longtime third baseman Alex Bregman this winter. Bregman received a widely-reported offer of $156MM of six years from the Astros early in the winter, and Crane indicates that original offer was not altered at any point during Bregman’s free agency. Bregman, of course, went on to sign a three-year deal with the Red Sox that guarantees him $120MM and affords him the opportunity to opt out after the 2025 and ’26 seasons, though deferred money in that contract brings the net present value down to the $90MM range.

Crane’s comments notably conflict with a report back in February that indicated Houston had upped its offer to Bregman from that initial 6/156 figure. As Spring Training approached with Bregman still on the market, there were signals that the sides had resumed discussions as the club toyed with the idea of moving Jose Altuve to left field and Isaac Paredes to second base in order to bring Bregman back into the fold. While Altuve has moved to left field, Paredes remains entrenched at third in the aftermath of Bregman moving on to the Red Sox. After Bregman landed in Boston, the Astros pivoted towards Brendan Rodgers, who will share time with Mauricio Dubon at the keystone this year, to round out their infield mix.

More from Houston…

  • Rome also reports that right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will make a start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday. It’s a big milestone for the 31-year-old, as he hasn’t thrown in an official game at the major or minor league level since the 2022 World Series after undergoing flexor surgery back in 2023. That layoff of more than two years could come to an end fairly soon if the righty can avoid additional setbacks, as he’s tentatively expected to return in about a month and has to this point been kept off of the 60-day injured list.
  • News regarding the club’s other injured starter, Luis Garcia, is less positive but still at least somewhat encouraging. Manager Joe Espada told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that the first opinion Garcia received on his right elbow was “decent news,” though that hasn’t stopped Garcia and the Astros from seeking a second opinion on the matter before deciding on a course of action. The right-hander was shut down last week after he began feeling discomfort in his elbow again while nearing the end of his rehab following Tommy John surgery back in 2023. While it’s unclear how much longer the 28-year-old figures to be out of action, that Espada showed any signs of encouragement would at least suggest that the righty has not yet been recommended for Tommy John surgery, which would wipe out his 2025 season and likely much of the 2026 campaign as well.
  • Rounding out the news with a positive update, first baseman Christian Walker is reportedly “full go” to start the season after dealing with some oblique soreness in the final weeks of Spring Training. As Walker himself told Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle and other reporters, Walker’s oblique issue “wasn’t too aggressive to begin with” and that he’s facing zero limitations as the season begins. Walker was the biggest acquisition of the club’s offseason, signed to a three-year, $60MM deal to replace the lackluster combination of Jose Abreu and Jon Singleton at first base this year for Houston.

Sam Bachman Diagnosed With Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

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The Angels placed right-hander Sam Bachman on the 15-day injured list today due to thoracic outlet syndrome, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The righty himself said he doesn’t need surgery and is hoping to avoid the 60-day IL, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a potentially ominous diagnosis but it’s also one that comes with a wide range of outcomes. In some of the more infamous cases, pitchers like Matt Harvey, Chris Archer and Stephen Strasburg were severely set back by the condition and never able to recover, though each of those pitchers did require surgery.

On the other end of the spectrum, Merrill Kelly underwent surgery towards the end of the 2020 season. He has since gone on to have the best seasons of his MLB career, tossing 609 2/3 innings with a 3.71 earned run average from 2021 to 2024. For those interested in a medical explanation about why the results can be so divergent, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post took a look a couple of years ago.

At this point, it can only be guessed what the future holds for Bachman. The fact that he isn’t currently undergoing surgery is perhaps a good sign, though it will be a situation for the Angels and their fans to monitor.

Bachman, now 25, was the ninth overall pick of the 2021 draft. The Halos gave him a $3,847,500 bonus to put pen to paper. Despite some injuries in the minors, he was up in the majors by May of 2023 but hasn’t been able to build much of a track record due to further health troubles. In July of 2023, shortly after his promotion, he landed on the IL due to right shoulder inflammation and stayed on the shelf for the rest of the year. He underwent arthroscopic surgery in the fall and started 2024 on the IL as well. He was reinstated in the summer but sent to the minors.

It’s now been almost four years since Bachman was drafted but he hasn’t been healthy very often since then. He has just 146 minor league innings and only 17 major league innings under his belt to this point. He now has another serious diagnosis to deal with.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Athletics Select Max Muncy

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The Athletics announced today that they have selected the contract of infielder Max Muncy. It was previously reported that he would be breaking camp with the A’s. To open a 40-man roster spot, left-hander Ken Waldichuk was placed on the 60-day injured list. The southpaw is recovering from Tommy John surgery performed last May. They also placed pitchers Brady Basso and Michel Otañez on the 15-day IL and infielders Zack Gelof and Brett Harris on the 10-day IL. Basso has a strained left shoulder, Otañez a right shoulder sprain, Gelof hamate surgery and Harris a strained left oblique.

Muncy, 22, is somehow not related to the other Max Muncy. In addition to having the same first and last name and both being A’s draftees, they also both have August 25th as a birthday, though the Muncy who is now on the Dodgers was born 12 years earlier.

The younger Muncy was a first-round pick in 2021. He has hit .255 /.346/.427 in the minors since then, climbing his way up to make his major league debut. His 10.4% walk rate in that time is quite strong but his 28.5% strikeout rate is certainly on the high side.

The injuries to Gelof and Harris cleared out a path for him and it seems like Muncy will open the season as the club’s regular second baseman, though veteran Luis Urías is around if Muncy struggles. Muncy is considered capable of being a solid defender at shortstop but the A’s have Jacob Wilson lined up to take regular playing time there.

As for the IL stints, none of those comes as a surprise. Each of those ailments were reported prior to today.

Dodgers Acquire Noah Davis From Red Sox

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve acquired righty Noah Davis from the Red Sox in exchange for cash. He’ll go onto the team’s 40-man roster and be optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles placed righty Emmet Sheehan, who’s recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day injured list to create roster space.

Davis had been a non-roster player with Boston after signing a minor league deal. It seems likely that he had an upward mobility clause in his deal, which if exercised requires his current club to make him available to all 29 other teams and let him go if another team is willing to put him on the 40-man roster.

Davis, 28 next month, is a former 11th-round pick by the Reds who’s spent the bulk of his career in the Rockies organization. Cincinnati traded him to Colorado in 2021’s Mychal Givens swap. He’s pitched in three MLB seasons with the Rox, logging a grisly 7.71 earned run average in 51 1/3 innings. Davis has fanned 17.3% of his opponents against a 9.2% walk rate. Both are worse than the league average (the strikeout rate in particular).

Despite the shaky track record, Davis has held his own (relatively speaking) in an intensely hitter-friendly environment with the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s Albuquerque Isotopes (the Rockies’ top affiliate). His 5.06 ERA in 133 1/3 innings there doesn’t look like much, but he ranks 19th in the PCL in ERA over the past three seasons (among pitchers with 130+ innings). Only four pitchers in that span have kept an ERA under 4.00 in as many innings.

Davis had a decent spring. He allowed five runs in 9 1/3 frames, which isn’t great, but did so while yielding only seven hits and recording a 9-to-1 K/BB ratio. He’ll give the Dodgers some rotation depth at a time when Sheehan, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, River Ryan, Tony Gonsolin and Kyle Hurt are all on the injured list.

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