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A’s Could Explore Second/Third Base Markets

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The A’s have around two-thirds of their starting lineup in place going into the offseason. While starting pitching should be the primary focus, they have some questions on the infield that may need to be addressed externally.

Second baseman Zack Gelof underwent surgery after dislocating his left shoulder with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, the team announced last week that third baseman Brett Harris underwent surgery to repair the UCL in his left thumb (link via Jason Burke of Sports Illustrated). The injuries cloud what were already the two weakest positions in the lineup heading into the winter.

Martín Gallegos of MLB.com writes that Harris is expected to be ready for Spring Training. General manager David Forst was noncommittal about Gelof’s timeline, telling Gallegos that they’ll need to “wait further in the offseason to know exactly what [that] is.” It doesn’t appear that Gelof is locked into the starting second base job even once he’s healthy. Forst told Gallegos that the A’s will “be open to a lot of possibilities” at each of second and third base.

That presumably includes looking outside the organization. The A’s don’t have great internal options at either spot. Darell Hernaiz got some late-season run at all three infield positions to the left of first base (including everyday shortstop work while Jacob Wilson was out with a broken arm). Hernaiz put a lot of balls in play but didn’t hit the ball hard enough to make an impact, batting .231/.292/.306 across 197 plate appearances.

[Related: A’s Offseason Outlook]

Former first-round pick Max Muncy had a tough rookie season, hitting .214/.259/.379 over 220 trips to the plate. He struck out in more than 30% of his plate appearances and lost most of the second half to a broken hand. The 27-year-old Harris got regular third base reps over the final six weeks of the season. He hit .274 with a .349 on-base percentage but didn’t connect on a home run in 32 games. Max Schuemann is the only other utility infielder on the 40-man roster. He’s coming off a .197/.295/.273 showing and isn’t guaranteed to hold his roster spot all winter.

Gelof has shown the most promise of that group. The former second-round pick hit 14 homers with a .267/.337/.504 slash line over 69 games as a rookie in 2023. He has followed that up with consecutive tough years. Gelof led the American League with 188 strikeouts in ’24, causing his average (.211) and on-base percentage (.270) to plummet.

Injuries limited him to 30 MLB games this past season. He sustained a wrist fracture on a Spring Training hit-by-pitch and underwent hamate surgery. A stress reaction in his ribs set him back when he was on a rehab assignment six weeks later. Gelof didn’t make his season debut until July 4. The A’s optioned him to Triple-A a week later and kept him in the minors until late August. He got a few weeks of run before suffering the dislocated shoulder. While the stop and start nature of his season didn’t do him any favors, Gelof’s contact issues worsened. He struck out 46 times in 101 plate appearances while whiffing on more than 40% of his swings.

Top prospect Leo De Vries, the centerpiece of the Mason Miller return, may be the long-term answer at second base. De Vries has come up as a shortstop but could eventually move to the other side of the bag to play alongside Wilson in the middle infield. He’s coming off a .255/.355/.451 showing as an 18-year-old between High-A and Double-A. De Vries has a chance to get to the big leagues next year, but it’s hard to imagine the A’s would carry him on the Opening Day roster. He only has 21 games at Double-A and has no Triple-A experience. A second half debut is more reasonable and would still be remarkable for a player who turned 19 two weeks ago.

The A’s will want to keep one long-term infield spot available for De Vries. Their needs at second and third base mean they could pursue a controllable infielder at one spot while looking for a stopgap at the other. Brendan Donovan and Ozzie Albies each have two years of club control remaining and could be available on the trade market. Josh Jung and Alec Bohm are change-of-scenery candidates at third base. Jung has three years of remaining control and is projected at a $2.9MM salary, though it’s possible the Rangers would prefer to trade him outside the division. Bohm is projected for a salary in the $10MM range for his last arbitration season.

This isn’t a great class for free agent infielders. The A’s obviously aren’t signing Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman. Each of Jorge Polanco, Gleyber Torres and Ha-Seong Kim (if he opts out) could be available for two or three years, but they’re all going to command eight-figure salaries on an annual basis. Willi Castro, Yoán Moncada, Luis Rengifo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will be available on one-year or cheap two-year deals at most. Signing someone from that group would aim a little higher than last winter’s deals with Luis Urías and Gio Urshela but would be broadly similar pickups.

Athletics Designate Gio Urshela For Assignment, Claim Jared Shuster

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed left-hander Jared Shuster off waivers from the White Sox and sent him to Triple-A Las Vegas.. The latter club designated him for assignment earlier this week. To open a 40-man spot, the A’s designated infielder Gio Urshela for assignment. Infielder Brett Harris has been recalled to take Urshela’s active roster spot.

Shuster, 27, was once a notable prospect in Atlanta’s system. He hasn’t yet delivered at the major league level, with a 5.27 earned run average in 141 2/3 innings. His minor league track record has been better overall but has been trending in the wrong direction lately. He tossed 212 1/3 minor league innings over 2021 and 2022 with a 3.69 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate. But since then, he has 114 innings with a 5.37 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.

For the A’s, it’s understandable they’d grab him off waivers. They’re out of contention here in 2025 and can prioritize the long term. Shuster is in his final option year. He’ll be out of options next year but he can be stashed in Triple-A for now. The A’s can get a close-up look at him and see if he can get back on track in the next few weeks. If not, they can perhaps run him through waivers in the offseason and keep him as non-roster depth next year.

One way or another, if he clicks while in the system, there would be long-term benefits. He has just over two years of service time, meaning he hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration and could theoretically be controlled for four seasons after this one.

Urshela, on the other hand, doesn’t have any long-term benefit to the A’s. His 34th birthday is just over the horizon. He was signed in the offseason to a one-year deal with a $2.15MM guarantee to provide a stable veteran presence in an infield with a lot of youth and uncertainty. Unfortunately, he has hit just .238/.287/.326 this season. His wRC+ has dropped for a third consecutive year and is now down to 68. His previously-excellent defensive metrics have slid below the mean.

By claiming Shuster and bumping out Urshela, the A’s add a younger pitcher who could potentially help them in the future. Meanwhile, Urshela’s playing time at third base can go to younger guys like Harris or Max Schuemann.

With the trade deadline having passed, Urshela will end up on waivers in the coming days. Given his performance this year and his salary, he’s sure to clear. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while still collecting the remainder of that salary. The A’s might skip that formality and release him. Once on the open market, they will still be on the hook for that money. If Urshela ends up on another big league roster, the signing club would only owe him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the A’s pay.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., 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.

Athletics’ Michel Otanez To Start Season On Injured List

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An MRI revealed that right-hander Michel Otanez has an impingement in his throwing shoulder, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters.  Otanez will start the season on the injured list and the A’s didn’t release a projected a timeline, though Gallegos notes that the standard timeline for a normal impingement is two-to-three weeks of recovery.

Otanez made his Major League debut last season, and posted a 3.44 ERA over 34 relief innings.  A 13.2% walk rate stood out as a red flag, even if that number is actually an improvement over the even more ungainly walk rates Otanez posted over his seven minor league seasons.  However, Otanez has also racked up a lot of strikeouts at every level, including an eye-opening 36.4% strikeout rate in the big leagues.  Otanez was one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the majors last season, averaging 97.8mph on his fastball.

The Athletics intend to use Otanez as one of Mason Miller’s setup men this season, but this shoulder injury will now delay that plan for what is hopefully only a short while into April.  Tyler Ferguson and new acquisition Jose Leclerc now project as the top setup options, and Gallegos feels Justin Sterner might be the favorite to win the bullpen job left open by Otanez’s absence.

In other A’s injury news, southpaw Brady Basso is set to start a throwing program on Wednesday in the next step of his recovery from a shoulder strain.  Basso has been shut down since March 5, though it doesn’t appear his shoulder strain is too serious, as the Athletics think there’s a chance he can start up minor league games soon after Opening Day.  Infielder Brett Harris is facing a longer absence from an oblique strain, as it doesn’t appear he will play in any games before Spring Training is over even though he has restarted some baseball activities.

Athletics Reinstate Darell Hernaiz

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The Athletics announced today that infielder Darell Hernaiz has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. In corresponding moves, infielder Brett Harris was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas and right-hander Luis Medina was transferred to the 60-day IL. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 40.

Acquired from the Orioles in the 2023 Cole Irvin trade, Hernaiz was added to Oakland’s 40-man roster in November of last year to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He then made the club’s Opening Day roster here in 2024 but hit just .182/.243/.182 in his first 75 major league plate appearances. In early May, he landed on the IL due to a severe left ankle sprain that has kept him out of action for roughly the past three months.

The A’s will naturally be hoping for more offense now that he’s healthy. Considering he’s slashed .300/.376/.418 at the Triple-A level between last year and this year, it’s a reasonable expectation on their part. He’s capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop and will likely rotate between those spots.

As for Medina, this transfer was inevitable as it was reported last week that he would require Tommy John surgery. He’ll remain on the 60-day IL for the remainder of the year but will need to be reinstated after the season is over, as there’s no IL between the World Series and Spring Training.

Athletics Release Aledmys Díaz, Sean Newcomb

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Today: The Athletics have released Aledmys Díaz and Sean Newcomb according to their player pages on MLB.com.

July 2: The Athletics announced today that they have recalled right-hander Tyler Ferguson and infielder Brett Harris from Triple-A Las Vegas. Left-hander Sean Newcomb and infielder Aledmys Díaz were designated for assignment in corresponding moves.

Díaz, 33, had a solid run as a productive major leaguer from 2016 to 2022, suiting up for the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Astros. The A’s signed him going into last year, giving him a $14.5MM guarantee over two years, ideally hoping that he could serve as a stable veteran presence on a rebuilding club full of younger and less experienced players.

The first season of the deal was undoubtedly a disappointment. Díaz carried a career batting line of .266/.320/.443 into the year but ended up slashing just .229/.280/.337 in 2023. While the former line translates to a wRC+ of 105, the latter put him at just 72, going from a bit above average to well below.

This year has been far worse. Díaz dealt with a groin and a calf strain in Spring Training and landed on the 60-day injured list to start the year. He was reinstated at the end of May but has slashed .103/.133/.103 since then. He wasn’t getting much playing time, with just 30 plate appearances so far this year and just three in the past week.

Rather than keeping him on the bench for the final three months of his contract, the club will let him pursue opportunities elsewhere while giving his roster spot and playing time to younger players that could perhaps be part of the club’s future. Max Schuemann has been getting the bulk of the playing time at shortstop and will likely continue to do so, with players like Harris and Armando Alvarez capable of filling in from time to time. Darell Hernaiz is on the IL but Nick Allen is on the 40-man and could be recalled at some point. Jacob Wilson is a shortstop and one of the club’s top prospects. He only has 11 games of Triple-A experience and just 22 at Double-A, but he keeps putting up huge numbers and could be an option at some point.

The A’s will technically have five days to work out a trade with Díaz but the interest from other clubs figures to be close to zero, given his contract and recent performance. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and will likely be released in the coming days, leaving the A’s on the hook for the remainder of his salary.

At that point, another club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the A’s pay. Though given his recent form, he will likely have to settle for minor league offers.

As for Newcomb, 31, he also began the year on the 60-day injured list. In his case, it was due to irritation in his surgically-repaired left knee. He was reinstated from the IL about a month ago and has since tossed 10 innings over seven appearances, allowing seven earned runs. He struck out seven opponents but also issued eight walks.

He once seemed like a building block in Atlanta earlier in his career, tossing 264 innings in 2017 and 2018 with an earned run average of 4.06. He pitched primarily out of the bullpen in 2019 but continued having good results with a 3.16 ERA.

Unfortunately, things took a nosedive from there. He posted a 7.45 ERA over the 2020 to 2022 seasons, including a stint with the Cubs. The A’s gave him some time on the roster late last year with encouraging results, as he logged 15 innings with an ERA of 3.00.

The A’s took a shot on Newcomb carrying that over, avoiding arbitration by agreeing to give him a $1MM salary for 2024, even after he had undergone surgery on that left knee. But things haven’t gone according to plan and he’s been bumped off the roster.

Newcomb came into this year with his service time count at four years and 113 days, leaving him 59 days shy of the five-year mark. Since players collect service time on the minor league IL, he crossed over that threshold earlier this year. That means he now has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while keeping his salary in place.

That makes it likely that, just like Díaz, he will end up released in the coming days. The A’s will be on the hook for what’s left of his salary and any other club could potentially sign him and only pay him the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the A’s pay.

Athletics Select Brett Harris

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The Athletics announced that they have activated infielder J.D. Davis and selected infielder Brett Harris. They had already cleared one active roster spot by optioning first baseman Ryan Noda after Wednesday’s game and also optioned shortstop Nick Allen today. To open a 40-man spot for Harris, right-hander Freddy Tarnok was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Robert Murray of FanSided reported on the promotion of Harris prior to the official announcement.

Harris, 26 in June, was a seventh-round pick of the A’s in the 2021 draft. Baseball America ranked him as the #30 prospect in the club’s system going into 2022, highlighting his defensive versatility and pitch recognition.

In 2022, Harris split his time between High-A and Double-A, hitting a combined .290/.374/.475 for a 123 wRC+. He drew a walk in 10.4% of his plate appearances while only striking out 17.2% of the time. He continued producing in similar fashion last year, this time between Double-A and Triple-A. He had a 10.8% walk rate, 15% strikeout rate and hit .279/.383/.424 for a 113 wRC+.

Baseball America bumped him up to #17 in the system coming into this year. He returned to Triple-A and his strikeout rate just jumped to 23.6% in the early going but his walk rate has also climbed to 16.4%. He has hit .289/.418/.456 so far this year for a 125 wRC+ and has now gotten the call to the big leagues.

Defensively, Harris has primarily lined up at third base but has also seen a bit of time at second base and shortstop. The A’s have a fair amount of fluidity in their infield mix but Davis is likely to be the regular at third. Now that Allen has been optioned, Darell Hernaiz will probably get regular run at shortstop. Abraham Toro and Max Schuemann have been playing second base but both are capable of playing other positions. With Noda optioned, first base is open for these guys as well as Tyler Nevin to get at-bats as the club sees fit.

As for Tarnok, he was shut down during Spring Training due to a “flare up” in his surgically-repaired right hip. He’s been on the IL all season due to right hip inflammation and this transfer makes him ineligible to return until late May. As of earlier this week, he was scheduled to throw a bullpen and some live batting practice, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. But Tarnok will effectively have to redo Spring Training from this point on, meaning he wasn’t going to be an option for the club in the next few weeks regardless.

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