Headlines

  • Angels To Have New Manager In 2026
  • Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed
  • Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series
  • Bruce Bochy Will Not Return As Rangers Manager Amid “Financial Uncertainty”
  • Liam Hendriks Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery
  • Twins Fire Rocco Baldelli
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Jacob Lopez

A’s Notes: Estes, Lopez, Harris, Newcomb

By Anthony Franco | September 18, 2025 at 11:58pm CDT

A’s right-hander Joey Estes has undergone surgery to address a herniated disc in his lower back, according to the MLB.com injury tracker. That obviously ends his season a month after he landed on the 15-day injured list. Estes had just been recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas a few days before suffering the injury. He tossed four scoreless innings out of the bullpen against the Mariners on August 24.

That’ll go down as Estes’ only MLB appearance since April. The 23-year-old opened the season in Mark Kotsay’s rotation. Estes was tagged for six runs in each of his first two starts and immediately lost his active roster spot. The A’s optioned him and he spent the majority of the season in Vegas. Estes took the ball 17 times in the Pacific Coast League. He surrendered 5.51 earned runs per nine across 80 innings in that difficult setting.

A 16th-round pick by the Braves in 2019, Estes signed for an overslot $500K out of high school. Atlanta traded him to the A’s as arguably the fourth piece of the Matt Olson return shortly after the ’22 lockout. Shea Langeliers is the only player from that group who has panned out. Cristian Pache and Ryan Cusick have been cut loose.

Estes has occupied a 40-man roster spot since being called up at the tail end of 2023. He took the ball 25 times and logged 127 2/3 innings last year, but he posted an ERA above 5.00 with a modest 17% strikeout rate. Estes still has one minor league option year remaining. He’s not a lock to hold his 40-man spot throughout the winter. If he does, the A’s could send him back to Las Vegas as rotation depth.

Jacob Lopez has a much better chance of securing an Opening Day rotation spot. The 27-year-old southpaw has had a solid first season in Sacramento. The A’s acquired Lopez as part of the offseason deal that sent hard-throwing righty Joe Boyle to Tampa Bay. Lopez has fanned 28.3% of batters faced through 92 2/3 innings. While his 4.08 earned run average doesn’t jump off the page, he carried a 3.28 mark into his most recent start on August 24. Lopez was blasted for nine runs in two innings that day and landed on the injured list with a flexor strain thereafter. It’s fair to conclude he wasn’t pitching at anything close to full strength.

Unlike Estes, Lopez may be able to get back on the mound before the end of the season. The injury tracker notes that the rookie lefty threw a bullpen session yesterday while traveling with the team to Boston. The A’s are keeping open the possibility that Lopez makes an appearance during their final series against the Royals next weekend. That’d probably be a relief outing or very abbreviated start but would allow Lopez to enter the offseason with some positive momentum rather than finishing the year with a season-ending forearm injury.

The A’s are playing out their fourth consecutive losing season (barring a 9-0 finish to get to .500). Yet for the second straight year, they’ve had an encouraging second half. The A’s have had a winning record in each of the past three months. They’re 31-24 with a +66 run differential since the All-Star Break. Most of the credit goes to a talented offensive core. That’s not the entire explanation, as the A’s have quietly gotten excellent work out of a patchwork bullpen despite trading Mason Miller.

Since the deadline, the A’s have an MLB-best 2.81 earned run average from their relief group. They’re middle of the pack in strikeouts, walk rate, and whiffs. They’ve certainly benefited from an MLB-low .247 average on balls in play, but it’s still impressive production from an inexperienced group. Only Sean Newcomb, a journeyman brought in from Boston in a late May DFA trade, has even two years of service time among A’s relievers.

As MLB.com’s Theo DeRosa wrote this week, the A’s have found that success without many set roles. They haven’t had a designated closer since the Miller trade. Hogan Harris has picked up his first four career saves to lead the team over that stretch. He’s one of five relievers — Newcomb, Michael Kelly, Tyler Ferguson and Osvaldo Bido being the others — to record at least one save. (Bido’s was of the three-inning variety in a blowout victory.)

Harris, a pure reliever this season for the first time in his career, has become Kotsay’s most trusted leverage arm. He carries a 3.30 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout rate across 60 innings. Harris’ command comes and goes, but he looks like a solid bullpen piece whom the A’s have under club control for another five seasons.

Meanwhile, Newcomb has turned back the clock with his best season since at least 2019. The former first-round pick owns a 1.75 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents over 51 1/3 innings since the A’s reacquired him. His 7% walk rate is the best of his career, and he has been lights out (0.96 ERA in 28 frames) in the second half. Newcomb will be a free agent and has certainly pitched his way to a major league deal after settling for a non-roster contract with the Red Sox last winter.

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Hogan Harris Jacob Lopez Joey Estes Sean Newcomb

11 comments

Athletics Select Mason Barnett

By Darragh McDonald | August 26, 2025 at 4:40pm CDT

The Athletics announced that left-hander Jacob Lopez has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his left elbow, a move that was reported yesterday. Right-hander Mason Barnett has been selected in a corresponding move. The 40-man roster had a vacancy due to Luis Urías being designated for assignment earlier this week.

Barnett, 24, gets the call to the big leagues for the first time. A third-round pick of the Royals in 2022, he was one of three players who came to the A’s as part of last year’s deadline deal which sent Lucas Erceg to Kansas City.

The A’s have given Barnett his first taste of the Triple-A level this year, though the results haven’t been amazing. He has tossed 119 innings over 23 starts and two long relief appearances with a 6.13 earned run average. Part of that might be the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, as his 15.6% home run to fly ball rate is far higher than any other stop in his career. His 22.8% strikeout rate is close to average, though his 11.9% walk rate is a few ticks north of par.

Despite the uninspiring numbers, Baseball America still lists him as the #9 prospect in the system while MLB Pipeline has him in the #11 slot. Both outlets give him a shot at becoming a mid-rotation starter at some point, highlighting his pitch mix. His four-seamer sits in the mid-90s and he also throws a sweeper, curveball and changeup. He was going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and would need a 40-man spot to be protected, so the A’s are giving it to him now.

It’s unclear if the A’s plan on dropping Barnett right into the rotation or perhaps having him begin his career in a long relief role. The Lopez injury does open up a rotation job but the club is off on Thursday and doesn’t play more than six games in a row for the rest of the season. They could run with a four-man rotation of Jeffrey Springs, J.T. Ginn, Osvaldo Bido and Luis Morales along with occasional bullpen games. Guys like Barnett, Joey Estes and Eduarniel Núñez could take on bulk roles. The A’s could also recall arms such as Ken Waldichuk or Mitch Spence with rosters expanding in September.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Transactions Jacob Lopez Mason Barnett

7 comments

A’s To Place Jacob Lopez On Injured List With Flexor Strain

By Anthony Franco | August 25, 2025 at 8:50pm CDT

A’s starter Jacob Lopez has been shut down after sustaining a Grade 1 flexor strain, manager Mark Kotsay tells reporters (including Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). He’ll go on the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Kotsay said the A’s still hope Lopez can make it back this season, likely as a reliever in the final few days.

Lopez has quietly been one of the American League’s best rookie pitchers. Acquired from the Rays alongside Jeffrey Springs in a deal sending Joe Boyle to Tampa Bay, Lopez was on and off the active roster early in the season. The 6’4″ southpaw has grabbed a firm hold on a big league roster spot since late May. He fired seven innings of one-run ball against the Phillies in his first start after being recalled and has occupied a rotation spot since then. Lopez has had a few blow-up outings but has shown glimpses of dominance, including five scoreless starts over the course of the year.

Four of those came consecutively between July 26 and August 12. He had the two best performances by an A’s pitcher all season in back-to-back outings earlier in the month. Lopez punched out 10 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Washington on August 7, then blanked the Rays on nine strikeouts over seven frames five days later. He tossed another quality start — six innings of three-run ball with eight strikeouts in Minnesota — last Tuesday.

Lopez had by far his worst outing of the season yesterday. He walked six and gave up nine runs in two innings in Seattle. The A’s revealed postgame that he’d been dealing with forearm tightness that initially cropped up during his start against the Twins. Yesterday’s appearance pushed his season earned run average to 4.08, but he’d entered the game with a 3.28 mark while striking out 29% of batters faced. That’s excellent production anywhere and especially impressive considering the A’s temporary home field in Sacramento has been the most difficult park for pitchers outside of Coors Field.

The 27-year-old Lopez is arguably the A’s most promising pitcher going into next season. Highly-touted prospect Luis Morales is in the big league rotation now as well. Morales has erratic command but power stuff headlined by a 97 MPH heater. J.T. Ginn has posted better than average strikeout and ground-ball numbers over 60 MLB frames, though it hasn’t translated to great results. Springs and Luis Severino are each signed for next year and will probably be in trade rumors in the offseason.

Osvaldo Bido is listed as the probable starter for tomorrow night’s game against the Tigers. It’ll be his first start since mid-May. Bido has been working 3-4 inning stints out of the bullpen and could take a few turns through the rotation in Lopez’s absence. He owns a 5.37 ERA in 65 1/3 frames over 19 appearances.

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Jacob Lopez Osvaldo Bido

8 comments

Athletics Designate Seth Brown For Assignment, Option JJ Bleday

By Darragh McDonald | May 23, 2025 at 4:35pm CDT

The Athletics announced a huge batch of roster moves today. They selected the contracts of catcher Willie MacIver and infielder Logan Davidson. They also recalled left-hander Jacob Lopez, infielder CJ Alexander and outfielder Denzel Clarke. Infielder Gio Urshela was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring, opening one spot. They opened three more by optioning right-hander Carlos Durán, catcher Jhonny Pereda and outfielder JJ Bleday to Triple-A Las Vegas. They opened a fifth active roster spot by designating infielder/outfielder Seth Brown for assignment. That also opened one 40-man spot for MacIver/Davidson. A second was opened by transferring infielder Zack Gelof to the 60-day IL.

The Clarke, Urshela and Davidson moves had been previously reported. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the Clarke promotion last night and hinted that more moves could be coming, with the A’s looking to shake things up and snap a nine-game losing streak. That has certainly come to pass.

Brown, 32, has been a productive player for the A’s before but has fallen off. He hit 45 home runs between the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, slashing .224/.294/.457 for a 111 wRC+. However, he has a line of .224/.286/.385 and a wRC+ of 90 since then. That includes a .192/.311/.288 line and 79 wRC+ this year.

He was outrighted off the roster last summer but earned his way back to the big leagues. He played well enough in the second half that the A’s tendered him an arbitration contract for 2025 and the two sides avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2.7MM salary.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Brown is not quite in a position to both elect free agency and keep that money coming to him. Players with at least three years of big league service have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, but players with less than five years have to forfeit their remaining salary in order to do so. Brown came into this year with four years and 96 days of service time, putting him 76 days shy of the five-year mark. 57 days have passed in the 2025 season so far. Based on his performance, he probably won’t get claimed off waivers. More likely, he will clear and accept an outright assignment, allowing the A’s to keep him around as non-roster depth.

Bleday, 27, seemed to be having a breakout last year. The former top prospect hit 20 home runs and slashed .243/.324/.437 on the year for a 120 wRC+. Defensively, he was miscast as a center fielder but the offensive performance was certainly encouraging. Unfortunately, he is slashing .204/.291/.365 for an 86 wRC+ so far this year.

It’s possible there’s some luck in there. His batting average on balls in play was .279 last year but is down to .231 here in 2025. His barrel rate is down but his average exit velocity and hard hit rate are actually higher than last year. His strikeout rate has ticked up a bit but he’s also been walking more.

Regardless, the A’s are seemingly going to try Clarke in center for a while. Bleday can try to get into a groove in the Pacific Coast League and perhaps return to the big leagues after a bit of a refresher. He came into this season with his service count at 2.055. If he stays down the rest of the year, he won’t get to the three-year mark in 2025, delaying his path to free agency. But if he’s recalled in the not-too-distant future, he’ll still have a shot to get there.

Amid the rest of the shuffle, MacIver gets called to the big leagues for the first time. The A’s have Shea Langeliers as their primary catcher but Pereda has been backing him up lately. With today’s swap, it seems MacIver will get a shot at holding that backup job.

The 28-year-old MacIver was drafted by the Rockies way back in 2018, in the ninth round, and has been grinding in the minors since then. He reached free agency after 2024 and signed a minor league deal with the A’s coming into 2025. He has put up a monster .389/.469/.548 line in 147 Triple-A plate appearances this year. His .480 BABIP is surely not sustainable but his 12.2% walk rate and 18.4% strikeout rate are both good figures.

As for Gelof, he began the season on the 10-day IL due to hamate surgery. He started a rehab assignment at the end of April but that lasted just three games before he was pulled off due to a stress reaction in his ribs. He hasn’t started a new rehab assignment yet. His 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so is technically eligible for reinstatement a few days from now. However, that doesn’t seem likely, as he’ll surely need a few weeks of minor league games at some point to get into game shape.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Transactions CJ Alexander Carlos Duran Denzel Clarke Giovanny Urshela J.J. Bleday Jacob Lopez Jhonny Pereda Logan Davidson Seth Brown Willie MacIver Zack Gelof

45 comments

A’s Select Carlos Duran

By Steve Adams | April 30, 2025 at 2:10pm CDT

The A’s have selected the contract of righty Carlos Duran from Triple-A and optioned lefty Jacob Lopez, per a team announcement. Right-hander Jose Leclerc was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to open space for Duran, who’ll be making his MLB debut the first time he takes the mound.

Duran, 23, was just acquired from the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Esteury Ruiz earlier in the month. He’s pitched 16 innings between the Triple-A clubs for the Dodgers and A’s in 2025 and posted unsightly results, due largely to poor command. Currently, Duran holds a 6.75 ERA on the season. He’s fanned a respectable 24.3% of his opponents but also issued walks at an untenable 16.2% clip (in addition to three hit batters and a pair of wild pitches).

This year’s command troubles notwithstanding, Duran has a decent minor league track record. He pitched 53 1/3 innings across three minor league levels with the Dodgers in 2024 and notched a combined 3.71 ERA with a robust 29.4% strikeout rate. His location still wasn’t sharp, evidenced by a 12.9% walk rate, but it wasn’t quite as rough as it’s been so far in 2025. Duran is averaging better than 95 mph on his heater this season and pairing it with a slider that sits about 10 mph slower on the radar gun.

That slider, in particular, has drawn heaps of praise from scouts. Baseball America in 2023 called it a plus-plus offering that stood as perhaps the best individual pitch in the Dodgers’ entire minor league system. That’s high praise, but commanding that slider (and his fastball) have been an issue for Duran — as one might expect from a pitcher listed at 6’7″. Duran also has a notable injury under his belt, having missed the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery (which may also have contributed to his poor command dating back to last year).

Leclerc’s move to the 60-day injured list shouldn’t come as a surprise. The A’s placed him on the 15-day IL due to a lat strain last week. The team noted at the time that Leclerc would be shut down entirely for an indefinite period. There’s still no firm timetable, but it’s been clear for the past seven days that the right-hander wasn’t going to be a candidate to return from the IL at any point in the near future.

The A’s signed Leclerc to a one-year, $10MM contract in the offseason. He’s had an ugly start to his 2025 campaign, yielding six runs on 13 hits and five walks in only nine innings. Leclerc has whiffed just eight of his 46 opponents — a 17.4% rate that’s miles shy of his career 30.8% mark — and has seen his average fastball drop by more than one mile per hour. It currently sits at a career-low 94.2 mph.

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Transactions Carlos Duran Jacob Lopez Jose Leclerc

6 comments

Athletics Place J.T. Ginn On 15-Day IL With Elbow Inflammation

By Leo Morgenstern | April 26, 2025 at 4:33pm CDT

The Athletics have placed right-hander J.T. Ginn on the 15-day IL with inflammation in his pitching elbow. In a corresponding move, left-hander Jacob Lopez was recalled from Triple-A. The team announced the moves ahead of today’s game against the White Sox at Sutter Health Park.

Drafted by the Mets in 2020, Ginn came over to the A’s in 2022 as part of the return for Chris Bassitt. After working his way through the minor league system, he made his debut in August 2024. The righty looked capable in his eight appearances (six starts), posting a 4.24 ERA and 4.01 SIERA over 34 innings. While he didn’t miss many bats, his sinker-heavy approach helped him induce groundballs.

Ginn failed to make the A’s rotation out of camp this year; he pitched to a 7.62 ERA across 13 innings this spring. However, he quickly earned a promotion by producing a 1.64 ERA in his first two Triple-A outings, striking out 19 batters in 11 innings of work. When Joey Estes was optioned earlier this month, Ginn took over in the rotation. Through his first two turns, he looked sharp, pitching to a 3.60 ERA and a 2.60 SIERA. He was throwing his sinker with increased velocity and movement, and the results were good. He struck out more than 30% of the batters he faced, and nearly two-thirds of balls hit into play against him were on the ground. Unfortunately, things unraveled quickly in his third outing, when the Rangers tagged him for three home runs in 3 2/3 innings of work. Now, two days later, it seems we’re finding out why. The A’s will hope Ginn hasn’t suffered any structural damage and that some time off is enough to get his arm back into pitching shape. That said, it’s always concerning to hear that a young pitcher is dealing with elbow inflammation, especially when said pitcher recently showed off an increase in velocity. All the more concerning, Ginn previously suffered a UCL injury; he underwent Tommy John surgery before he was drafted in 2020.

Lopez, 27, joined the A’s over the offseason as the secondary piece in the trade that brought Jeffrey Springs to Sacramento. The southpaw began his professional career with the Giants in 2018 before they traded him to the Rays a year later. He made his big league debut with Tampa Bay in 2023 and pitched a total of 22 2/3 innings over eight games (two starts) with the Rays between 2023 and ’24. While he started the 2025 season at Triple-A, this is already his second call-up to the majors; he threw 4 1/3 innings for the A’s earlier in April, striking out five, walking three, and giving up two unearned runs. He has primarily worked as a long reliever at the MLB level, but Lopez has continued to start in the minors and could be an option to replace Ginn in the A’s rotation.

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Transactions J.T. Ginn Jacob Lopez

8 comments

José Leclerc Shut Down With Lat Strain

By Darragh McDonald | April 23, 2025 at 6:18pm CDT

6:18pm: Leclerc will be shut down from throwing for an undermined amount of time, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He’ll go for a second opinion next week and seems to be in for an extended absence.

5:00pm: The Athletics announced a series of roster moves today, including the previously-reported promotion of prospect Nick Kurtz, which is now official. They also recalled pitchers Grant Holman and Hogan Harris. In corresponding moves, they optioned infielder Max Muncy and left-hander Jacob Lopez, as well as placing righty José Leclerc on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain.

Leclerc was put into last night’s contest but departed after just seven pitches due to shoulder soreness. Manager Mark Kotsay told reporters, including Jessica Kleinschmidt of Baseball America, that it was more of a strain than soreness.

That makes today’s IL stint fairly unsurprising but it’s still unwelcome for the A’s. Leclerc was the club’s big offseason bullpen investment, as they gave him $10MM on a one-year deal this winter. Throughout his career, he has generally been able to rack up punchouts, even if he gives out a high number of free passes. At this point, he has 369 1/3 major league innings with a 3.34 earned run average, 30.8% strikeout rate and 13.1% walk rate.

He’s off to a rough start so far this year but it’s only nine innings and it’s possible that the shoulder has been bothering him even before this IL placement. His fastball is averaging 94.2 miles per hour this year, a drop from last year’s 95.3 mph. All his other pitches are down by similar amounts.

The A’s surely hoped that he would be a key setup guy for closer Mason Miller but the early results have been shaky and he’s now going to be out of action for at least a couple of weeks. Guys like Tyler Ferguson and Justin Sterner have been given some leverage work early on and will try to hold onto those roles while Leclerc is out.

Photo courtesy of Joe Nicholson, Imagn Images

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Transactions Grant Holman Hogan Harris Jacob Lopez Jose Leclerc Max Muncy (2002) Nick Kurtz

20 comments

The Athletics’ Rotation Options

By Steve Adams | February 10, 2025 at 4:24pm CDT

The A’s entered the offseason with virtually no certainty in their rotation. Despite a host of trades aimed at acquiring pitching help throughout the course of their most recent rebuild, lefty JP Sears was the only prospect acquired who’s stepped up, stayed healthy, and pitched well enough to lock down a rotation job. Sears has hardly been an ace, but 64 starts and 353 innings of 4.46 ERA ball over the past two seasons will play. He’s not an exciting arm, necessarily, but Sears looks like a volume-based fourth starter with good command who’ll average 5 2/3 innings per outing and keep his club in the game more often than not. He’s a starting point.

In the months that have unfolded since, the Sacramento-bound A’s have made a pair of meaningful additions. Luis Severino signed a three-year, $67MM contract and immediately became the team’s top rotation arm upon doing so. Left-hander Jeffrey Springs came over from the Rays not long after, in a trade sending righty Joe Boyle, minor leaguers Jacob Watters and Will Simpson, and a competitive balance draft pick back to the Rays. There’s injury risk with both players — Severino averaged 42 innings per year from 2019-23; Springs missed most of 2024 recovering from UCL surgery — but both are quality arms when healthy. Springs, in particular, quietly turned in ace-caliber results in Tampa Bay from 2021-24.

That pair of additions gives the A’s a set top-three in the rotation, albeit somewhat by default at the moment. General manager David Forst has said he’s open to further additions and is hopeful of adding another starter. That comment came just over a month ago, however, and nothing has come to fruition (nor have there been any real rumblings connecting the A’s to available pitchers).

The A’s very much should add to this group if they’re intent on playing the role of a surprise contender, as many of their offseason dealings suggest. There are still several solid veteran arms available, both via free agency and trade. As things stand, it seems likelier by the day that they stick with what they have in-house. Let’s run through the options.

The Rule 5 Favorite

Mitch Spence, RHP: Spence might not have turned many heads with last year’s performance, but there aren’t too many Rule 5 picks who even make it through a whole season — let alone put themselves into legitimate competition for a rotation job the following year. Spence has done just that. The 26-year-old (27 in May) opened the 2024 season in a long relief role but pushed his way into rotation consideration with a nice start. He wound up making 24 starts and 11 long relief outings, working a total of 151 1/3 innings. Spence turned in a 4.58 ERA with a below-average 19.4% strikeout rate but strong walk and ground-ball rates of 6.8% and 48.4%, respectively.

Unlike many rookie pitchers, Spence didn’t fade down the stretch; he got stronger. That’s surely due in part to the fact that he tossed a hearty 163 innings of Triple-A ball in 2023 prior to being taken by the A’s in the Rule 5. But Spence came out strong in the second half of the 2024 season, looking like a pitcher who’d found his footing. From July 20 through Sept. 17, Spence made 11 starts with a 3.66 ERA. His strikeout and walk rates didn’t make any huge gains, but he was throwing more sinkers and curveballs and getting far more grounders (and yielding fewer homers) as a result. He allowed nine runs in his final nine innings — a sour ending note — but Spence in many ways looked like a right-handed version of Spears.

What’s left of the Rebuild Arms

Ryan Cusick, RHP: The A’s moved Cusick to the bullpen last year and watched him rattle off a 1.73 ERA and 31-to-4 K/BB ratio over his final 26 innings of the season. He’s likely bullpen-bound again, both due to that success and his struggles in the rotation. He’s unlikely to factor into the starting mix this year, but based on his past usage, we’ll include him in case they reverse course. Cusick had a 4.95 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate and dismal 15.2% walk rate in 100 innings as a starter in 2023.

Joey Estes, RHP: Estes held a rotation spot the vast majority of the 2024 season, making 24 big league starts in addition to one relief appearance. The results weren’t great, though. The former Braves draftee (acquired alongside Cusick, Shea Langeliers and Cristian Pache for Matt Olson) logged a 5.01 ERA with below-average velocity and subpar strikeout, ground-ball and home run rates. Homers have been a problem for Estes even in the minors, but he’s limited walks nicely and at the very least proven himself to be a pretty durable arm. He still has two minor league options remaining.

J.T. Ginn, RHP: Ginn was the more notable of the two prospects the Mets sent to Oakland for Chris Bassitt a few years back. The former second-rounder posted a 4.24 ERA in 34 innings during last year’s MLB debut but has posted an ERA north of 5.00 in all three of his minor league seasons with the A’s. Ginn averaged what these days is a pedestrian 92.9 mph on his sinker and did log a solid 47.4% ground-ball rate while displaying solid command. Even with the trio of rough minor league seasons an lackluster debut, Baseball America ranks him 11th in the A’s system and calls him a potential back-end starter with a high floor but limited ceiling.

Gunnar Hoglund, RHP: Yet to make his big league debut, Hoglund was the headline prospect in the trade sending Matt Chapman to the Blue Jays. He only has five starts above the Double-A level, coming late last year, and they didn’t go that well. His Double-A work was outstanding, however. The former first-rounder pitched 104 2/3 innings with a 2.84 earned run average, 23.4% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate, 40% grounder rate and 1.03 HR/9. His stock is down quite a ways since he was the No. 19 overall pick, and he’s unlikely to be in the mix for an Opening Day job — but he could make his debut sometime this summer.

Others on the 40-Man Roster

Brady Basso, LHP: The Athletics’ 16th-round pick in 2019, Basso signed for $75K and has never landed inside the team’s top-20 prospects at Baseball America. They rank him 25th this year after he debuted in 2024 and pitched 22 1/3 innings with a 4.03 ERA, sub-par strikeout numbers, strong command and an average ground-ball rate. Basso dominated Double-A opponents last year before being hit hard in Triple-A and posting middle-of-the-road numbers in a brief MLB debut. Basso, who averaged 92.2 mph on his fastball this past season, still has two minor league option years remaining.

Osvaldo Bido, RHP: Bido made his big league debut as a 27-year-old with the 2023 Pirates and was cut loose after logging a 5.86 ERA in 50 2/3 innings. The A’s signed him to a major league contract last winter, and in 63 1/3 frames he logged a 3.41 ERA with an above-average 24.3% strikeout rate but a rough-looking 10% walk rate. Bido misses bats and induces chases at lower rates than his raw strikeout percentage would suggest. He posted a 4.50 ERA in 10 Triple-A outings last year. He could be a swingman or a fifth starter and has a minor league option remaining.

Jacob Lopez, LHP: Acquired alongside Springs in the Athletics’ trade with the Rays, Lopez will turn 27 in March. He’s a soft-tossing lefty a low arm slot who relies more on deception than on power stuff. Righties have hit him better than lefties but haven’t exactly torched him (.218/.319/.391 in 2024; .197/.316/.343 in 2023). Baseball America ranked him 28th among Rays prospects last year and likened him to a Ryan Yarbrough type of bulk pitcher (behind an opener) or multi-inning reliever.

Hogan Harris, LHP: The A’s took Harris with the No. 85 pick back in 2018. He’s pitched in three Triple-A seasons and posted an ERA north of 6.00 in each. He made his big league debut in 2023 and was similarly rocked for a 7.14 ERA in 63 innings. Ouch. Las year, however, Harris found his most success since he posted a sub-2.00 ERA between High-A and Double-A back in 2022. The 6’3″, 230-pound southpaw posted a terrific 2.86 ERA in 21 big league appearances — nine of them starts — totaling 72 1/3 frames. His 20% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 37.3% grounder rate were all worse than average. Harris thrived in part due to some good fortune on home runs (8.5% HR/FB) and a 78.9% strand rate he’s not likely to sustain.

Down-the-Road Considerations

Mason Barnett, acquired from the Royals as part of last summer’s Lucas Erceg swap, was outstanding in Double-A post-trade and has become one of the system’s top arms. He could debut this summer but isn’t likely to break camp on the club. Jack Perkins, the Athletics’ 2022 fifth-rounder, hasn’t advanced beyond Double-A but posted a sub-3.00 ERA there last year. He’s a fastball/slider-heavy right-hander with shaky command, evidenced by a huge 32% strikeout rate but 11% walk rate last year.

Left-hander Ken Waldichuk and righty Luis Medina are both technically on the 40-man roster, but not for long. They both had Tommy John surgery midseason — Waldichuk in May, Medina in August — and will be on the 60-day IL when the A’s need roster spots. Waldichuk could make it back late this season. That’s unlikely for Medina.

—

It’s not necessarily a bad collection of depth arms, and names like Barnett, Hoglund, Ginn and Perkins create varying levels of legitimate MLB rotation upside. However, the Athletics’ current contingent of big league arms carries plenty of injury risk, most notably in Severino and Springs, who both recently had notable arm troubles. One injury in the top three, and the group looks increasingly questionable. Between that and the fact that a number of the 40-man options profile best as fifth starters, it’s understandable that the A’s are open to adding some veteran stability and arguable that they should be aggressively seeking it.

The free agent market still has Andrew Heaney, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana, Spencer Turnbull, Cal Quantrill and — if the A’s can stomach surrendering another draft pick — Nick Pivetta. The trade market includes Marcus Stroman, Jordan Montgomery Taijuan Walker and (to a lesser extent) Steven Matz as salary dump candidates. Chris Paddack could perhaps be had for a modest return.

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics MLBTR Originals Brady Basso Gunnar Hoglund Hogan Harris J.T. Ginn Jacob Lopez Joey Estes Ken Waldichuk Luis Medina Mitch Spence Osvaldo Bido Ryan Cusick

30 comments

Athletics Acquire Jeffrey Springs In Multi-Player Trade With Rays

By Mark Polishuk | December 14, 2024 at 11:00pm CDT

The Athletics and Rays have announced a multi-player trade that will see left-handers Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez head to West Sacramento.  In return, the Rays will receive right-hander Joe Boyle, the Athletics’ pick in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2025 draft, and two minor league players in righty Jacob Watters and first baseman/outfielder Will Simpson.

Considering how deep the Rays are in rotation options, Springs was viewed as a logical trade candidate this winter, as he was about to enter the more expensive portion of the backloaded four-year, $31MM extension he signed with Tampa in January 2023.  Springs is owed $10.5MM in each of the next two seasons, and there is a $15MM club option on his services for 2027 that can be bought out for $750K.

For the first two years and $9.25MM on that extension, the Rays only 49 innings of work from Springs, albeit with a 2.39 ERA.  A Tommy John surgery in April 2023 shelved Springs for the majority of the last two seasons, and he returned to the mound last July to post a 3.27 ERA over seven starts and 33 innings before he was shut down in early September due to fatigue in his throwing elbow.  It’s hard to gain much data from a small sample size, but Springs still had above-average strikeout and walk rate, and if anything might’ve gotten better bottom-line results if it wasn’t for a .330 BABIP.

Prior to the injury, Springs seemed like yet another success story for Tampa Bay’s pitching development system.  A 30th-round draft pick for the Rangers in the 2015 draft, Springs showed only a few flashes of quality over his first three MLB seasons while posting a 5.42 ERA in 84 2/3 innings with Texas and Boston.  Dealt from the Red Sox to the Rays in a relatively under-the-radar trade in February 2021, Springs emerged to post a 3.43 ERA in 44 2/3 bullpen innings for Tampa during the 2021 season, and he then had even better results after transitioning into a starting role in 2022.  The breakout year saw Springs deliver a 2.46 ERA in 135 1/3 innings (as well as a 26.2% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate) as Springs finally seemed to avoid the home run problems that plagued most of his career.

Springs was able to cash in on his big season with a life-changing contract extension, but his long injury layoff turned him into an odd man out of the Rays’ rotation.  Shane McClanahan, Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz, Zack Littell, and Drew Rasmussen are all lined up to get starts in 2025, not to mention whatever other young starters could emerge from Tampa’s ever-loaded farm system.  With Springs’ price tag rising, many figured that the Rays would move his salary to a pitching-needy team with payroll space to spare.

If the idea of the Athletics being a “team with payroll space to spare” is still surprising to consider, the 32-year-old Springs is now the second splurge the A’s have made on their rotation this winter, after having already signed Luis Severino to a three-year, $67MM deal.  Adding Springs’ contract brings the A’s a step closer to the minimum $105MM luxury tax figure required to continue qualifying as a revenue-sharing team, and to avoid a grievance from the players’ union.  RosterResource estimates the Athletics’ current tax number at roughly $88.55MM, assuming the trade is completed.

Ulterior motive notwithstanding, trading for Springs is also a solid baseball move for an A’s team in need of rotation help.  Severino and Springs are big upgrades to a rotation that struggled badly last season, and the newcomers now stand as the top two members of the starting five that includes JP Sears, Mitch Spence, and Joey Estes.

More pitching moves can’t be ruled out, since the Athletics still have a ways to go before hitting that $105MM figure.  Severino notwithstanding, it can’t be an easy sell for the A’s to convince free agents to pitch in a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento, so trading for players (perhaps on unwanted contracts) has long seemed like a more logical move for the Athletics to both add payroll and bolster their roster at the same time.

Lopez shouldn’t be ruled out as part of the Athletics’ pitching situation in 2025, as the southpaw has already amassed 22 2/3 MLB innings with the Rays over the last two seasons.  A 26th-round pick for the Giants in the 2018 draft, Lopez missed all of 2022 recovering from a Tommy John surgery, but he has a 2.99 ERA across 337 2/3 career minor league innings.  That includes a 3.54 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, and 12.87% walk rate in 168 innings of Triple-A ball, with Lopez starting 37 of 39 games for the Rays’ top affiliate.

Despite a lack of velocity, Lopez has been able to miss quite a few bats, though this ability hasn’t manifested itself in his brief time in the majors.  It could be that Lopez might’ve gotten more big league looks if he’d simply been on a team that didn’t have Tampa Bay’s pitching depth, and a fresh opportunity now presents itself for Lopez with this trade.  Lopez (who turns 27 in March) figures to be part of the fifth starter competition in camp but will probably begin the year at Triple-A, acting as one of the first depth options in the event of an injury to a rotation member.

Turning to the Rays’ end of the trade, the inclusion of the Comp-A pick is particularly interesting, and it might speak to the league-wide interest in Springs’ services.  The Competitive Balance Rounds are bonus rounds within the draft that award picks to 15 teams within the bottom 10 in market size and revenue, as determined by the league’s formula that factors in revenue, winning percentage and market score.  The CBR picks are the only draft selections that are eligible to be traded, and while such trades tend to be rare, we’ve seen these picks involved in some prominent trades over the years.  The Comp-A round takes place just before the start of the second round, and while the exact placement of the traded pick has yet to be determined, last year’s Comp-A picks were selections #34-39 in the 2024 draft order.

It is no small thing for a team to deal such a pick, especially when building through the draft is of particular importance to a low-spending team like the A’s.  Still, getting at least two years of control over Springs was apparently worth the cost, as with the club option, the Athletics could have Springs for the entirety of their three-year stint in Sacramento before their planned new ballpark in Las Vegas is ready for Opening Day 2028.

As for the other parts of the trade package, Boyle brings a Major League-ready arm to the Rays’ pitching mix.  Debuting with a 1.69 ERA in three starts and 16 innings in 2023, Boyle had a 6.42 ERA in 47 2/3 innings this past season, missing about a month of action with a back strain and spending the bulk of the year at Triple-A.

The 25-year-old is something of a classic case of a hard-throwing (97.7mph average fastball velocity in the majors) pitcher who can’t harness his stuff, as Boyle has posted elevated walk totals in the minors and during his 2024 stint in the Show.  Fixing these control problems will determine whether or not Boyle can stick in the big leagues as a reliever or back-end starter, and given the Rays’ history of fixing pitchers, nobody would be surprised if Boyle ends up figuring it out in Tampa just as Springs and many other hurlers have done over the years.  Boyle has two minor league options remaining, giving the Rays more flexibility in using him as a fresh arm to shuttle back and forth between Triple-A and the active roster.

Baseball America ranked Simpson 16th on their ranking of the Athletics’ top 30 prospects back in April, while MLB Pipeline has Simpson 28th in their evaluation of the team’s system.  A 15th-round pick in the 2023 draft, Simpson has crushed minor league pitching in his two pro seasons and made it to the Double-A level for 18 games in 2024.  Simpson has shown some good pop in his bat and he has a good approach at the plate — scouts like his “analytical aptitude,” as BA’s scouting report puts it, with the idea that Simpson can still unlock more as he explores more ways to upgrade his hitting.  Defensively, Pipeline is more bullish on the idea of Simpson as a serviceable first baseman or corner outfielder, while Baseball America is more down on his glovework in general.

Watters was a fourth-round pick for the A’s in the 2022 draft, and he has a 5.86 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate, and an inflated 13.73% walk rate in 152 pro innings.  Almost all of this experience is at the high-A level, though Watters skipped Double-A to make one spot appearance in Triple-A ball last season.  Working as both a starter and reliever, Watters’ numbers have been decidedly better out of the pen, so that might be the 23-year-old’s eventual career path.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan (multiple links) reported the trade and all of the players and picks involved except for Lopez, whose involvement wasn’t revealed until the deal was officially announced. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Share Repost Send via email

Athletics Newsstand Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Jacob Lopez Jeffrey Springs Joe Boyle Will Simpson

220 comments

Rays Select Erasmo Ramírez

By Leo Morgenstern | August 26, 2024 at 1:50pm CDT

August 26: The Rays made it official today, announcing that they have selected Ramírez to the roster, with Lopez optioned as the corresponding move.

August 25: The Rays plan to select veteran right-hander Erasmo Ramírez from the Triple-A Durham Bulls, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 Houston. He will join the team on Monday, in time for the first game of a three-game set against the Mariners. The Rays already have an open spot on the 40-man, although they will need to make room for Ramírez on the active roster.

Ramírez, 34, is a 13-year MLB veteran who has pitched for six different clubs since making his debut in 2012. Funnily enough, he spent the first seven years of his professional career (and his first three years in the majors) with the Mariners – the team he will likely face in his next big league outing. Ramírez spent the 2012-14 seasons with Seattle before the Mariners traded him to the Rays in March 2015. Two and a half years later, Tampa Bay flipped him back to Seattle at the 2017 trade deadline. He would remain with the M’s through the 2018 campaign.

After that, Ramírez spent time with the Red Sox, Mets, Tigers, and Nationals before finding his way back to the Rays in 2023. He re-signed with the club on a minor league deal this past offseason, and he has already spent one brief stint in the majors in 2024, pitching 16 innings with a 4.50 ERA and 5.22 SIERA. The Rays DFA’d him in May, but he accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, where he has a 3.02 ERA over 47 2/3 frames.

Ramírez won’t be a high-leverage arm for the Rays, but he can be a valuable innings eater out of the bullpen. He threw 146 2/3 MLB innings from 2022 to ’23, and he regularly goes multiple innings in an outing. Tampa Bay’s relief corps ranks third in the majors in innings pitched since the All-Star break, so they could surely use the extra help. They may have the second-lowest bullpen ERA (2.29) and SIERA (3.11) in that time, but a fresh arm to help shoulder the workload is never a bad thing. The Rays optioned bulk reliever Joel Kuhnel to allow for Jacob Lopez to make a spot start today, so Kuhnel cannot be recalled for at least 15 days unless he is the 27th man for a doubleheader or replacing a pitcher on the IL. Presumably, Lopez will return to Triple-A, despite his strong performance today (5 IP, 1 ER), and Ramírez will take his spot on the 26-man roster.

Share Repost Send via email

Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Erasmo Ramirez Jacob Lopez

13 comments
Load More Posts
Show all
    Top Stories

    Angels To Have New Manager In 2026

    Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

    Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series

    Bruce Bochy Will Not Return As Rangers Manager Amid “Financial Uncertainty”

    Liam Hendriks Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery

    Twins Fire Rocco Baldelli

    Giants Fire Bob Melvin

    Pirates Sign Manager Don Kelly To Extension

    Pete Alonso To Opt Out Of Mets Contract, Enter Free Agency

    Padres Place Ramón Laureano On Injured List Due To Finger Fracture

    Willson Contreras Will Consider Waiving No-Trade Clause But Prefers To Remain With Cardinals

    Cade Horton To Miss At Least One Playoff Series Due To Rib Fracture

    MLB To Take Over Mariners’ Broadcasts In 2026

    Nolan Arenado More Open To Waiving No-Trade Clause As Cardinals Plan To Rebuild

    Sonny Gray Will Consider Waiving No-Trade Clause This Offseason

    Nationals To Hire Paul Toboni As President Of Baseball Operations

    Astros’ Luis Garcia Will Miss 2026 Season Due To Elbow Surgery

    Cubs Hoping To Reinstate Kyle Tucker On Friday; Daniel Palencia Reinstated Today

    Mets Designate Jose Siri for Assignment

    Blue Jays Designate Alek Manoah For Assignment, Activate Anthony Santander

    Recent

    Angels To Have New Manager In 2026

    Chaim Bloom Discusses Marmol, GM, Arenado, Gray

    Brewers Outright Erick Fedde

    Picollo: “Safe To Say” Salvador Perez Will Return To Royals In 2026

    Padres Select Martin Maldonado

    Lucas Giolito Unlikely To Pitch Again This Season

    Pirates Make Changes To Coaching Staff

    Luke Keaschall To Undergo Thumb Surgery

    Athletics General Manager David Forst To Return In 2026

    Kendrick: D-backs’ Payroll Likely To Decline, Club Still Intent On Competing In 2026

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Tim Dierkes' MLB Mailbag
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version