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Ramon Laureano

A’s Place Ramon Laureano, Trevor May On Injured List

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The A’s announced a series of roster moves Wednesday, placing outfielder Ramon Laureano and righty Trevor May on the 10-day and 15-day injured lists, respectively. Laureano is dealing with a left groin strain, while May has been placed on the injured list for issues pertaining to anxiety. The A’s formally selected the contract of top pitching prospect Mason Miller and recalled infield prospect Jordan Diaz in their place, as had been previously reported. Righty Dany Jimenez was moved to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Miller.

Laureano, 28, is hitting .218/.295/.436 with a pair of homers, four doubles, a triple and two stolen bases through 61 plate appearances this season. He’s already garnered strong marks for his glovework in right field despite the limited amount of innings he’s put in, recording four Defensive Runs Saved on the young season. He’d missed the past couple games due to hamstring soreness, however, and will now miss at least 10 days in total. With Brent Rooker also banged up at the moment, the A’s have Tyler Wade in left field and Conner Capel in right field.

May becomes the third player with a recent IL stint owing to anxiety issues, joining Daniel Bard (who was just activated today) and Austin Meadows, who have both spoken up about their own anxiety issues in recent months. Oakland general manager David Forst provided the following statement on May (Twitter link via Martin Gallegos of MLB.com):

“I commend Trevor for speaking up about his mental health, and for taking action to address it. The whole A’s organization supports him fully and we are committed to giving Trevor whatever time he needs to be ready to return to playing, as well as continued resources to help all our players tackle the physical and mental challenges they face daily.”

May, 33, signed a one-year deal with the Athletics over the winter. He entered the season looking to rebound from an injury-shortened 2022 campaign in which he missed three months with a triceps issue while playing out the second half of a two-year deal signed with the Mets. His results in 2023 are jarring, as the typically steady right-hander has yielded eight runs on 10 hits and an alarming nine walks (two intentional) in six innings. May came into the season with a 7.5% walk rate dating all the way back to 2015, but he’s walked nearly a quarter of his opponents. His strikeout rate, which had topped 30% over the past six years — including a four-year run with a combined 32.7% rate — is sitting at just 16.2%, despite his velocity still clocking in at an average of 95 mph.

There’s no telling how long he’ll be away, but as Forst said, it’s good to see May speak up about his mental health not only to do what’s best for him and the team but also to help others who might be going through similar battles. Our readers might remember May chronicling some of his journey through Tommy John surgery rehabilitation right here at MLBTR, and he’s also graciously taken some time in the past to host a mailbag column with MLBTR readers. We at MLBTR offer our best wishes to Trevor.

The Athletics’ Outfield Dilemma

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In late January, I took a look at some of the Athletics’ options in what’s a generally crowded mix of rotation possibilities. Calling it a true logjam or crunch might overstate things a bit, as those monikers are typically more appropriate when there are more established players than there are spots to go around. For the A’s, it was more a matter how they can divide up the innings among a wide variety of unproven names.

Similar questions persist in the outfield, where Oakland has one lock for playing time and otherwise a carousel of names who could rotate through the remaining spots. Ramon Laureano is a fixture in the outfield and will continue to be through much of the season’s first half, at least (health-permitting). Laureano can play all three spots but has been better in right field than in center recently. He’s coming off a disappointing .211/.287/.376 batting line in 2022, but from 2018-21 he slashed .263/.335/.465 while playing quality defense.

Were it not for injuries and an 80-game PED suspension derailing Laureano’s trajectory, he might already have been traded by now. The A’s have gutted the rest of the roster while embarking on their latest rebuild, but Laureano is one of the few remaining veterans. Trading him this offseason would’ve been selling low, but it’d only take a couple months of productive ball to restore some of the 2018-21 shine. With a good showing in April, May and June, expect Laureano to be among the more talked-about trade candidates on the summer market.

Because of that, he should be penciled in for full-time at-bats in the outfield. It seems likely that’ll come more in the corners than in center, but whatever form it takes, Laureano’s going to be out there every day.

As far as the rest of the outfield is concerned, things are far murkier. Let’s take a look at who’ll be vying for playing time…

On the 40-man roster

Cristian Pache, 24, RHH, no minor league options remaining

Pache’s lack of minor league options and lack of production in either Triple-A or the Majors make him the most confounding player of this group. He’s still just 24 years old, is considered to be an elite defender, and as recently as the 2020-21 offseason was considered to be among the 20 best prospects in all of baseball. Pache’s bat simply hasn’t developed, however, evidenced by a disastrous .156/.205/.254 batting line in 332 MLB plate appearances and an ugly .248/.298/.389 showing in Triple-A last season. Pache posted five Defensive Runs Saved and eight Outs Above Average in only 646 innings last year. He’s one of the best defensive players in the game but currently one of its worst hitters. The A’s can’t send him down without exposing him to waivers, and the glove alone would probably get Pache claimed. At the same time, it’s hard to keep trotting him out there with such an anemic batting line. Giving up on Pache as an everyday player and relegating him to a bench role is also unpalatable, though, given his youth and the fact that he was one of the key pieces in the trade that sent Matt Olson to the Braves. The A’s have to hope Pache can somehow develop his offensive approach at the big league level, and if he can’t, he could eventually force them into a tough decision. A big spring could also position him as a trade candidate; manager Mark Kotsay candidly admitted last month that Pache could be “showcasing himself for 29  other teams.”

Esteury Ruiz, 24, RHH, two minor league options remaining

The Pache dilemma is exacerbated by the fact that the A’s acquired another potential center fielder in this offseason’s Sean Murphy trade. The 24-year-old Ruiz stole a whopping 86 bases in 2022 and is considered among the fastest players in the sport. Like Pache, he has the potential for plus range in center, though scouting reports are far more bullish on Pache’s instincts and overall defensive prowess. There are some similar red flags with Ruiz’s game, though his minor league numbers are a sight to behold. He hit .332/.447/.526 in 541 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A last season, but Ruiz also posted bottom-of-the-scale exit velocity and hard contact numbers. His lack of hard contact can be somewhat erased by what’ll surely be plenty of infield hits, but there are questions about how impactful his bat and glove can be at the game’s top level. He’s ready for a look right now, but playing time will depend on how the A’s view Pache and, quite likely, their other offseason outfield acquisition. Speaking of which…

JJ Bleday, 25, LHH, three minor league options remaining

Acquired in a straight-up swap for reliever A.J. Puk, Bleday is a former No. 4 overall draft pick whose prospect star has dimmed in recent years as he’s struggled throughout the minors. The Marlins have spent several years in search of an everyday center fielder and still don’t have one, yet they were content to trade Bleday for a controllable bullpen piece. Scouting reports on Bleday peg him as more of a left fielder, and clearly the Marlins agree, or else they wouldn’t have moved on. Bleday has above-average raw power, but he strikes out and pops up too often in trying to get to it in a game setting. He’s a career .225/.337/.409 hitter in the minors, and his strikeout rate has risen at every level, topping out at 27% in Triple-A last year and 28.2% in his 238-plate appearance MLB debut. Bleday took 605 PAs between Triple-A and the Majors last season and, in addition to 166 strikeouts, he popped up a staggering 33 times. That’s an automatic out in nearly one-third of his plate appearances. The A’s can offer some new coaching perspective, so perhaps they can unlock something in Bleday that the Marlins couldn’t, but so far the results on Bleday haven’t come close to aligning with his draft status.

Seth Brown, 30, LHH, two minor league options remaining

Because Brown has spent so much time at first base and in right field (688 innings apiece), it may be a surprise to many that he’s also logged 141 innings in center. He’s not a great option there, but Brown can handle the spot in a pinch and can cycle through all three outfield spots, first base and designated hitter. He’ll have free-agent signee Jesus Aguilar and Oakland’s Rule 5 pick Ryan Noda (more on him in a bit) competing for time at those positions, however, so Brown could see a fair bit of outfield work. The 30-year-old Brown smashed 25 home runs last year and stands as one of the team’s primary power threats. Virtually all of his MLB production has come against righties, which leads to some easy platoon maneuverings. Brown will be arbitration-eligible next winter, and if he continues bashing righties in the first half, he’ll join Laureano on the trade market.

Tony Kemp, 31, LHH, cannot be optioned without his consent (five-plus years of service time)

One of the team’s elder statesmen at just 31 years of age, Kemp is another likely summer trade candidate. He’s spent more time at second base than in left field over the past few seasons, but he’s played both with a fair degree of regularity. Oakland’s signing of Aledmys Diaz could cut into his time at second base, though. Kemp, like Brown, is a better hitter against righties, though the split isn’t as glaring in his case. He should be out there regularly to begin the season, but the presence of Diaz and looming prospect Zack Gelof feels like it’ll eventually lead to a trade, so long as Kemp is playing reasonably well.

Aledmys Diaz, 32, RHH, cannot be optioned

The A’s needed to spend some money this offseason, and luring free-agent bats to a last-place club in a cavernous home park can’t be easy. They paid up on a pair of multi-year deals for versatile infield/outfield veterans Diaz and Jace Peterson (the former of whom seems ticketed for regular work at third base). Diaz can act as a left-handed complement to Kemp at second base, mix in at all four infield slots and will probably also see occasional time in left field and at designated hitter. He’s making more than $7MM this season, which is a sizable sum by Oakland’s standards, so expect him to play fairly regularly.

Ryan Noda, 26, LHH, cannot be optioned (Rule 5 Draft pick)

Noda will need to earn his way onto the roster, but he’s a first base/corner outfield slugger who was blocked in Los Angeles by names like Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. With the A’s, there are no such roadblocks to playing time, and he’ll get the chance to prove his career .894 OPS in the minors, including a .259/.396/.474 showing in Triple-A Oklahoma City last year can carry over to the big league level, to some extent. Noda, 27 later this month, has nearly twice as much first base time as he does corner outfield time in his pro career, but the A’s grabbed him for his bat, and he’ll get chances against righties so long as he earns a spot this spring.

Conner Capel, 25, LHH, two minor league options remaining

Capel posted a respectable .264/.364/.422 slash in Triple-A between the Cardinals and the A’s (who claimed him off waivers from St. Louis) in 2022. A 40-plate appearance cup of coffee in Oakland resulted in an eye-popping .371/.425/.600 slash late in the season, though a .423 average on balls in play in that tiny sample had plenty to do with it. Capel’s minor league track record is more solid than standout, but he’s on the 40-man roster and will try to hit his way into an Opening Day roster spot, even if he doesn’t share the recent production and/or prospect pedigree of some of his competitors.

Cal Stevenson, 26, LHH, two minor league options remaining

A thrice-traded former 10th-round pick, Stevenson turned heads with a .322/.413/.529 output in Triple-A last year — his first season in the A’s organization. That came on the heels of his inclusion in the trade sending Christian Bethancourt from Oakland to Tampa Bay, and Stevenson’s overall Triple-A output clocked in at .284/.389/.413 in 307 plate appearances. Stevenson walks at a high clip and has strong bat-to-ball skills, but he’s not a premium defender and has never topped nine home runs in a full season.

Brent Rooker, 28, RHH, one minor league option remaining

The former No. 35 overall pick (Minnesota, 2017), Rooker came to the A’s by way of a waiver claim. Oakland is his fourth team in the past calendar year, as clubs continue to be intrigued by his raw power and minor league production even as injuries and MLB struggles have undercut his appeal. Rooker is a first baseman/left fielder who has a career .274/.387/.590 slash and 62 dingers in 906 Triple-A plate appearances, but he’s mustered tepid .200/.289/.379 line in 270 big league plate appearances. It’s big-time right-handed pop, but Rooker needs to cut back on the 31.9% strikeout rate he’s shown in the Majors.

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Given the slate of options already on the 40-man roster, it’s not a huge surprise that the A’s didn’t add a ton of minor league outfield depth over the winter. Cody Thomas was retained after they passed him through waivers following a DFA, and he’s in camp as a non-roster invitee. Thomas carved up Triple-A pitching in 2021 but missed nearly all of 2022 on the injured list. If he can get back to that ’21 form (.289/.363/.665), he could get another look in 2023. Meanwhile, old friend Greg Deichmann is back in the organization on his own minor league deal after scuffling in his lone full season with the Cubs (who acquired him in the 2021 trade that sent Andrew Chafin from Chicago to Oakland).

Looking just at the names on the 40-man roster, there are clearly far more bodies than at-bats to go around. The A’s are somewhat handcuffed by Pache’s lack of options, so he seems likely to make the roster and occupy at least a part-time role. Both Ruiz and Bleday are clearly viewed as potential outfield regulars by the Athletics’ front office, though neither is a necessary lock to break camp on the active roster (even if they’ll surely be given every opportunity to do so). The A’s are the perfect club to carry someone like Noda — a polished upper-minors hitter who can’t be optioned given his Rule 5 status — but they’ll need to also get Kemp and Brown sufficient at-bats (particularly if the goal is ultimately to trade one or both this summer).

Each of Capel, Stevenson and Rooker could factor into plans as well, though that trio ostensibly feels more like upper-minors depth or perhaps part-time options off the bench. On many clubs, playing time with this type of saturated outfield mix would boil down to a meritocracy, but the rebuilding A’s can and likely will be more patient with out-of-options players, Rule 5 selections and hopeful summer trade chips.

It’s a fluid situation, one without clear answers. An ideal situation would see Laureano, Brown and Kemp play well enough to be traded for decent returns, while Pache takes enough of a step forward to hold down center field as Ruiz and Bleday emerge as viable options on either side of him (all while Noda hits enough to seize the first base job). Things rarely work out so smoothly for any club, however. The A’s badly need some of their newly acquired outfield talent to pan out, though, as last offseason’s slate of trades did little to improve the long-term outlook. How they allot playing time on the path to reaching that end goal will be one of the key stories to monitor for A’s fans this year.

A’s Reportedly Not Pursuing Ramon Laureano Trade

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Over the past 18 months, the A’s have traded away most of the core players on the roster as a means of stripping down payroll. While much of that teardown was orchestrated either last offseason or at the summer deadline, it continued with the three-team deal that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta last month.

Given Oakland’s recent activity, it stands to reason virtually anyone on the roster with an MLB track record could be a viable trade candidate. Outfielder Ramón Laureano is one of the team’s more established remaining players and could be the subject of attention from other clubs. However, Dan Hayes of the Athletic reports the A’s didn’t show much interest in dealing Laureano after the Twins inquired on his availability.

It’d be a surprise if the A’s had anyone firmly off the table, perhaps aside from pre-arbitration players they hope will be building blocks of their next contender like Shea Langeliers and Esteury Ruiz. Nevertheless, there’s good reason for general manager David Forst and his front office to be reluctant to pursue a Laureano deal over the offseason. The 28-year-old outfielder is coming off the worst season of his career, putting his value at a low ebb.

Laureano had an impressive debut with Oakland late in the 2018 campaign. He backed that up the following season with 24 home runs in 123 games. His offensive numbers dipped during the shortened 2020 schedule but bounced back through the first few months of ’21. Laureano was sitting on a .246/.317/.443 line over his first 378 plate appearances. That’s not an eye-catching slash at first glance but marked offensive production 13 points above the league average as measured by wRC+ given Oakland’s pitcher-friendly home park.

His 2021 season was brought to an abrupt end in August after he tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Nandrolone. That resulted in an 80-game suspension that carried over into the start of last season. Laureano returned in April but saw his production crater. He hit .211/.287/.376 over 94 games, with the batting average and on-base percentage each representing career worsts. Only in 2020 did he have a lesser slugging mark.

The residual effects of the suspension aren’t the sole possible explanation for Laureano’s down year. He carried a .223/.300/.395 line into mid-August, production that was below his previous career standards but still marginally above average after adjusting for the ballpark. He suffered a left oblique strain on August 15 and landed on the injured list. Upon returning three weeks later, he limped to a .108/.175/.216 mark in 40 trips to the dish before suffering a hamstring strain that ended his season.

Coming off that year, it’s certainly not an ideal time for Oakland to move him. Laureano’s suspension kept him from surpassing four years of service time last season — players don’t accrue service while on the restricted list — and extended Oakland’s window of arbitration control by another season. He’s eligible for arbitration through the end of 2025 and making $3.55MM for the coming season. That’s affordable even for a team that runs one of the league’s lowest payrolls. That all leaves open the potential for Oakland to hold Laureano into the coming season and reevaluate offers at the deadline after a hopeful better first half from the right-handed hitter.

Another club making a very strong offer in the coming weeks could change the calculus for Oakland, of course. It’s hard to imagine they’d steadfastly refuse to entertain any trade discussions on Laureano. Yet it’s also understandable the club doesn’t seem particularly eager to shop him with his stock at its current point. Assuming he stays in Oakland, he’ll join the likes of Ruiz, Seth Brown (if he’s not dealt himself), Cristian Pache, Conner Capel and Brent Rooker in the outfield mix.

A’s Notes: Pinder, Brown, Laureano

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With Stephen Vogt’s retirement announcement last week, the A’s only have one impending free agent who plans to continue playing in 2023. Chad Pinder is set to hit the open market for the first time, but the career-long Athletic tells Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle he’d welcome a return to Oakland.

“I don’t know what their plans are — I’m not sure they know,” Pinder said of the A’s front office. “I know they’re doing a good job right now of trying to find the pieces of the puzzle, young guys to be the core next year. And for me, honestly, that’s been fun to watch. Because I remember being part of that at one point. But yeah, I would never discount coming back here. It’s a place that’s special to me.”

A third-round draftee in 2013, Pinder debuted three years later and has been a frequently-utilized utilityman. The 2022 campaign is the fourth in which he’s partaken in more than half the A’s games, and he’s likely to set a new career mark in plate appearances. Pinder has tallied 362 trips to the plate this year, just eight shy of 2019’s figure with a bit more than a week to play. While manager Mark Kotsay has pencilled him into the lineup fairly frequently, Pinder has struggled through a down year. He owns a .230/.258/.384 line with a personal-worst 31.5% strikeout rate and a minuscule 3.9% walk rate.

Despite his disappointing numbers at the dish, Kotsay tells Kawahara he’d “love to have Pinder back here.” The 30-year-old has drawn praise from both Kotsay and former Oakland skipper Bob Melvin for his clubhouse presence, and he’s been a decent platoon bat over the course of his career. The right-handed hitter owns a .263/.322/.459 career line against left-handed pitching, although he’s just a .224/.271/.387 hitter versus same-handed opponents.

Pinder has mostly been limited to corner outfield work this season, but he has a fair bit of infield experience as well. He’s split time with lefty-swinging Tony Kemp and Conner Capel in the corners over the past couple weeks, while Kotsay has somewhat surprisingly turned to Seth Brown in center field. Brown had started just two MLB games in center field coming into this season, but he’s picked up ten starts there this year. In a separate piece, Kawahara writes the A’s are getting a look there to gauge whether Brown could be a candidate for more center field work next season.

It seems unlikely the A’s would want to count on the 30-year-old for anything more than emergency work up the middle. Brown has played almost exclusively first base or the corner outfield in his MLB career, and public defensive metrics were down on his work in the corners this year. It’s hard to envision him playing anything more than a fringy center field. The A’s are nevertheless giving him run at the position over Cristian Pache, who came over from the Braves in the Matt Olson blockbuster. Pache is on the active roster and is an excellent defensive center fielder, but he’s looked overmatched at the plate at both the MLB and Triple-A levels.

Brown, on the other hand, has had a quietly strong season at the plate. The left-handed hitter owns a .233/.306/.458 line with a team-leading 25 home runs across 517 trips. That’s been driven by an excellent second half of the season. Brown is hitting .261/.358/.554 with 15 longballs since the All-Star Break. Brown is tied for third in the majors in homers since the Break, topped only by Aaron Judge and Manny Machado. That’ll certainly earn him everyday run next year, even if he seems likelier to return to a corner position. Brown won’t reach arbitration eligibility until after next season and is controllable through 2026.

Another corner outfield spot could belong to Ramón Laureano, who played primarily right field this year after rating poorly in center. Laureano looked like a potential trade candidate, but he had a rough 2022 campaign. Delayed to start the year after a positive performance-enhancing drug test last sumner, he hit only .211/.287/.376 over 383 plate appearances. Laureano landed on the injured list a couple weeks ago with a right hamstring strain, and head trainer Nick Paparesta informed reporters over the weekend that he’s not expected to return this season (via Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). The 28-year-old recently received a platelet-rich plasma injection to address a separate issue in his right hip.

Laureano’s path to free agency was delayed by a year, since he unable to collect MLB service while serving his suspension. He’s now arbitration-eligible through 2025 and will be due a modest raise on this season’s $2.45MM salary. The retooling A’s will probably be open to trade offers this winter, but it’s hard to envision another club meeting Oakland’s asking price after Laureano’s rough season.

Athletics Promote Jordan Diaz, Place Ramón Laureano On IL

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Sep. 18: The A’s have announced the promotion of Diaz, with outfielder Ramón Laureano headed to the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain in a corresponding move. The severity of the injury isn’t clear, but with just over two weeks remaining on the schedule, it’s possible that Laureano’s season is over. He returned from serving an 80-game PED suspension in May and has hit .211/.287/.376 this year with 13 home runs and 11 stolen bases.

Sep. 17: The Athletics are preparing to call up prospect Jordan Diaz, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase (Twitter link).  Oakland already added Diaz to the 40-man roster during the offseason, so they’ll just need to make one move to add Diaz to the active roster.

The 22-year-old Diaz will be making his Major League debut, six years after signing with the A’s for a fairly modest $275K bonus during the 2016-17 international signing period.  After showing flashes of his potential at the plate in 2017-19, Diaz returned from the lost 2020 minor league season to hit .288/.337/.484 with 13 homers over 365 plate appearances at high-A ball in 2021.  Beginning 2022 in Double-A, Diaz has just kept on hitting, with a combined .326/.366/.515 slash line with 19 home runs at Double-A Midland (407 PA) and Triple-A Las Vegas (120 PA).

This hitting prowess has been Diaz’s calling card, with evaluators impressed by his polish and his increasing power, though he doesn’t take walks all that often.  Diaz has yet to settle into a defensive role, as he began his career as a third baseman but has increasingly seen more time at first base (plus a handful of games as a second base and left fielder).  If Diaz is just a first base/DH-only type, he’ll need to deliver even more at the plate to make up for these defensive limitations.  The A’s will probably give him at look at both corner infield spots over the final two weeks of the regular season.

MLB Pipeline ranks Diaz eighth on its list of Oakland’s top prospects, while Baseball America is a bit less bullish in rating Diaz 17th.  Also of note, BA’s scouting report writes that “opposing teams have coveted Diaz in trade talks in the past,” so it’s fair to assume that rival scouts will be paying some extra attention to Diaz’s first exposure to Major League pitching.  The rebuilding A’s are more in a position to be adding rather than subtracting any quality youngsters from their organization, though Billy Beane’s front office has been known to swing some creative deals.

A’s Promote Shea Langeliers, Release Stephen Piscotty

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The A’s announced they’ve selected the contract of top catching prospect Shea Langeliers. The club also recalled David MacKinnon from Triple-A Las Vegas. In corresponding moves, Oakland placed Ramón Laureano on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 15, with a left oblique strain, and released outfielder Stephen Piscotty.

It’s a notable shakeup for the A’s, who’ll get their first look at a player they hope to be a key piece of the future. Langeliers was one of four players Oakland received from the Braves in the Matt Olson trade this spring. Arguably the headliner of the deal, the righty-hitting backstop is regarded by most prospect evaluators as a potential above-average regular behind the dish.

The ninth overall pick in the 2019 draft, Langeliers has spent the past three years progressing up the minor league ladder. He got off to a somewhat slow start late in his first pro season — not too surprising for a catcher logging the most action in any year of his career. The following minor league season was wiped out by the pandemic, and Atlanta pushed the Baylor product to Double-A to start 2021. Langeliers spent virtually the entire year there, putting up an impressive .258/.338/.498 line with 22 home runs in 92 games in a pitcher-friendly environment.

That would’ve been quality power production for any player, but it’s particularly impressive for a highly-regarded defensive catcher. Langeliers fits that bill. Most evaluators peg him as at least an average receiver, and he draws unanimous praise for his arm strength. Each of FanGraphs, Keith Law of the Athletic, Baseball America and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN placed him among the back half of their top 100 overall prospects heading into the 2022 season, and the A’s acquired him as part of their Spring Training teardown.

Langeliers has continued to impress in his new organization. He’s spent the year in Triple-A, his first extended stretch there after a brief cameo late last season. Over 402 plate appearances, the 24-year-old has hit 19 homers and posted a solid 10.7% walk percentage against a manageable 21.9% strikeout rate. Las Vegas is one of the more favorable environments in the affiliated ranks for hitters, but Langeliers’ .283/.366/.510 line is a strong showing even in that context. With nearly 200 upper minors games under his belt over the past two seasons, he had little left to prove before earning an MLB look.

The A’s would have had to add Langeliers to the 40-man roster this offseason to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. General manager David Forst indicated last week they were hoping to get him a look earlier than that, and he’ll presumably spend the final seven weeks of the season on the active roster. The club has been playing out the string in a brutal season, but Langeliers’ promotion will give the fanbase and organization a glimpse at a potential core piece for 2023 and beyond. BA recently named him the game’s #81 farmhand, while McDaniel pegs him as the second-best prospect in the organization.

First-year manager Mark Kotsay will be tasked with divvying up playing time between the rookie and incumbent backstop Sean Murphy. Oakland’s primary catcher is arguably the team’s best player. An elite defender with an above-average .244/.323/.422 showing at the dish, Murphy is one of the best catchers in the game. He’ll certainly remain in the lineup on most days, although Langeliers’ promotion could afford Murphy some additional quasi-rest work at first base or as a designated hitter. Langeliers himself figures to see some action at those spots as well.

That’ll at least be the temporary arrangement, but a solid showing from Langeliers during his first look at big league pitching would only ramp up speculation about Murphy’s long-term future. With Murphy controllable through 2025, the A’s certainly don’t have to deal him away next offseason. He’ll only be going through arbitration for the first time in the winter, and next year’s salary (while a notable raise over his pre-arb payouts) won’t be onerous — even for an Oakland club that’s likely to run one of the league’s lowest payrolls. Yet a significant portion of the value of each of Murphy and Langeliers lies in their defensive acumen behind the plate. That’s nowhere near as valuable at first base or DH, of course, so one could argue for the A’s to deal Murphy over the winter and turn to Langeliers on a regular basis in 2023. Murphy drew interest from teams like the Guardians and Red Sox before this summer’s trade deadline, and the A’s will certainly get plenty of calls about his availability once teams are again allowed to trade MLB players.

Langeliers’ promotion won’t have huge immediate ramifications from a service time perspective. Enough time has passed that he won’t accrue enough action to reach a full year of service or qualify for early arbitration after 2024 as a Super Two player. If he’s on the MLB roster for good, Langeliers would reach arb-eligibility after the 2025 campaign and would first hit free agency over the 2028-29 offseason. Oakland can option him back to the minors over the next few years, and any demotions could impact his service trajectory.

While the Langeliers call-up is the most significant news for the A’s as they look ahead to future seasons, the corresponding transaction subtracts a player who has spent almost five years with the team. The A’s acquired Piscotty, a Bay Area native and Stanford product, from the Cardinals heading into the 2018 season. The righty-hitting outfielder had broken into the majors with two excellent seasons to earn a $33.5MM contract extension from St. Louis leading into the 2017 campaign. He didn’t perform at the same level his final season in St. Louis, but the A’s took a shot on a bounceback (and brought Piscotty closer to his family as his mother battled ALS) in a trade at the end of that year.

Initially, the change of scenery seemed to work wonders for Piscotty’s career. He popped 27 longballs and put up a .267/.331/.491 line over 151 games during his first season in green and gold. At age 27, Piscotty looked to have rediscovered his early-career form and seemed poised to settle in as a middle-of-the-order bat for years to come. That unfortunately hasn’t played out, as he’s posted below-average numbers in all four years since then.

Going back to the start of 2019, Piscotty owns a .229/.287/.378 line in just shy of 900 plate appearances. He’s hitting .190/.252/.341 with a 34.5% strikeout rate over 42 games this year. He’s gotten just one start over the past eight days, as the club has increasingly turned to Laureano in right field while playing rookie Cal Stevenson in center. With Piscotty earning such sporadic playing time, the A’s have decided to move on entirely.

Piscotty will technically be available to the league’s 29 other teams via release waivers over the next couple days. Any team that claims him would assume the approximate $2MM remaining on his $7.25MM salary, as well as the $1MM buyout on a $15MM team option for next season. That makes it a certainty he’ll clear waivers, with the A’s remaining on the hook for the rest of that sum. Piscotty will be a free agent in the next few days, at which point he’ll have the right to explore other opportunities. If he signs elsewhere before September 1 — even on a minor league contract — he’d be eligible for a new team’s postseason roster.

Laureano, meanwhile, will now miss at least the next week and a half. The team hasn’t provided further specifics on his diagnosis, but it’s common for oblique strains to cost players upwards of a month of action. Laureano missed the first month of the season as he finished out a PED suspension handed down last summer. He’s returned to play in 84 games, hitting .223/.300/.395 with 12 homers while splitting his time between center and right field.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Brewers, A’s Have Discussed Ramon Laureano

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The Brewers are known to be in the market for outfield help — specifically in center field — and they’ve had recent talks with the Athletics about a potential trade involving Oakland outfielder Ramon Laureano, Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes.

The 28-year-old Laureano is just one of several Athletics players who could change hands in the coming days. He missed the first month-plus of the season while finishing out an 80-game PED ban and has turned in a .224/.305/.396 batting line with 10 homers, 14 doubles and nine stolen bases in 285 plate appearances since returning.

Those numbers certainly don’t stand out as overly impressive, but when factoring in Laureano’s cavernous home park, wRC+ pegs his overall offensive output at about five percent above that of a league-average hitter. Laureano has been average or better each season of his career, by measure of wRC+, and carries a lifetime .256/.330/.452 batting line in 1542 trips to the plate.

Cristian Pache’s presence on the A’s roster — at least, prior to his demotion to Triple-A — pushed Laureano from center field to right field upon his return from the restricted list. He’s drawn quality marks for his glovework in right (+4 Defensive Runs Saved, 2.7 Ultimate Zone Rating) but curiously posted dismal numbers through 169 innings in center this season (-7 Defensive Runs Saved, -3 UZR, -3 Outs Above Average).

Laureano has a solid overall track record in center, however, and the Brewers are understandably on the hunt for options there after parting ways with Lorenzo Cain earlier this season. Twenty-eight-year-old Tyrone Taylor has stepped up as a frequent option in center, but his bat has wilted after a hot showing in May. Since June 1, Taylor is hitting just .198/.234/.358 with a 29.7% strikeout rate. Jonathan Davis has also seen time in center, providing good defense and also drawing some walks out of the nine-spot in the order, but he also has just one extra-base hit (a double) in 75 plate appearances.

Circling back to Laureano’s PED suspension, while it understandably will lead to some skepticism regarding Laureano’s prior performance, it should also be noted that the suspension effectively extended the Athletics’ club control over the outfielder. Laureano did not receive pay or service time while on the restricted list and entered the season with three years, 14 days of MLB service time. As such, he needed 158 days of service to reach four years and remain on track for free agency following the 2024 season. By the time Laureano was reinstated from that suspension, however, only 151 days of the current season remained.

As such, Laureano should be controllable for three more years beyond the current season, as opposed to the previously scheduled two. He’ll be eligible for arbitration raises in each of the three coming campaigns, building upon this year’s modest $2MM salary. That’s plenty affordable for any team but may hold particular appeal to a Brewers club with a massive arbitration class (headlined by Josh Hader, Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Willy Adames).

The extended club control, however, also lessens the Athletics’ urgency to sell Laureano at all — particularly at a time when his offensive production is down a tick from prior seasons. If teams aren’t willing to put forth a compelling offer, the A’s can just hang onto Laureano into the offseason and revisit talks then, when he’d still have three full seasons of club control remaining.

In addition to the Brewers, the Marlins are also known to have interest in Laureano, and the Phillies, too, have been in search of center field upgrades.

Marlins “Pushing Hard” For Ramon Laureano

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The Marlins have hung around baseball’s competitive landscape the last couple of seasons, buoyed by a dynamic young starting rotation. Their offense, however, consistently underwhelms. Thus far in 2022, however, neither the pitching nor the offense has been able to escape the torpid middle. The Marlins are tied for 13th overall in the Majors with a 3.85 team ERA, and they are similarly tied for 13th overall on the offensive end with a 104 wRC+.

It still likely wouldn’t surprise anyone to hear they might be looking for bats. The latest scuttlebutt has the Marlins “pushing hard” for outfielder Ramon Laureano, according to Peter Gammons (via Twitter). The irony, of course, is that center field has been a particular need for the Fish since dealing Starling Marte to the A’s last season. Marte now plays for the rival Mets, and the A’s are in a position to deal.

The Marlins invested heavily in their outfield this offseason, adding both Jorge Soler and Avisail Garcia to young trade acquisitions Jesus Sanchez and Bryan De La Cruz. But they weren’t able to find their long-term answer in center. Sanchez has held his own (93 wRC+, -1 DRS, 0.5 fWAR), but Laureano certainly brings a panache to outfield glove work that the Marlins may find appealing. Laureano has traditionally rated well defensively, and he doesn’t want for offensive firepower either, owning a career 117 wRC+ over 1,392 career plate appearances.

Of course, the A’s have to be willing to give him up as well. At 21-43 on the year, Oakland is firmly in a step-back year, and given their history, anyone is likely to be on the table, particularly an almost-28-year-old veteran like Laureano. GM David Forst has gone on record saying that no one is off-limits on the roster, writes Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Of course, that’s long been the company line for the A’s, particularly when they enter a sell-off period, as they did this past winter.

With true two-way center fielders being relatively tough to come by these days, however, Laureano figures to be a popular target. The A’s, for their part, may have found his successor in Cristian Pache, though Pache’s 27 wRC+ practically begs the A’s to reconsider. Laureano is still firmly in his prime, and with two more seasons of team control beyond this year, the A’s should feel no particular pressure to move him.

So while the Marlins may very well do their due diligence on Laureano, the A’s have resisted the temptation to deal him thus far. If they do ultimately decide that Laureano adds more long-term value as a trade asset than as their everyday right fielder (and Pache insurance), they can likely find more suitors beyond the Marlins. The Brewers, Padres, Phillies, Red Sox, and Dodgers join the Marlins as bottom-10 teams in terms of fWAR production from their center fielders, while the Guardians, Astros, and Rays land in the bottom 10 by wRC+. That’s no shortage of competitive clubs with a need in the grass.

Speculatively speaking, the Phillies may present the biggest challenger to the Marlins in terms of their interest. Philadelphia, like the Marlins, has been active in their search for a long-term center fielder, and they don’t appear to have that guy in their pipeline. We know the Phillies are doing what they can to compete, and as of right now, they’re doing a better job than the Marlins in that regard – they sit three games ahead of the Marlins in the standings, though still 8.5 games behind the division-leading Mets.

Of course, whether or not the Phillies have the prospects to properly woo Oakland is another question entirely. The Marlins have long been touted for their depth of young starting pitching, and if they decide to deal from that pool, Laureano may be the type of piece they would target. For now, however, the decision is still Oakland’s to make.

A’s Reinstate Ramon Laureano, Designate Jorge Juan

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The Athletics have announced that outfielder Ramon Laureano has been reinstated from the restricted list after completing his 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. To make room on the active roster, Stephen Piscotty has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain. To create room on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Jorge Juan was designated for assignment.

After debuting in 2018, Laureano was in the midst of a fourth consecutive season of quality production when he was served his suspension in August of last year. He missed the remainder of that season and the first month of this one due to a positive test for Nandrolone, a banned performance-enhancing substance.

That put Laureano’s career on pause, with him sitting on a career batting line of .263/.335/.465. That amounts to a wRC+ of 118 and, combined with his speed and excellent defense, has allowed him to produce 8.9 fWAR over 313 career games. He will now be able to get back into action and try to pick up where he left off as an all-around contributor.

Players who violate the MLB – MLBPA Joint Drug Agreement are placed on the restricted list and do not receive MLB service time for the duration of their suspension. That means Laureano has been sitting on three years and 14 days of service time since receiving his suspension in August of last year. Players are credited for a full year of service for spending 172 days on an MLB roster or injured list, meaning Laureano would need 158 days to reach the four-year mark by the end of this campaign. Oakland’s final game of the season is on October 5, which is 150 days from now. That means Laureano’s suspension will lead to his free agency being delayed by a year, until after the 2025 campaign.

A lot has changed for the organization during the span of the suspension. When it was first handed down, the A’s were in the midst of a playoff race. They eventually came up just short and then went into the offseason determined to cut payroll. Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea were all sent away in trades for younger and cheaper players. Whether you want to call it a rebuild or a retool or something else, the club is using 2022 as a year to evaluate some of these younger players and determine the next steps forward. They have a 10-17 record so far on the campaign.

Laureano’s status makes him something of an in-between player. The fact that he can be kept around for this season and then three more means that he could potentially be a part of the club’s return to competition down the line. On the other hand, he’s making $2.45MM this year (prorated to $2.033MM due to the suspension) and will continue to earn raises through arbitration in the years to come. For a team that frequently moves on from its players as they get more expensive, it’s possible that Laureano could find himself on the trading block just like his former teammates. Cristian Pache, acquired in the Olson trade, has been manning center field so far this year. He’s provided excellent defense but hasn’t done much with the bat, hitting .176/.195/.282 so far this year for a wRC+ of 41. Laureano is in right field today with Pache in center.

As for Juan, he was just selected to the club’s roster in November of last year. The 6’8″ 23-year-old has a penchant for racking up strikeouts but also struggles with command. Last year, he threw 26 2/3 innings in the minors with a 5.40 ERA, 35.4% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate. He has been on the minor league injured list this year and has yet to make his season debut. The nature and severity of his injury are not known, but injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers. That means that Oakland, if they cannot work out a trade, will have to place Juan on release waivers.

Ramon Laureano Begins Rehab Assignment

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The Las Vegas Aviators, the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics, announced yesterday that Ramon Laureano was joining the club on a rehab assignment. He started last night’s game, batting second and playing center field. The outfielder was given an 80-game suspension in August, serving the bulk of that last year but with 27 games remaining going into the 2022 campaign. If everything goes according to plan, Laureano could finish the suspension May 8.

Since that suspension, the club underwent a fire sale in the offseason, trading away their best and most-expensive players for younger and cheaper ones. The center field duties have been largely going to Cristian Pache so far this year, acquired from the Braves in the Matt Olson trade. Pache has been living up to his glove-first reputation, playing excellent defense but hitting just .208/.222/.340, 68 wRC+.

In his time in the majors, Laureano has shown himself capable of being above average both defensively and with the bat. It’s unclear how the playing time in center will be divided up when Laureano returns, though the A’s will likely want to have both players in the lineup as much as possible. For Pache, regular at-bats will be needed for the 23-year-old to continue to develop as a hitter. For Laureano, the club will surely want him to get back into a groove after his layoff, which included core surgery in September, and re-establish himself as a trade candidate. Chad Pinder, Seth Brown, Tony Kemp, Stephen Piscotty and Billy McKinney have been rotating through the outfield corners and designated hitter slots so far this year.

Players who violate the MLB – MLBPA Joint Drug Agreement are placed on the restricted list and do not receive MLB service time for the duration of their suspension. Laureano is currently sitting on three years and 14 days, enough for him to have reached arbitration for the first time for this year. However, since he will end up missing about a month of this season, he will likely finish the campaign shy of the four-year mark. That means he won’t reach free agency until after the 2025 season, giving the club one extra year of control over him.

For a team like the A’s that’s taking a step back, that could be viewed as making him more or less likely to be traded. On the one hand, the extra year of control increases the chances that the club can return to contention within his time with them, making it sensible to hang onto him. On the other hand, Laureano will now be going through arbitration four times instead of three, giving him more chances to increase his salary. He’s only set to make $2.45MM this year, which isn’t a prohibitive sum, even for a low-payroll team like the A’s. But the past few months saw them trade away players projected to make salaries just a bit higher than that. According to MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, Matt Olson was going to be earning around $12MM this year, with Matt Chapman a touch lower at $9.5MM. Chris Bassitt was pegged at $8.8MM and Sean Manaea at $10.2MM. The club went into the offseason determined to unload those projected salaries and eventually did so. Over the next couple of years, Laureano could push his salary into that range and become a little pricey for the club, especially if Pache seems capable of taking over for him, as he likely won’t reach arbitration until after the 2024 campaign.

The Marlins were known to have interest in Laureano during the offseason as they looked to upgrade in center field. However, they may have found a solution in Jesus Sanchez, who has been providing cromulent defense while mashing at the plate. The season is still quite young, but Sanchez is hitting .340/.386/.623, 194 wRC+.

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