The Athletics announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contracts of outfielder Lawrence Butler and left-hander Hogan Harris. The pair of moves brings their 40-man roster count to 39 players.
Butler, 22, spent the bulk of the season in High-A where he slashed .270/.357/.468 with a 12% walk rate and a 31.5% strikeout rate. Baseball America tabs him 15th among Oakland farmhands, lauding his 70-grade raw power (on the 20-80 scale) and penchant for top-of-the-scale exit velocities. He also boasts plus speed, per their report, but has a tendency to swing and miss even though he’ll also draw plenty of walks. Butler is an outfielder for now but has also garnered some experience at first base.
Harris, 26 next month, isn’t considered among the organization’s top-ranked prospects but put himself on the map with a promising showing across three levels in 2022. The 6’3″, 230-pound southpaw didn’t pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season and missed all of 2021 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
However, he returned with a sub-2.00 ERA and a 35.8% strikeout rate in 43 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A before getting torched for a 6.35 ERA in 28 1/3 innings late in the season in a very hitter-friendly Triple-A Las Vegas setting. Walks were an issue even at those lower levels, but Harris’ success in Double-A and ability to miss bats from the left side might’ve made him an appealing Rule 5 target even with questions about his ability to consistently locate the ball.
Madness to Not protect Kyle McCann, Logan Davidson, Colin Peluse and Jorge Juan.
The team should have Cut easily replaceable Relief Pitchers like Tyler Cyr, and Joel Payamps, and also, first baseman David MacKinnon, and protected the Minor Leaguers listed-above.
I don’t get it. A’s_in_UK, I need your Take on this.
McCann is expendable since we already have Langeliers as well as Susac (not to mention Soderstrom, but I imagine he’ll be shifted to 1B) Davidson has been a disappointment, Peluse had a terrible ‘22 season, Juan is an intriguing prospect but still needs to work on his control.
I thought Cyr and Payamps pitched well enough to give another chance even though the A’s already have a strong bullpen. There is certainly no reason why the A’s should keep MacKinnon. He’s a AAAA player. Out of the players above to protect, I’d designate MacKinnon in favor for either Juan or McCann.
My point is Cyr and Payamps are more easy to replace than a Power hitting Lefty bat like Kyle McCann or a flame throwing potential Relief Pitcher in Jorge Juan.
We can move Adam Oller and Adrian Martinez into Bullpen roles next season,, since they are likely squeezed out of Rotation roles..Also, Luis Medina needs to be on the Team or he gets exposed to Waivers. Simply put, Cyr and Payamps types can be found anywhere. Fringe middle relief pitchers are a dime a dozen.
Here’s the thing though. Every team has an abundance of prospects eligible for the draft because of not having it the last year. The A’s are probably thinking they might get lucky and be able to keep most of these guys. Juan for example was released last year and any team could have picked him up. Fortunately, the A’s were able to resign him to a minor league contract. However, McCann will definitely be picked if they don’t add him to the team. MacKinnon for sure needs to go and they can let Payamps go as well, but I’d like to keep Cyr. He was quite good albeit a small sample size.
Jorge Juan is the most intriguing of the left out bunch but he’s really raw and hasn’t pitched above A ball.
Forst seems to be rolling the dice that other teams think he’s too far away. The other omissions seem reasonable to me.
Do you think anyone is going to take and stash McCann, Logan Davidson, Colin Peluse and Jorge Juan all season? Cant see it. A’s are pretty loaded with MI prospects, if they lost Davidson it wouldnt be a huge loss.
I do agree MacKinnon and Yonny Hernandez in particular especially arent necessary to hold onto. I don’t question the A’s brass about pitchers (like Cyr and Payamps) because that’s the one thing they get right at a very elite rate.
Teams come up with ” Phantom injuries “, so that they can Stash players they Drafted on the Disabled List past the September 1st return Date.
I recall the Orioles doing this with shortstop Richie Martin a few years back?
Kind of cheesy but teams find ways to keep players they Draft in Rule 5 without actually have to put them on the Field, etc.
Another player they could have Cut loose was Ernie Clement, since they just Claimed Yonny Hernandez off of Waivers. Do they need all of Clement, Yonny, Machin, Nick Allen, etc.? Seems like carbon copies of the same light-hitting Middle infielder profile types.
These two were no brainers to protect, particularly Butler. There are still plenty of other intriguing players not protected like the power bat of Kyle McCann, first rounder Logan Davidson, prize in the Manaea trade Euribiel Angeles, speedy Max Schuemann, bust outfielders Austin Beck and Lazaro Armenteros, and many others.
Hogan-Harris is a nightmare 2024 presidential ticket lol.
True but Hogan’s Heroes was a great show