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Athletics Outright Lázaro Armenteros

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Outfielder Lázaro Armenteros has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas, reports Francys Romero on X. The outfielder was designated for assignment by the Athletics earlier this week.

Armenteros is now on the cusp of his 25th birthday, which will arrive on May 22. Once a high-profile prospect out of Cuba, he signed with the A’s in 2016, earning a $3MM bonus at that time. Baseball America ranked him as one of the club’s top 30 prospects in five straight years after he entered the system.

His natural athleticism has been on display for quite some time, with obvious speed and power. But as he has spent time in affiliated ball, strikeouts have been an ongoing problem. Apart from a brief stint in Rookie ball back in 2017, he’s never had a strikeout rate lower than 32.8% at any stop on the minor league ladder. He’s hit some home runs and stolen some bases along the way, but those punchouts have sapped his prospect stock.

Splitting his time between High-A and Double-A last year, he continued to strike out in a third of his plate appearances but offset that somewhat with a 14.9% walk rate. He also hit 20 homers and stole 17 bases. His combined batting line of .252/.383/.496 led to a 134 wRC+.

That showing was strong enough that the A’s were worried about losing him in the Rule 5 draft, so they added him to their 40-man roster in November. They promoted him to Triple-A to start this year but the results have not been pretty. In 72 plate appearances, he’s been punched out 37 times, a 51.4% clip. He’s drawn walks at a 12.5% rate but his .133/.278/.250 line is obviously rough.

The A’s bumped him off their 40-man when selecting left-hander Tyler Ferguson this week. The other 29 clubs all passed on a chance to grab him off waivers, so Armenteros will return to Vegas and try to play his way back onto the roster.

Athletics Announce Several Roster Moves

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1:15pm: Hernaiz has a “severe” left ankle sprain, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He’s going to see a specialist today.

11:23am: The A’s on Wednesday announced announced that they’ve recalled catcher/first baseman Tyler Soderstrom from Triple-A Las Vegas and also recalled righty Osvaldo Bido to serve as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader. Oakland also selected the contract of lefty Easton Lucas. Meanwhile, infielder Darell Hernaiz was placed on the 10-day IL with a left ankle injury, lefty Hogan Harris was optioned to Las Vegas, and minor league righty Alex Speas was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Lucas.

A slate of transactions on the heels of a 15-8 blowout loss yesterday and a doubleheader today seemed inevitable. Bido will start the second game of today’s twin bill against the Rangers. He’s in his first year with the A’s organization after becoming a minor league free agent but nevertheless signing a major league contract this offseason. He’s excelled through his first six appearances (five starts), pitching to a 2.59 ERA in 31 1/3 frames with a 30% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate. The 28-year-old made his MLB debut with the Pirates last season and pitched 50 2/3 innings with an unsightly 5.86 ERA.

Swapping out Harris for Lucas will give the A’s some length in the bullpen, as Lucas has tossed 15 2/3 innings in 11 appearances this season, pitching two or more innings on four occasions. He’s delivered solid results in that role, posting a 2.87 ERA — albeit with a less-inspiring 13-to-8 K/BB ratio (plus another hit batter).

Soderstrom’s call to the big leagues will give the A’s another look at the former first-rounder and top prospect. The 2020 No. 26 overall pick debuted as a 21-year-old last summer but looked overmatched, hitting just .160/.232/.240 with a 31.2% strikeout rate in 138 plate appearances. The lefty-swinging slugger has had a nice start to the season in Triple-A, hitting for a pedestrian .245 average but reaching base at a hearty .353 clip while slugging .529 in 119 plate appearances. Soderstrom, who is touted for his plus-plus raw power, has already drilled seven homers and collected eight doubles on the young season. He’s fanned at a 26.1% clip, but strikeouts are likely always going to be part of his game — and he’s at least helped offset some of those whiffs with a healthy 10.1% walk rate.

It’s not yet clear how the A’s will divide up playing time with Soderstrom now in the big leagues. Starting catcher Shea Langeliers has struggled mightily at the plate but continues to play strong defense. Backup Kyle McCann has raked at a .393/.485/.750 clip, but that’s come in a minuscule sample of 33 plate appearances.

Soderstrom has plenty of experience at first base as well, given that there are significant questions about his defensive skills behind the plate. Oakland recently optioned Opening Day first baseman Ryan Noda, but early-season pickup Tyler Nevin has hit well since Noda was sent down. Nevin has spent the bulk of his time at first base but has experience at all four corner positions. In all likelihood, there will be plenty of mixing and matching, which is to be expected from an A’s team that entered the season with few set-in-stone starting players and is actively evaluating potential long-term options at multiple spots. The majority of Oakland’s roster can and has played multiple positions — many with other clubs — while trying to carve out permanent MLB roles.

The A’s only acquired the 26-year-old Speas on April 6, sending cash to the White Sox for him following a DFA in Chicago. The flamethrowing righty sits in the 99-100mph range with his heater and can run it up to 102-103mph. Predictably, that’s led to both eye-popping strikeout totals and alarming walk rates in the minors. He pitched 10 1/3 innings for the Athletics’ Las Vegas affiliate but was tagged for 13 runs in that time, due in no small part to a 13.2% walk rate and three homers allowed.

Speas pitched two innings with the Rangers in the majors last summer but split the remainder of the season between Double-A and Triple-A, where he punched out a combined 34.7% of his opponents but also issued walks at a 15.5% clip. He walked six of his 26 opponents with the White Sox during spring training. There’s no doubting the electricity of Speas’ raw arsenal, but he’s walked more than 18% of his opponents in pro ball. He’s in the second of three minor league option years.

Now that he’s been designated, Speas will spend up to a week in limbo while awaiting his fate. The A’s can use that window to find a trade partner, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.

A’s Select Tyler Ferguson, Designate Lazaro Armenteros For Assignment

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The A’s announced they’ve selected reliever Tyler Ferguson onto the major league roster. Dany Jiménez was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Oakland designated Lazaro Armenteros for assignment.

Ferguson gets his first major league call at age 30. A Vanderbilt product, he entered the professional ranks in 2015 as a sixth-round pick of the Rangers. Ferguson topped out at High-A in the Texas system and was released shortly before the start of the 2019 season. He bounced between the independent Can-Am and American Associations between brief affiliated stints in the Dodgers and Braves systems. Ferguson made it as high as Triple-A with Atlanta before qualifying for minor league free agency.

The right-hander spent last season working in multi-inning relief with Arizona’s top farm team in Reno. He posted a 5.49 ERA over 78 2/3 innings and returned to free agency. The A’s signed him to a minor league deal with an invitation to MLB camp early in the winter. He tossed 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball this spring and opened the regular season in Vegas.

Ferguson has logged 15 frames over 14 appearances for the Aviators. He has allowed eight runs (only four of which were earned) while striking out 24 hitters. That strong start was enough to crack the A’s bullpen after a nearly decade-long climb through the professional ranks. He steps in for Jiménez, who has walked 13 of his first 67 opponents.

Armenteros, 25 this month, has yet to reach the big leagues. The right-handed hitting outfielder was a high-profile amateur signee out of Cuba back in 2016. Massive strikeout totals have long since damaged his prospect stock. Even though Armenteros hadn’t shown signs of significantly improving his contact skills, the A’s surprisingly added him to the 40-man roster to keep him from getting to minor league free agency at the start of last offseason.

The A’s assigned Armenteros to Triple-A for the first time this year. He has punched out a staggering 37 times in 72 plate appearances, making him the only Triple-A hitter (minimum 50 PAs) to strike out more than half the time. He’ll likely end up on waivers in the next few days. Assuming he goes unclaimed, the A’s could assign him back to Las Vegas without keeping him on the 40-man roster.

A’s Place Joe Boyle On Injured List

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The A’s announced they’ve placed starter Joe Boyle on the 15-day injured list due to a lower back strain. Left-hander Hogan Harris was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move.

Boyle, 24, won a spot in the season-opening rotation. The Notre Dame product has had a rough beginning to the 2024 campaign, however. He has only tallied 27 2/3 innings over seven starts. That’s in part because of yesterday’s injury, but it also reflects an inordinate number of deep counts. Boyle has issued an American League-high 23 walks, a near-18% rate. He has also uncorked four wild pitches and hit a batter.

Control has been the big question dating back to Boyle’s college days. The 6’7″ righty has huge stuff. His fastball sits in the 96-97 MPH range on average, while his upper-80s slider is capable of missing plenty of bats. Boyle has racked up strikeouts in the minor leagues, but massive walk rates have led most prospect evaluators to project him to the bullpen.

The A’s have kept Boyle in the rotation to this point. He impressed over his first three MLB starts late last season. Acquired from the Reds in the Sam Moll deadline deal, he made his big league debut in September. Boyle punched out 15 and only issued five walks over 16 innings down the stretch.

He’ll need to wait at least a few weeks before he can try to recapture last fall’s form. The A’s are down to Paul Blackburn, JP Sears, Alex Wood and Ross Stripling in the rotation. They’re off on Thursday, so they could get by with a four-man rotation until the middle of next week. At that point, Oakland will need to go beyond their top five starters for the first time all season. Rule 5 pick Mitch Spence has pitched well in a multi-inning relief role and seems the likeliest candidate to move into the rotation after logging 4 2/3 innings behind Boyle yesterday. Harris has been working as a starter in Las Vegas, but he has been tagged for an earned run per inning over 21 frames in the Pacific Coast League.

A’s Sign Seth Elledge To Minor League Deal

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Right-hander Seth Elledge and the Athletics have agreed on a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on Elledge’s MLB.com profile page.

Elledge, 28 later this month, was a fourth-round pick by the Mariners in the 2017 draft and made his major league debut with the Cardinals during the shortened 2020 season. As a member of the St. Louis bullpen, Elledge posted a 4.63 ERA in 11 2/3 innings of work in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He sports a solid 24% strikeout rate at the big league level but struggled badly with his control to the tune of a 14.4% walk rate, leaving him with a lackluster 4.90 FIP.

The right-hander found himself designated for assignment by the Cardinals late in October of 2021 and hasn’t found his way back to a big league mound since despite having shuffled around the big leagues a great deal in recent years. Elledge signed with the Braves on a minor league deal prior to the 2022 season and selected him to the big league roster that offseason rather than allow him to return to minor league free agency, but he was designated for assignment in early April without making it into a game.

He spent the next several months riding the transactional carousel as he was claimed off waivers by the Mets and Tigers before ultimately clearing waivers with Detroit and electing free agency in late June, only to return to the Braves on a minor league deal just days later. The Braves once again select him to the roster and even placed him on the active roster in July, but he lasted on the roster for just a few days without making it into a game before once again being designated for assignment, electing free agency, and re-signing on a minor league deal.

Going forward, Elledge figures to act as non-roster bullpen depth for the A’s at the Triple-A level, where he’s posted a 4.69 ERA with a strong 27.8% strikeout rate and a tolerable 9.2% walk rate since the start of the 2022 season. Right-hander Alex Speas is the club’s only healthy bullpen option on the 40-man roster who isn’t already part of the club’s big league relief corps, meaning Elledge could have a viable path to the big league roster if he can position himself to be the next man up among a group of non-roster veterans at Triple-A with the A’s such as Vinny Nittoli and Gerardo Reyes. Oakland is currently relying on the likes of Michael Kelly and Dany Jimenez to fill out the middle of the bullpen ahead of the club’s late-inning arms, led by breakout closer Mason Miller.

Athletics Select Brett Harris

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

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

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

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

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

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

A’s Option Ryan Noda

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The A’s optioned first baseman Ryan Noda to Triple-A Las Vegas following today’s win over the Pirates. Oakland hasn’t announced a corresponding move, but MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos tweets that they could reinstate third baseman J.D. Davis from the 10-day injured list before Friday’s series opener against the Marlins.

It’s a quick turn of events for the A’s Opening Day first baseman. The second pick in the 2022 Rule 5 draft, Noda not only stuck on the roster but was one of Oakland’s best hitters as a rookie. He hit 16 homers with a .229/.364/.406 slash through 495 plate appearances. Between a very patient approach and below-average contact rate, Noda struck out at a huge 34.3% clip. Yet he also walked at a massive 15.6% rate — a top ten mark in MLB — and hit for enough power to be a productive offensive player.

That has not been the case in 2024. An 0-4 showing this afternoon dropped his season line to .128/.242/.198 in exactly 100 trips to the dish. Noda has taken another 12 free passes, but he has punched out 32 times. He hasn’t done any kind of damage, hitting just one homer and a trio of doubles. That longball and one of the doubles came against the Guardians on April 20. Noda doesn’t have a knock since then, as he has gone hitless in his last 11 appearances.

Skipper Mark Kotsay has continued to give Noda regular run against right-handed pitching. They’ll need to go in another direction for at least the next couple of weeks while he works to get back on track in the Pacific Coast League. Switch-hitting Abraham Toro has moved to first base for the A’s last two games against left-handed starters. Max Schuemann has stepped in at Toro’s customary second base spot for those contests.

If Davis is indeed ready to return from the adductor strain that has cost him the past two weeks, he’ll likely return to third base. That could push Tyler Nevin across the diamond. The right-handed hitting Nevin, whom the A’s claimed off waivers from the Orioles a month ago, connected on his fourth homer of the season in today’s game and is up to a .325/.375/.500 slash over 88 plate appearances.

Latest On A’s Stadium Plan

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The A’s have retained an investment banking firm in an effort to procure $500MM in private funding towards the construction of their Las Vegas ballpark, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The A’s are prepared to offer minority ownership shares in the franchise to potential investors as they put together financing for their estimated $1.5 billion stadium.

Last summer, Nevada lawmakers approved $380MM in public funding — taking the form of state tax credits, county-issued bonds and a county credit — to offset a chunk of the cost. Shortly thereafter, MLB approved the A’s relocation efforts. A political action committee has sued the state in an effort to overturn the public funding law, but there’s no indication that’s currently a serious threat to the relocation.

Even with the public money in hand, the A’s are set to pay upwards of $1.1 billion in estimated construction costs. Shaikin notes the public funding law requires the A’s to present a specific financing plan for their balance. The organization is evidently looking for half a billion dollars in outside investment to meet those obligations.

While the financial specifics were previously unclear, dangling ownership shares to investors has long been the organization’s plan. Owner John Fisher told Howard Stutz of the Nevada Independent in January that he was considering selling minority stakes to Vegas-area investors. Fisher made clear in that interview that he and his family “would retain majority ownership and (continue to) oversee operations” of the franchise.

The A’s plan to complete construction on their 33,000-seat facility on the Vegas strip in time for the 2028 season. They’re playing their final year in Oakland before a three-year move to Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park between 2025-27.

The A’s Overpowering Closer

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In what’ll be another rough season for the A’s, the front office is looking for young players to establish themselves as key long-term pieces. In the first few weeks, no one has shown more promise in that regard than Mason Miller.

Miller was a third-round pick in 2021. His stuff had taken a major step forward during his final collegiate season. As The Athletic’s Stephen Nesbitt wrote last week, Miller had a hard time keeping on weight and maintaining his strength until he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2018. While the primary concern was in allowing Miller to navigate a serious health condition, learning how to manage the issue permitted the 6’5″ righty to rapidly bulk up. His velocity spiked into the mid-upper 90s, leading the A’s to roll the dice on his upside.

Injuries essentially robbed Miller of traditional minor league development. He lost almost all of the 2022 season to shoulder issues. He had pitched all of 28 2/3 professional innings before the A’s called him up last April. He had an impressive four-start debut before reporting forearm soreness. Testing revealed a mild UCL sprain and the A’s shut him down for a few months. Miller returned in September, working 2-3 inning stints to finish the year. He closed his rookie campaign with a 3.78 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.

Oakland GM David Forst announced early in the offseason that Miller would work out of the bullpen in 2024. Forst suggested it wasn’t a permanent switch. Rather, the A’s were using the 25-year-old in shorter stints in an effort to keep him healthy before a move back to the rotation in 2025. While they certainly had high hopes that his power arsenal would translate, Miller has surpassed even the loftiest expectations in the first few weeks.

Including tonight’s four-out save in the Bronx, Miller is up to 11 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He has successfully locked down all six of his save chances. After allowing two runs in his season debut against the Guardians, he has rattled off eight straight scoreless outings. Four of those have been perfect innings in which he has recorded multiple strikeouts.

Miller has punched out 23 of 45 opposing hitters, the highest strikeout rate in the majors. His already eye-popping stuff has leveled up in short bursts. Miller’s fastball is sitting in the 100-101 MPH range. Both the heater and his upper-80s slider have been essentially untouchable.

Even in a minuscule sample, it doesn’t seem outlandish to call Miller one of the top relievers in MLB. The quality of the arsenal is self-evident. He’s missing bats at the levels we’ve seen from the likes of Edwin Díaz, Félix Bautista and Andrés Muñoz. Given his injury history, one can question whether he’ll be able to stay healthy all season. There’s no reason to doubt his talent.

Miller fell just shy of the cutoff for a full service year in 2023. The A’s control him for six seasons. He’ll qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2025-26 offseason. That’ll allow him to go through the arb process four times instead of the standard three, yet Miller could stick with the A’s through the ’29 campaign.

Opposing teams will probably try to convince Forst to put Miller on the trade block this summer, but it’s hard to see any realistic way that he gets moved. Even rebuilding clubs rarely trade relievers with the kind of talent that he possesses when they’re in their pre-arbitration seasons. That’s before considering that the A’s presumably still intend to give him a chance to compete for a rotation spot next year. If Miller turns in a full season as a top 3-5 reliever in the sport, perhaps they’d consider him too valuable to take out of the bullpen, but there’s nothing to suggest their long-term plans have changed at this point.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Zack Gelof Placed On IL With Oblique Strain

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April 25: The A’s have now made it official, placing Gelof on the IL and recalling Hernaiz as the corresponding move.

April 24: A’s second baseman Zack Gelof has been diagnosed with a left oblique strain, tweets Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The second-year infielder is likely headed to the 10-day injured list.

Oakland hasn’t provided a specific timetable for Gelof’s return, nor have they announced the variety of the strain. Even Grade 1 strains (the lowest severity) usually require multiple weeks to recover. The A’s will be hoping for a relatively quick return for one of their most talented hitters.

Gelof, a second-round pick out of UVA in 2021, was arguably the A’s best player as a rookie. He earned his first MLB call around the All-Star Break. Gelof popped 14 homers with a .267/.337/.504 batting line in his first 300 plate appearances. While he’ll need more than a half-season of strong play to establish himself as an organizational building block, his performance was a rare bright spot for a team that limped to a 50-112 record.

The right-handed hitter has started this year slowly. He’s fanned 33 times in his first 101 plate appearances, hitting .196/.260/.337. Gelof drilled a two-run homer to break a scoreless tie in the ninth and secure a 2-0 win over the Yankees on Monday before an 0-4 showing yesterday. Abdominal soreness led the A’s to scratch him from tonight’s lineup and send him for testing that apparently revealed the strain.

Gelof had started all 24 games at second base before tonight. Manager Mark Kotsay went with Abraham Toro at the keystone this evening. Toro had otherwise played either third base or designated hitter this season. If the A’s stick with Toro at second base, they could turn to Tyler Nevin at the hot corner. They recently optioned 22-year-old infielder Darell Hernaiz, who hit .103/156/.103 in his first look at MLB pitching. He seems the most logical candidate to be called back up if the A’s want to add another infielder to the big league roster. Jessica Kleinschmidt tweets that Hernaiz was removed from tonight’s Triple-A contest, seemingly in preparation for a promotion.

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