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Adam Oller

Marlins To Select Adam Oller

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The Marlins plan to select Adam Oller’s contract from Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 Houston. The righty will get the start on Monday, as the Marlins welcome the Diamondbacks for the first game of a three-game set. Oller signed a minor league deal with Miami in July.

Since the Pirates selected Oller in the 20th round of the 2016 draft, he has bounced between several organizations. After three seasons in the Pirates system, he briefly played in independent ball before signing on with the Giants in 2019. The Mets took him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft the following December, and two years later, they selected his contract to the 40-man roster to protect him from the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft. That same offseason, he was traded to the Athletics as part of the package for Chris Bassitt, and it was with Oakland that he finally made his MLB debut. Oller appeared in 19 games for the A’s in 2022, making 14 starts and pitching to a 6.30 ERA and 5.83 SIERA. He made another nine appearances, though only one start, in 2023 before he was designated for assignment. He put up a 10.07 ERA and 6.02 SIERA in 19 2/3 innings of work.

The Mariners claimed Oller off of waivers, and he finished out the 2023 season starting for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. He was DFA’d and outrighted at the end of the season, and he elected free agency in November. After that, the right-hander signed a minor league deal with the Guardians, and although he earned an invitation to spring training, he never made his way onto the big league roster. After pitching to a 7.48 ERA and 6.00 FIP over 12 appearances (six starts) for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, Oller was released by the Guardians in July.

Since joining the Marlins organization, the 29-year-old Oller has seen noticeably better results. Across six appearances (three starts) at Triple-A Jacksonville, he has a 2.88 ERA and 3.46 FIP in 25 innings pitched. His 17.3% K-BB% is the highest it’s been at any stop in his professional career since his 2021 season at Double-A.

The Marlins have gone without a No. 5 starter since they designated Kyle Tyler for assignment earlier this month. Thanks to some well-scheduled off days, they have gotten by with just Edward Cabrera, Roddery Muñoz, Valente Bellozo, and Max Meyer since Tyler’s last appearance on August 8. However, they will need another starter on Monday, and it appears Oller is the man for the job. The Marlins’ rotation has been stretched thin by injuries this season, with names like Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Eury Pérez, Braxton Garrett, Ryan Weathers, and Sixto Sánchez all currently on the 60-day IL. Thus, Miami will look to Oller to provide innings as they try to ride out the rest of a thoroughly disappointing season.

Before putting Oller on the mound, the Marlins will need to make room for the right-hander on the 26 and 40-man rosters. One way for Miami to free up a 40-man spot would be to transfer outfielder Dane Myers from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL if the team does not think he will return from his fractured ankle before September 13. Alternatively, the Marlins could DFA a reliever like Brett de Geus or Kent Emanuel.

Marlins Sign Adam Oller To Minor League Deal

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The Marlins have signed right-hander Adam Oller to a minor league deal, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 on X. The righty will presumably report to Triple-A Jacksonville at some point in the near future.

Oller, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Guardians in the offseason but was released last week. He had tossed 27 2/3 innings for Triple-A Columbus in a swing role, including six starts and six relief appearances. His 7.48 earned run average in that time was obviously not great and surely contributed to the Guards deciding to let him go, along with his 14.4% walk rate. But he also punched out 26.4% of batters faced, which is a strong clip.

Prior to this season, Oller was with the A’s for a while, coming over from the Mets in the Chris Bassitt trade from March of 2022. He tossed 94 big league innings with Oakland over 2022 and 2023 but with a 7.09 ERA, 13.5% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate. He went to the Mariners on waivers in July of last year but was kept on optional assignment and struggled before being outrighted at season’s end.

Despite the rough numbers of late, there’s logic to the interest from the Marlins. Going back to the start of 2021, Oller has struck out 25.2% of batters faced in 293 2/3 minor league innings. His 4.93 ERA in that time isn’t great, but teams are generally on the lookout for pitchers who can get punchouts.

The Marlins have had their pitching staff decimated by injuries this year, with Braxton Garrett currently on the 15-day injured list while each of Sandy Alcántara, Eury Pérez, Jesús Luzardo, Sixto Sánchez, Ryan Weathers and Josh Simpson are on the 60-day version. As a deadline seller, they could further deplete the staff by trading guys like Tanner Scott, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera and others in the next few weeks.

If Oller can get onto Miami’s roster, he still has one option season remaining and less than a year of service time. If he brings his strikeout stuff to the big leagues, that could make him a long-term piece for the Fish, though he’ll have to earn his way into their plans first.

Guardians Release Adam Oller

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The Guardians have released right-hander Adam Oller, per an announcement from their official player development account on X. The righty will head to free agency and look for his next opportunity.

Oller, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Guards in the offseason. He’s been working in a swing role in Triple-A this year, with six starts and six relief appearances. Unfortunately, the results haven’t been there for him this year, as he’s allowed 7.48 earned runs per nine innings. His 26.4% strikeout rate has been strong but he walked 14.4% of batters faced and allowed six home runs, a rate of 22.2% per fly ball.

The Guardians have had needs in the rotation this year, with Shane Bieber requiring Tommy John surgery and Gavin Williams spending the first half of the season on the injured list. On top of that, Triston McKenzie, Carlos Carrasco and Logan Allen have struggled to put up good numbers. But Oller never got the call, presumably because of his own struggles. Williams was recently reinstated from the IL with McKenzie getting optioned to Triple-A, which could have indirectly led to Oller getting nudged off the Columbus roster.

Oller posted good results in the Mets’ system in 2021. He logged 120 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.45 ERA, 27.7% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. The A’s acquired him and J.T. Ginn prior to 2022, sending Chris Bassitt to the Mets. That led to a big league audition over the past two years but Oller couldn’t land the gig, posting an ERA of 7.09 over 94 innings in 2022 and 2023. He was put on waivers and claimed by the Mariners in July of last year, but was outrighted off the roster at season’s end, which led to his deal with the Guards.

Though the results haven’t been good over the past couple of years, Oller was a notable prospect not too long ago. His numbers have been poor overall this year but he’s still been getting strikeouts, which is something that teams obviously covet. If he lands another minor league deal and eventually gets back onto a 40-man roster, he still has one option season and less than a year of service time.

Guardians, Adam Oller Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Guardians have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Adam Oller, reports Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2. The Gaeta Sports client will receive an invitation to Major League spring training and reunite with former teammate and new Cleveland skipper Stephen Vogt with this deal.

Oller, 29, was traded from the Mets to the A’s alongside prospect J.T. Ginn in the 2021-22 offseason trade that sent Chris Bassitt from Oakland to Queens. He spent parts of two seasons with the A’s and logged 94 innings between their rotation and bullpen, but Oller was hit hard in that time. Big league opponents turned in a .294/.378/.556 batting line against Oller in spite of his pitcher-friendly home environs, and by the time Oakland designated him for assignment, he’d been roughed up for a 7.09 ERA. The right-hander has fanned 13.5% of his opponents against an 11.6% walk rate.

Major League struggles notwithstanding, Oller was sharp at the Triple-A level both in 2021 with the Mets (2.45 ERA in 44 innings) and in 2022 with the A’s (3.69 ERA in 31 1/3 innings). He struggled with the top affiliates of both the A’s and Mariners (who claimed him from Oakland) during the most recent campaign, but Oller’s overall minor league track record has the look of a potential depth starter or swingman if he can shake off a tough ’23 campaign.

The Guardians’ pitching staff experienced an enormous amount of turnover in 2023, but Cleveland’s nearly unrivaled ability to churn out quality arms remained on display. A series of injuries and poor performances led the Guards to call up top prospects Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen and Gavin Williams for each pitcher’s big league debut, and all three hit the ground running. That trio looks like the focal point of the rotation moving forward.

Cleveland surely hopes that impressive young righty Triston McKenzie will be back to full strength to join them after a teres major strain and a UCL sprain shortened his season. Former AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber has another year of club control remaining, but he was limited by injuries as well and has been floated as a potential offseason trade candidate with just one year to go before he reaches the open market. Cal Quantrill, who struggled immensely in 2023, is also still under club control, while depth options like Xzavion Curry, Joey Cantillo and Hunter Gaddis are all on the 40-man roster, too.

Mets Claim Penn Murfee From Mariners

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The Mariners announced several roster moves this afternoon, chief among them the departure of right-hander Penn Murfee, who was claimed off waivers by the Mets.  In addition, the Mariners assigned three players outright to Triple-A: catcher Luis Torrens along with right-handers Easton McGee and Adam Oller.

Murfee underwent UCL surgery back in June and is expected to miss at least the first half of the 2024 campaign.  Prior to his injury, Murfee had a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings for Seattle in 2023, following up on a 2022 rookie season that saw the righty post a 2.99 ERA in 69 1/3 frames of work.  For his career, Murfee has an impressive 27.6% strikeout rate and an 8.5% walk rate, though that latter number rose significantly from a 6.6BB% in 2022 to an ungainly 17.2% total this past season.

Between the UCL injury and Murfee’s spike in walks, the Mariners had some legitimate reasons for seeing the reliever as expendable, and Murfee is also turning 30 in May.  On the other hand, Murfee had some very strong numbers since becoming a full-time reliever in the minors in 2021, and he hasn’t yet reached his arbitration years.  Should Murfee return in good health, the Mets might’ve landed themselves some quality relief help for some portion of the 2024 season and beyond, as Murfee is controlled through the 2028 season.

Torrens has the right to reject the outright assignment and elect free agency, since he has previously been outrighted in his career.  Oller and McGee, meanwhile, lack the requisite service time to reject their assignments but still figure to be eligible for minor league free agency in November.

Now perhaps nearing the end of his second stint with the Mariners, Torrens was signed to a minor league deal back in August.  Seattle didn’t tender Torrens a contract last winter, and he subsequently signed a minors contract with the Cubs before eventually moving to the Orioles and Nationals in other transactions over the course of a journeyman season for the 27-year-old catcher.  Brought back as some catching depth after Tom Murphy was injured, Torrens appeared in five MLB games with the M’s, to go along with the 13 Major League appearances he made with the Cubs during the 2023 campaign.

Never known for his defense, Torrens’ market will be limited since some teams go glovework-first when considering backup catcher options.  Torres did hit 15 homers as recently as 2021 when it looked like he might be carving out a place for himself in Seattle’s catching mix, but he has a .227/.289/.354 slash line over his 807 career plate appearances in the majors.

Torrens will surely catch on somewhere on a new minor league deal since teams are always in need of catching depth, yet he might need some spark at the plate to keep himself from another carousel of roster transactions.  This winter marked Torrens’ second trip through the arbitration process, and since he was projected to earn $1.3MM in 2024, it made for a pretty easy decision for the Mariners to part ways.

Like Murfee, McGee is in the midst of a lengthy rehab, as he underwent Tommy John surgery back in May.  That will keep the right-hander out until at least halfway through the 2024 season, with the timeline perhaps a little fluid depending on both health and whether or not McGee is built back up for a starters’ workload.  McGee has worked mostly as a starter throughout his pro career, though the Mariners (or a new team) could bring him back as a reliever next year as a way of getting him back into the field, and then fully stretching him back out in Spring Training 2025.

McGee (who turns 26 in December) was a Rays fourth-round selection in the 2016 draft, and his big league experience to date has consisted of exactly two games — three innings in an outing with Tampa in 2022, and a 6 2/3-inning start with Seattle in 2023.  His minor league resume consists of 485 1/3 innings and a 4.30 ERA, including a 4.78 ERA over 141 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level.  McGee isn’t a big strikeout pitcher, relying on good control and grounders to get results.

All of Oller’s MLB experience came with the Athletics (94 innings in 28 games) in 2022-23, though he has been part of five different organizations in his career.  Oller was a Rule 5 Draft selection for the Mets off the Giants’ roster in 2019, and Oller was part of the trade package New York sent to the A’s for Chris Bassitt prior to the 2022 season.  Seattle claimed Oller off waivers from the A’s in July but he never made any appearances for the M’s at the big league level.

Oller has a 7.09 ERA over his 94 innings for Oakland, and a 4.50 ERA in 526 1/3 career innings in the minors.  It seemed as though Oller had turned a corner in 2021 with an impressive years in the Mets’ farm system, but things soured in 2023 as Oller struggles both the big leagues, and at the Triple-A level with the Athletics’ and Mariners’ top affiliates.

Mariners Claim Adam Oller

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2:45pm: The Mariners have now officially announced the claim and that Oller will report to Triple-A Tacoma.

1:15pm: The Mariners have claimed right-hander Adam Oller off waivers from the Athletics, reports Jessica Kleinschmidt. The A’s hadn’t formally announced it, but Oller had recently been placed on outright waivers. The Mariners will assign Oller to Triple-A Tacoma for the time being, a source tells MLBTR. The Mariners haven’t announced the move yet, but they had multiple openings on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary.

Oller, 28, was acquired from the Mets alongside fellow right-hander J.T. Ginn in the trade that sent Chris Bassitt from Oakland to New York. He’s appeared in each of the past two seasons with Oakland — his first big league experience — but struggled to a 7.09 ERA with a 12.9% strikeout rate against an 11.9% walk rate in 94 innings. At the time of the trade, Oller was ranked 20th among Mets farmhands, per Baseball America, whose report tabbed him as a largely MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation starter or bulk reliever. Oller hasn’t thrown his slider as hard as advertised, however, and his swinging-strike rate and overall strikeout rate have both suffered as a result.

Oller posted a 3.45 ERA in 120 innings between the Mets’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2021, winning the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year award in the process. Though he struggled in the Majors last year, he still put up a 3.69 ERA at the Triple-A level. In 2023, however, he’s been hit hard both in the big leagues and the minors; he’s sitting on a 7.11 ERA in 50 2/3 frames, albeit with a solid 25.2% strikeout rate against a 10.3% walk rate.

For the Mariners, Oller will serve as depth either in an injury-plagued rotation or in a swingman role. Seattle lost 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray to flexor and Tommy John surgery early in the season, and the M’s currently have Marco Gonzales (forearm strain) and Bryce Miller (blisters) on the injured list at the moment. They’re currently using rookie Bryan Woo in the rotation and also turned to journeyman southpaw Tommy Milone for a start not long before the break. Oller, who’s in the second of three minor league option years, can provide some up-and-down depth moving forward.

The Mariners have done well with low-profile pitching acquisitions in recent years, most notably turning minor league signee Paul Sewald into a high-end reliever. They’ve also coaxed strong performances out of unheralded trade acquisition Justin Topa and waiver pickups like Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo so far in 2023. They’ll aim to add Oller to that growing list of pitching successes.

Oller becomes the second pitcher acquired during the Athletics’ fire sale to depart the organization in under two years. The A’s also lost left-hander Zach Logue — acquired in the Matt Chapman trade — to the Tigers on waivers over the winter. Of the seven young pitchers they’ve tried in the rotation since acquiring them as part of the latest teardown, only southpaw JP Sears (4.32 ERA) has an ERA under 6.00. Not every arm they’ve acquired has pitched in the Majors yet, of course, but the early results of the Athletics’ latest wave of trades have not boded well, to say the least.

Athletics Select Tyler Wade, Designate Cal Stevenson

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The A’s announced a series of roster moves today, recalling left-hander Hogan Harris and selecting utility player Tyler Wade. In corresponding moves, righty Adam Oller and infielder Nick Allen were optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. To open a spot for Wade on the 40-man roster, outfielder Cal Stevenson was designated for assignment.

Wade is back in the majors for what’ll be a seventh straight year. A longtime prospect of some regard with the Yankees, the left-handed hitter settled into a depth role in the Bronx. He never tallied more than 145 plate appearances in a season, though he got into 103 games as a frequent pinch-runner and defensive replacement in 2021. Wade’s plus speed has allowed him to swipe 38 bases in his MLB career.

The 28-year-old got his most notable playing time after being traded to the Angels heading into 2022. He picked up 163 trips to the plate but only connected on one home run with a .218/.272/.272 batting line. The Halos outrighted him off their 40-man roster and traded him back to the Yankees last summer. He didn’t return to the majors with New York and elected minor league free agency at year’s end.

Wade hooked on with the A’s on a non-roster deal and has appeared in ten games for Las Vegas. He doesn’t have an extra-base hit but has walked six times while striking out on just seven occasions. Between his contact skills, speed and ability to cover any infield position and all three outfield spots, he’s earned a look on the big league bench. Wade doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so the A’s will have to keep him in the big leagues or designate him for assignment now that he’s secured a spot on the 40-man roster.

While Wade steps into the infield mix, Oakland sends Allen out for the moment. The defensive specialist has long been regarded as one of the better prospects in the A’s system. He’s an excellent gloveman at both middle infield positions but faces questions about his offensive upside. Allen limped to a .207/.256/.291 line over 326 plate appearances as a rookie last season. He’s gotten starts in just five of the first 13 games this year and opened the season in a 1-16 slump. Oakland has given Aledmys Díaz and Kevin Smith most of the shortstop run in the past few days.

Wade’s promotion necessitated bumping a player from the 40-man roster. Stevenson loses his spot despite starting the season with eight hits and six walks over 29 plate appearances for Las Vegas. The 26-year-old outfielder hasn’t gotten much run at the major league level, appearing in 23 games last season with the A’s and struggling to a .167/.261/.217 line after being acquired in the Christian Bethancourt trade.

A former tenth round pick, Stevenson has been involved in a few trades as a professional. He’s also appeared in the Blue Jays, Astros and Tampa Bay organizations and put together an impressive .294/.409/.420 line over parts of five minor league seasons. Stevenson has never gotten much favor from prospect evaluators despite his plate discipline, largely because of limited power potential in his 5’9″ frame. Oakland will have a week to trade him or look to run him through waivers.

A’s Notes: Allen, Diaz, Noda, Oller, Sears

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The A’s are planning to open the season with a platoon arrangement at shortstop, manager Mark Kotsay said over the weekend (link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). Aledmys Díaz will get the bulk of the reps, taking playing time against right-handed pitching. Nick Allen will work on the short side of the platoon, with the right-handed hitting Díaz moving to another infield position against southpaws.

Allen picked up 57 starts at shortstop and 35 games at second base last season. The defensive specialist rated highly with the glove at both positions. Longstanding questions about his offensive impact continued during his rookie season, however. The 24-year-old hit only .207/.256/.291 in his first 326 big league plate appearances. Allen made a decent amount of contact but rarely hit the ball with any kind of authority, at least against right-handed pitching. He mustered only a .179/.232/.226 line with one home run in 232 plate appearances without the platoon advantage. Allen connected on a trio of longballs with a .276/.315/.448 slash in 96 trips to the dish against southpaws.

Despite those glaring small-sample splits, it’s a little surprising a rebuilding Oakland club plans to limit Allen’s exposure against right-handed pitching. He’d need to take a significant step forward against northpaws if he’s to emerge as a potential bottom-of-the-lineup regular down the line. Nevertheless, the A’s are set to give the majority of the playing time to Díaz, who signed a two-year free agent deal over the winter. The seven-year MLB veteran has been a solid hitter against left and right-handed pitching alike in his career, though he’s never played particularly good defense at shortstop.

Díaz has rated as a solid gloveman at second and third base, where he figures to take some reps against left-handed pitching. Tony Kemp and Jace Peterson both hit from the left side and have struggled against southpaws in their careers. That’s also true of first base/corner outfield option Seth Brown.

Rule 5 draftee Ryan Noda also hits from the left side and will factor into the infield at first base. The club recently informed the former 15th-round pick he’s made the Opening Day roster, Kawahara tweets. Noda, who turns 27 on Thursday, will get an MLB crack after six seasons in the minors. He spent the 2022 campaign with the Dodgers’ top affiliate in Oklahoma City, hitting .259/.395/.474 with 25 home runs and a huge 16% walk rate over 574 trips to the plate. The Cincinnati product struck out in 25 of 52 at-bats this spring, but that wasn’t enough for the Oakland front office to look past his strong offensive track record against minor league pitching.

The A’s will have to carry Noda on the MLB roster or injured list for the entire season in order to permanently obtain his contractual rights. If Oakland decided to take him off the roster, they’d have to make him available on waivers and then offer him back to L.A. if he goes unclaimed.

Another question facing the coaching staff and front office this week is how to align the starting rotation. Paul Blackburn was already known to be headed to the injured list and Kotsay indicated over the weekend that Drew Rucinski would join him. The A’s have tabbed left-hander Kyle Muller as the Opening Day starter, with Ken Waldichuk, James Kaprielian and Shintaro Fujinami also in the rotation. The fifth spot is still up for grabs between Adam Oller and JP Sears, though Kotsay said tonight that both pitchers will be on the season-opening active roster (via Kawahara).

One of that duo will move to long relief, with Oller seeming the likelier bet. He’s come out of the bullpen for three of his six outings this spring, while Sears has started four of five appearances. Both pitchers made their big league debuts in 2022, with Sears having a better first crack. Oller surrendered a 6.30 ERA in 74 1/3 innings; Sears pitched to a 3.86 mark over 70 frames, albeit with a modest 17.7% strikeout percentage.

Latest On A’s Rotation

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The A’s entered camp with a host of pitchers competing for what appeared to be two rotation spots. Another opened during Spring Training, as righty Paul Blackburn tore a fingernail and will start the year on the injured list. That left Drew Rucinski and Shintaro Fujinami as the apparent top two. For different reasons, there are questions about the workload both hurlers can shoulder.

Rucinski won’t make his next scheduled Spring Training start because of left hamstring tightness, manager Mark Kotsay said this afternoon (relayed by Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). His availability for Opening Day is now uncertain. Signed to a $3MM free agent deal after four seasons with the NC Dinos in the Korea Baseball Organization, Rucinski has pitched three times this spring. The right-hander has allowed eight runs with a 7:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 10 1/3 innings.

Fujinami isn’t dealing with any health concerns. The A’s are planning to be cautious with his workload as he makes the jump from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, however. Starters in Japan typically only throw once per week, so a five-day rotation presents an adjustment for hurlers coming over from NPB. Kotsay indicated this week that Oakland would limit Fujinami to starts every sixth or seventh day early in the season to avoid overworking him (link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle).

“We feel strongly about keeping him in that routine,” Kotsay told reporters. “There is a lot of change going on already for Fuji, so we want to try to at least keep something as consistent as possible and that’s his routines.” The 6’6″ right-hander signed for $3.25MM this offseason, with the A’s rolling the dice on a high-octane arsenal despite an inconsistent strike-throwing track record in Japan.

Control woes kept Fujinami from holding a permanent rotation spot with the Hanshin Tigers over the past few seasons. He’d bounced between the Tigers and their minor league affiliate and between the starting staff and the bullpen. Altogether, Fujinami tallied 107 1/3 innings last season. That was the first time he’d topped the century mark since 2018, so it’s not surprising the A’s want to keep an eye on his workload.

Oakland has maintained they’re committed to Fujinami as a starting pitcher. It’s an upside play that could make him an intriguing trade candidate if he establishes himself closer to the summer deadline. Fujinami has been erratic this spring, striking out 17 but issuing 13 walks in 12 2/3 frames over three outings.

With only one pitcher now locked into the season-opening rotation and coming with workload concerns of his own, Oakland will obviously have to plug a number of vacancies. As Kawahara writes in a separate piece, righty James Kaprielian seems on track to grab a rotation job. While he’d been delayed in camp recovering fromDecember shoulder surgery, he built up to five innings in today’s exhibition start against the Cubs. The former Yankee first-rounder started 26 games and threw 134 innings last year, working to a 4.23 ERA despite below-average strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates.

A number of recent trade acquisitions are among those battling for rotation spots alongside Fujinami, Kaprielian and hopefully Rucinski. Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears, both acquired from the Yankees in last summer’s Frankie Montas deal, could have the inside track on jobs after debuting last season. Lefty Kyle Muller, brought in from Atlanta this winter in the Sean Murphy package, remains in camp.

So does righty Adam Oller, who came over from the Mets in the Chris Bassitt trade a year ago. Oller started 14 of 19 MLB appearances as a rookie but was hit hard, surrendering more than six earned runs per nine innings. Kawahara suggests the righty could be ticketed for long relief instead of the rotation. The 28-year-old told reporters he was open to whatever role the club preferred. “I knew going into this year (a swing role) was going to be a possibility,” Oller said (via Kawahara). “I spoke to Kotsay … and I told him straight up, ‘I don’t care.’ Obviously, everybody wants to be a starter, but at the end of the day, I just want to be on the team and do what I can to help the team win.“

Sorting Through The Athletics’ Rotation Options

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The A’s formally announced newly signed right-hander Shintaro Fujinami at a press conference last week, where general manager David Forst confirmed that Fujinami is indeed viewed as a starting pitcher. That’s the role he’s held in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the bulk of his career, so perhaps it’s not a surprise, but Fujinami is a hard-throwing righty with command issues, so there was a case to be made for putting him in the ’pen.

Beyond that, the simple fact is that even prior to signing Fujinami, the A’s had more rotation candidates than rotation spots. That’s not an especially common spot for a rebuilding club to find itself, but Oakland has zeroed in on bulk pitching acquisition over the course of its fire sale/teardown. The front office didn’t target exclusively pitchers, but the A’s nonetheless have as many as seven rotation candidates who’ve been acquired via trade within the past calendar year on the 40-man roster.

No team is going to rely on five starters to get through a season, and even getting through a year with “only” seven or eight starters is a luxury to which most teams cannot lay claim in the modern baseball landscape. That said, the A’s stand out as a team that might lean on 15 or more starting pitchers to get through the season, given the lack of established talent, the glut of nearly MLB-ready arms on the roster and the potential for an in-season trade involving just about any likely member of the rotation.

Let’s take a look at what the starting staff might look like…

The Locks

Cole Irvin, LHP: Not many trades that end up sending cash back to a player’s former team work out better than the acquisition of Irvin has for the A’s. It’s been nearly two years to the day since Oakland picked him up from the Phillies in exchange for cash, and he’s made 62 starts of 4.11 ERA ball with a well below-average 16.8% strikeout rate but a superb 5.2% walk rate.

With four years of club control remaining, it’d be a surprise if Irvin hasn’t at least generated some cursory trade interest this winter, although his glaring home/road splits might not help his cause much. Dating back to Opening Day 2021, the lefty owns a 3.44 ERA at home, where opponents have batted just .243/.288/.355 against him in nearly 800 plate appearances. In that same timeframe, Irvin’s road ERA is a more alarming 4.88, and opponents have pounced on him for a .285/.330/.491 slash.

Splits notwithstanding, Irvin is a perfectly viable fourth/fifth starter, but a team that plays its home games in a more hitter-friendly environment might be understandably dissuaded from giving up too much young talent to acquire him. That’s fine for the A’s for now, given Irvin’s remaining club control and the simple fact that they’ll need some dependability on the staff. If he’s pitching well come July, he’ll be a feasible trade candidate (particularly with an arbitration raise looming next offseason).

Paul Blackburn, RHP: It’s easy to call Blackburn, who made the 2022 All-Star team but finished the year with a 4.28 ERA, a token All-Star who was only chosen because every team needs a representative. Perhaps there’s some truth to that, too, but as I noted last summer, Blackburn was a plenty deserving selection and a fairly intriguing trade chip at one point. Through July 2, he’d pitched 87 innings of 2.90 ERA ball with three times as many strikeouts as walks (18.8% to 6.2%) and a strong 48.7% grounder rate. His .280 BABIP and 80.7% left-on-base rate pointed to some likely regression, but based on results alone, Blackburn was pretty good.

Things went off the rails almost immediately thereafter, however. Blackburn tried for several weeks to pitch through pain that’d arisen in his pitching hand, but he was shelled for 21 runs in a span of 14 1/3 innings. He eventually landed on the injured list due to that pain, and testing revealed that he’d torn the tendon sheath in his right middle finger. He was placed in a splint for up to eight weeks, and his season was over.

Time will tell whether Blackburn can replicate his production from the first three months of the 2022 season, but as long as he’s healthy, he’ll be given every opportunity to prove it was sustainable. Blackburn only has three seasons of club control remaining, so if he’s healthy and pitching well this summer, expect to hear his name pop up in rumors.

Newcomers Who’ll Be Given a Chance

Shintaro Fujinami, RHP: The former high school rival of Shohei Ohtani, Fujinami was once lauded as a prospect nearly as much as the current Angels phenom. Fujinami, 28, stepped right from his high school rotation into the rotation of Japan’s Hanshin Tigers, posting a 2.75 ERA in 137 2/3 innings as a rookie in Nippon Professional Baseball. He was a multi-time All-Star and budding phenom in his first four years in Japan, pitching to a sub-3.00 ERA each season. His career has come off the rails since that time, though, and Fujinami comes to Oakland as a hard-throwing but command-challenged project. At 6’6″, he’s armed with a fastball that can reach triple digits and a splitter and slider that have both, at times, made hitters look silly. He’s also been shuttled between the Tigers’ top team and minor league team in NPB for several seasons while displaying troubling walk rates and looking like a shell of the potential star he was early in his pro career.

Drew Rucinski, RHP: In the past five years, the now-34-year-old Rucinski went from nondescript, replacement-level MLB pitcher to a powerhouse workhorse for the KBO’s NC Dinos. Rucinski started 121 games dating back to 2019 and has posted an ERA between 3.17 and 2.93 each season. Along the way, he’s whiffed 21.5% of opposing batters, walked just 6.3% of them and posted a superhuman 66% ground-ball rate. The A’s signed Rucinski for a year and $3MM, with a 2024 club option valued at $5MM. If he can carry over any of that KBO form to the Coliseum, he’ll be a durable source of innings and a nice summer trade chip.

The Out-of-Options Arm Who’ll Make the Staff in Some Capacity

James Kaprielian, RHP: A former first-round pick of the Yankees who was sent to Oakland as part of the Sonny Gray trade, Kaprielian has been injured more often than he’s been healthy. He looked to be turning a corner over the past two seasons, logging a combined 4.16 ERA in 253 1/3 innings over the life of 50 games (47 of them starts). However, Kaprielian had shoulder surgery this offseason, and it’s not clear whether he’ll be ready to go for Opening Day. Manager Mark Kotsay said at the time of Kaprielian’s surgery that the organization expected him to be ready, but Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News recently suggested that the soon-to-be 29-year-old might miss time early in the year. (If that’s indeed the case, he’ll land on the IL alongside rotation hopeful Daulton Jefferies, who’ll miss all of 2023 after undergoing both thoracic outlet surgery and Tommy John surgery.) Kaprielian is out of minor league options, so whenever he’s healthy, he’ll be on the roster either as a starter or perhaps a multi-inning reliever — it’s a just a matter of when that time will be.

Candidates for the Remaining Rotation Innings

(Note: all players in this section have six-plus seasons of club control remaining)

Adrian Martinez, RHP (two remaining option years): One of two players acquired in the trade that sent Sean Manaea to San Diego, Martinez was roughed up for a 6.24 ERA in 57 2/3 innings in last year’s MLB debut. It’s a rough showing, to be sure, but his 20.5% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate both portend better production. Martinez’s 2.03 HR/9 mark was one of the highest in the game, and only four of the 344 pitchers who threw at least 50 innings in 2022 saw a larger percentage of their fly-balls become home runs than Martinez’s 19.7%. That HR/FB rate, in particular, is ripe for positive regression, even before considering the A’s spacious home park. Metrics like xFIP (4.11) and SIERA (4.16), which normalize HR/FB to league-average levels, feel that Martinez was vastly better than his basic earned run average.

Ken Waldichuk, LHP (three option years): A key piece in the trade sending Frankie Montas to the Bronx, Waldichuk held his own in a seven-start debut (4.93 ERA, 33-to-10 K/BB ratio in 34 2/3 innings). His final outing, featuring seven shutout frames against the Angels, was a particularly high note on which to finish. On top of those 34 2/3 MLB frames, Waldichuk logged 95 innings of 2.84 ERA ball between Double-A and Triple-A. He’s arguably the most highly regarded member of this bunch, and he should have multiple opportunities to win a rotation spot over the next 12 to 18 months in Oakland.

Kyle Muller, LHP (one option year): A 2016 second-round pick by the Braves (who traded him to Oakland in the Sean Murphy deal), Muller has at times been ranked among the sport’s 100 best prospects at various outlets, but his stock has dimmed a bit since that time. He’s managed just a 5.14 ERA in 49 MLB innings, but he spent the bulk of his 2022 season pitching to a 3.41 ERA in 134 1/3 Triple-A innings (23 starts). Muller punched out a hefty 29.3% of his opponents. Muller can reach the upper 90s with his heater, draws plus grades on his slider and now that he’s out of a more crowded rotation mix in Atlanta, should have a clear path to innings with the A’s. He’s out of options after the 2023 season, so it’s in Oakland’s best interest to give him a chance sooner than later.

JP Sears, LHP (two option years): Prior to Oakland’s dice rolls on Rucinski and Fujinami, Sears might’ve been a favorite to break camp in the rotation after pitching to a 3.86 ERA in 70 innings as a rookie last year. Acquired in the Montas trade along with Waldichuk, the 5’11” lefty has dominated Triple-A (2.32 ERA in 101 career innings), but a return to that level might be his most straightforward path to starter’s innings early in the season. Sears, who’ll turn 27 in a few weeks, isn’t the prototypical “prospect,” as he doesn’t throw especially hard and has relied more on plus command than overpowering stuff to find success in the minors. It’s a recipe that’s worked well for Oakland pitchers in the past, thanks to the Coliseum’s cavernous dimensions. Even if he doesn’t break camp on the roster, he’ll probably start a fair number of games for the A’s in 2023.

Freddy Tarnok, RHP (two option years): Another piece of Oakland’s return for Murphy, Tarnok has all of 44 2/3 innings above Double-A under his belt (including a tiny two-thirds of an inning MLB debut in 2022). That lack of upper minors experience, coupled with the breadth of options for the Athletics’ rotation, should probably ticket him for Triple-A work to start the season. Several scouting reports on the 6’3″ Tarnok suggest his ultimate home might be in the bullpen, where a fastball that can already reach 98 mph might play up further. He’s never reached 110 innings in a professional season, so in addition to getting some needed reps against Triple-A lineups, he’ll also be looking to build out his workload.

Luis Medina, RHP (one option year): Yet another piece of the Montas return, Medina pitched to a 3.38 ERA in 17 Double-A starts with the Yankees before being blown up for a calamitous 11.76 ERA in seven starts (20 2/3 innings) with the Athletics’ Double-A club. Command has long been an issue for Medina, but he took that concern to new heights with the A’s, walking 22 of the 114 batters he faced following the trade. FanGraphs lauds Medina’s plus breaking ball and elite arm strength, while Baseball America notes that his heater has reached 103 mph in the past. The huge command concerns could lead to a future in the bullpen. Medina isn’t likely to win a starting job early in the season, but the A’s can continue trying to refine his ability to locate the ball in hopes of hitting the jackpot on a starter with this type of repertoire. If not, a move to the ’pen could put him on a fast track to the Majors.

Adam Oller, RHP (two option years): The A’s picked up Oller as one of two arms in the trade sending Chris Bassitt to the Mets. Nineteen appearances later (14 starts), he has a 6.30 big league ERA under his belt with nearly as many walks (39) as strikeouts (46) in 74 1/3 innings. It wasn’t the start anyone hoped for, but Oller posted a solid 3.69 ERA in seven Triple-A starts. Oller always profiled as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter, and even the A’s massive home park couldn’t curtail the right-hander’s home run issues (2.06 HR/9). A bullpen role where he works multiple innings is feasible, as is a return to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Other Recent Trade Acquisitions

J.T. Ginn, RHP: Ginn missed more than three months of the 2022 season with a forearm injury and was clobbered for a 6.11 ERA in 10 starts of Double-A ball when healthy. He came to the A’s alongside Oller in the Bassitt trade and, as a 2020 second-rounder, was the more highly regarded get for Oakland. He’s not on the 40-man roster yet and is still only 23, so there’s plenty of time for him to right the ship, but he’s not on the immediate rotation radar.

Ryan Cusick, RHP: The Braves’ top pick in 2021, Cusick was traded to Oakland in the Matt Olson swap. Like Ginn, he spent much of the season on the injured list (in his case, due to a rib fracture). Also like Ginn, he was hit hard in Double-A when healthy, yielding a 7.02 ERA in 41 frames. He’s not Rule 5-eligible until after the 2024 season, so there’s no rush.

Joey Estes, RHP: Acquired from the Braves alongside Cusick, Estes handled older competition in High-A reasonably well. His 4.55 ERA wasn’t especially eye-catching, but he whiffed 23.8% of his opponents against a strong 7.8% walk rate in 91 innings. Home runs were an issue, but that’s two straight years of nice K-BB numbers against older competition for Estes.

Gunnar Hoglund, RHP: Hoglund would’ve been a top-10 pick in 2021 had he not required Tommy John surgery during his junior year of college, but the Blue Jays still liked him enough to take him at No. 19 and the A’s still liked him enough to make him the headliner in the Matt Chapman deal. Hoglund only pitched eight innings late in the 2022 season as he worked back from that ligament replacement procedure, so he’s nowhere close to the big leagues. His development will be worth keeping an eye on, though. Lefty Zach Logue, acquired alongside Hoglund, has already been designated for assignment, claimed by the Tigers and then passed through waivers in Detroit. He surrendered a 6.79 ERA through 57 innings as a rookie last year and actually posted an even grislier 8.12 ERA in 78 2/3 Triple-A frames.

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Amazingly, even after all of their recent trades of star-caliber players, the organization’s lone entrant on Baseball America’s Top 100 list is catcher Tyler Soderstrom — who, unlike every single one of the names mentioned prior, was drafted by the A’s. Part of that is borne out of the Athletics’ penchant for prioritizing near-MLB players in trades (as opposed to further off, more highly touted prospects), but it’s still rather surprising to see.

Nevertheless, while the A’s aren’t going to win many games in 2023, they’re brimming with young arms who could eventually hold down spots in the rotation. Attrition rate among young pitchers is enormous, and many of these names will be lost to injury, shift to the bullpen, or pitch themselves off the roster entirely. For now, it’ll be fascinating to see how many of Oakland’s young arms can solidify themselves in the big leagues, because their ability to do so (or lack thereof) will be a driving factor in the latest rebuild phase.

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