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Athletics Designate Santiago Casilla, Select J.B. Wendelken

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The Athletics have made a series of roster moves; most notably among them is the DFA of right-hander Santiago Casilla. The club also selected the contract of 25-year-old righty J.B. Wendelken, while simultaneously optioning righty Ryan Dull, promoting infielder Franklin Barreto and reinstating righty Daniel Mengden from the 10-day DL.

It’s been a solid enough season for the 37-year-old Casilla on the surface, who owns a 3.16 ERA through 31 1/3 innings pitched. But his 4.08 FIP and 5.80 xFIP paint a wildly different picture. He’s also walked nearly as many hitters (20) as he’s managed to strike out (22), in part due to a career-low 9.0% swinging strike rate. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle notes, he’s likely to go unclaimed; Casilla is in the second season of a two-year, $11MM deal, and any claiming team would be on the hook for the prorated portion of his salary. He’ll likely be given the choice to accept a minor league assignment.

Wendelken will be making his first appearance in the majors since 2016, when he tossed 12 2/3 rough innings for the Athletics to the tune of a 9.95 ERA. The right-hander ultimately required Tommy John surgery, and remained out of commission until the beginning of this season. Thus far at the Triple-A level, he’s chucked a healthy 28 1/3 innings, managing a 3.49 ERA (2.39 FIP). The most impressive part about Wendelken’s performance this year is a whopping 14.29 K/9 against just 2.54 BB/9; it certainly seems likely that he’ll prove an upgrade over Casilla.

Mengden, 25, hasn’t pitched since June 23rd after suffering a right foot sprain during a start in which he gave up five earned runs across just two innings. While Mengden certainly isn’t known as an overpowering pitcher (5.46 K/9), he limits walks (1.89 BB/9) and has posted a 4.47 ERA on the season thus far in 90 2/3 innings.

A’s Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day DL, Recall Franklin Barreto

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The Athletics have made a series of roster moves in advance of today’s game against the Angels. The club’s PR department announced that third baseman Matt Chapman has been placed on the DL with a right thumb contusion, retroactive to yesterday. In a related move, the club has recalled infielder Franklin Barreto. Right-hander Josh Lucas has also been recalled, with fellow righty Carlos Ramirez headed to Triple-A in order to make room on the active roster.

As the PR department mentions in the above link, Chapman had played in all 69 of the A’s games prior to today. He’s hit 10 homers on the year and is batting .250/.346/.447. Chapman was hit by a pitch on the hand in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game against the Astros. Because he remained in the game, it seemed at the time as though the injury wasn’t serious, but his placement on the DL says otherwise.

Barreto, meanwhile, will be up for his third bout with the MLB club this season. Long considered one of the organization’s top prospects, the young infielder has managed just a .182/.241/.325 batting line across 83 career plate appearances at the major-league level, striking out a catastrophic 43.4% of the time. He’s still just 22, however, so there’s still plenty of room for optimism surrounding his growth and development.

Lucas has been used in an intriguing capacity so far this year, having pitched at least two full innings in three of his four appearances on the season (only one start). He owns a 2.89 ERA across his 9 1/3 innings, with ten strikeouts against five walks. It’s not at all far-fetched to think that he’s simply up as a fresh arm to provide cavalry to an exhausted bullpen, as A’s starters have averaged fewer than four innings per start across the club’s past four games.

A’s Place Khris Davis On DL, Designate Wilmer Font, Recall Franklin Barreto

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The A’s announced a series of roster moves on Wednesday, placing slugger Khris Davis on the 10-day DL due to a strained right groin and designating right-hander Wilmer Font for assignment. In place of Davis and Font, the A’s have recalled top infield prospect Franklin Barreto and right-hander Daniel Gossett from Triple-A Nashville.

[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]

Oakland’s press release announcing the moves didn’t indicate a timeline for Davis’ return, though there’s no indication that his injury is especially serious or that he’s facing a prolonged absence. The 30-year-old slugger is off to a .235/.307/.497 start to the season and has swatted 13 homers in 205 trips to the plate. While his walk rate is down to 7.3 percent after last season’s career-high mark of 11.2 percent, Davis’ 25.9 percent strikeout rate is also his lowest mark since registering a 22.2 percent mark as a rookie. Davis, a free agent at season’s end, is currently on pace for a third consecutive 40-homer season despite his cavernous home park.

With Davis out of action, the A’s can turn to Mark Canha or Chad Pinder for some looks in the DH slot. Barreto’s return to Oakland could also give the team additional opportunities to give any of their primary infielders a breather by taking a day at DH, and Barreto himself could of course see some looks there as well. He’s hitting .235/.352/.445 with six homers and seven doubles in 152 Triple-A plate appearances this season. While his 13.4 percent walk rate is far and away a career-best, Barreto’s 29.6 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A is a continuation of the contact troubles he showed in Nashville last season.

As for Font, this marks the second time the hard-throwing righty has been designated for assignment in 2018. While he’s certainly an intriguing bullpen option on the heels of last season’s ridiculous 11.9 K/9 and 32.1 percent strikeout rate as a starter in the Dodgers’ system, Font has been hammered for 10 homers in just 17 big league innings en route to a 12.71 ERA between L.A. and Oakland this season. The Athletics will have a week to trade Font or try to pass him through outright waivers and send him to the minors for further refinement.

A’s To Promote Franklin Barreto, Place Chad Pinder On 10-Day DL

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The Athletics will place utilityman Chad Pinder on the 10-day DL due to a hyperextended left knee, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  In a corresponding move, Oakland will also call up one of their top prospects, infielder Franklin Barreto.

Pinder suffered the injury during Thursday’s game and, while it wasn’t serious enough for him to leave the field that night, the A’s decided to be cautious after Pinder’s pregame workout yesterday.  Oakland has two off-days next week but also a two-game interleague series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, so the extra bench depth was required for the extra substitutions often necessary in NL games.

This will be Barreto’s third visit to the big leagues after a brief stint with the A’s last summer and another call-up in September once the rosters expanded.  The 22-year-old didn’t show much at the plate, posting just a .602 OPS over 76 plate appearances, though he did perform much better (.290/.339/.456) over 510 PA for Triple-A Nashville in his first extended taste of Triple-A pitching.  Barreto has been a staple of top-100 prospect lists for several years, including high grades from Baseball America (which ranked him as the 43rd best minor leaguer in the sport), Baseball Prospectus (63rd) and MLB.com (66th) prior to this season.

Depending on how long Pinder is out, this could end up being another relatively brief call-up for Barreto, as the A’s obviously want to see him playing every day in the minors rather than only receiving sparing playing time as a big league bench player.  (Service time considerations are also surely a factor for the organization.)  Marcus Semien and Jed Lowrie are still locked in as Oakland’s regular middle infield combo, plus Matt Chapman has quickly become a fixture at third base, not that Barreto has ever played the hot corner.  Barreto does seem in line for some work, however, as he is currently the only backup infield option on Oakland’s 25-man roster.

Athletics Expect To Retain Jed Lowrie

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Infielder Jed Lowrie has a $6MM club option on his contract with the A’s, and while the exercising of that option has long seemed like a foregone conclusion, he’s remained a highly speculative trade candidate. Speaking to the media following the conclusion of the regular season, however (via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle), EVP of baseball operations Billy Beane and general manager David Forst instead strongly suggested that Lowrie would be back as the A’s regular second baseman in 2018.

Though A’s top prospect Franklin Barreto made his Major League debut in 2017 and could eventually push starting shortstop Marcus Semien over to second base, it seems that scenario won’t play out immediately in 2018. Barreto is, as Beane pointed out, still just 21 years of age (22 in February). He has received plenty of attention on prospects list, and he posted a strong .290/.339/.456 as one of the youngest players in the Pacific Coast League this year. But, Barreto hit just .197/.250/.352 in 76 plate appearances this year – a far cry from the manner in which young teammates Matt Olson and Matt Chapman more authoritatively seized spots in Oakland’s lineup moving forward – and Slusser writes that the A’s are inclined to give him further seasoning in the minors.

“You’ve got those two dynamics, which is actually ideal,” Beane said. “I want a young player to sort of push, where his performance is so good that he sort of pushes himself in. But Jed Lowrie had an absolute amazing year, one of the best years probably this side of Jose Altuve as any second baseman in baseball.”

Lowrie certainly was superb for the A’s in 2017, hitting .277/.360/.448 with 14 homers, 49 doubles and three triples over a career-high 645 plate appearances. He also turned in passable defense at second base, with both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved pegging him as only slightly below average in the field.

While a strong offer for Lowrie’s services over the winter could always alter the thinking of the Oakland front office, the comments from Beane and Forst seem to largely indicate that Lowrie is indeed a firm Plan A for Oakland in 2018. Some doubters will recall reports that the A’s wouldn’t trade star third baseman Josh Donaldson in the same offseason that he was dealt to Toronto, but those comments were made anonymously by an Oakland official — as opposed to on-record statements by the team’s top decision-makers. More recently, Beane and Forst drew a hard line in November 2015, stating on record that they could not foresee trades of Sonny Gray or Josh Reddick that offseason, and they indeed held onto them through the winter. Both, of course, were eventually traded at a later date.

AL Notes: Britton, Miley, Barreto, Twins, Moylan

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Over at Fangraphs, David Laurila provides an interesting look at the concept of African-American ballplayers serving as role models. Angels prospect Jo Adell has expressed an inclination to be just that; Laurila asked a variety of professionals what advice they have for the recent draftee. The post is well worth a full read.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • It’s not clear whether Zach Britton will pitch again for the Orioles this year. He’ll sit for at least three to five days after receiving an injection in his balky knee, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to tweet. With the O’s all but mathematically eliminated from the postseason race, there’s little reason to push a pitcher who has struggled all year long to gain traction. Instead, it seems likely the club will allow Britton to begin the healing process in hopes of a healthier and more productive 2018 season.
  • While the Orioles can control lefty Wade Miley through a club option, and certainly need arms in the rotation, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com writes that it’s time to bid adieu. The 30-year-old has struggled for the bulk of the season, making the $12MM price tag seem steep. Instead, Connolly urges, the O’s ought to pay him a $500K buyout and go looking for alternatives.
  • As the Athletics sort through their young position-player options, Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area writes, the club could consider giving Franklin Barreto some time in center field. Oakland seems to have a rather wide-open situation up the middle in the outfield grass. In the infield, though, there are several options at second base — including veteran Jed Lowrie, assuming he isn’t traded (and that his option is picked up, as appears likely). Stiglich runs through some other options; while there are a few internal players that may warrant consideration, it’s also conceivable that the team could use the opening to try an outside acquisition. (As I noted recently, Oakland could have a chance to take advantage of some outfield gluts in other organizations.) Regardless, as regards the 21-year-old Barreto, the key consideration is likely whether the team feels he’s best served taking on major league pitching or going back to Triple-A to iron out his strikeout issues.
  • The Twins have been making some scouting and development changes, as do many teams this time of year. International scouting coordinator Howard Norsetter was fired, La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports. Norsetter had run the team’s efforts to find amateur talent abroad, excepting Latin America. The club also added a new part-time scout in Japan, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
  • Royals righty Peter Moylan tells Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star that he hopes to return to the organization next year. As Dodd explains, Moylan has been quite dominant against opposing right-handed hitters. He still generates tons of groundballs and throws his sidearm sinker at the same velocity. Given the seeming comfort level between player and team, and K.C.’s need for affordable roster pieces with a challenging offseason coming, a reunion wouldn’t be terribly surprising.

Cafardo’s Latest: Lowrie, Fister, Geren, Cobb, Braves

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Here are highlights of the latest from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

  • The Athletics have a $6MM option or a $1M buyout on Jed Lowrie’s services for 2018, and Lowrie says he hopes the A’s retain him. “I love playing here,” he says. “I think being here surrounded by the good young players we have has been fun. So I hope to stay here, but you never know.” It would be eyebrow-raising, to say the least, if the A’s declined Lowrie’s option — he’s batting .276/.358/.444 this season. He could, however, be a trade candidate as the team attempts to find space for youngster Franklin Barreto.
  • Red Sox righty Doug Fister, a free agent to be, is being scouted by teams considering adding him over the winter, Cafardo writes. Fister did not sign until May of this season, but Cafardo notes that he’s unlikely to have to wait that long to find a big-league deal in the coming winter. Fister’s 4.40 ERA in 77 2/3 innings this year is similar to those of his last two seasons, but he’s bumped his K/9 from 5.7 in 2016 to 8.0 this season. He’s also fared well in the season’s second half. Those factors could make him a more attractive free agent this time around.
  • Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren could be a favorite to take over the Mets managerial job in the likely event that the Mets part ways with Terry Collins. Geren was previously the Mets’ bench coach and is a favorite of Mets GM Sandy Alderson.
  • The Orioles, Yankees and Blue Jays have seen Rays righty Alex Cobb up close in recent seasons, and they’ll be interested when he hits the market this winter, writes Cafardo. Cobb will also attract plenty of interest from outside the AL East as well, as he’ll be a good and more affordable alternative to a free agent ace.
  • Braves special assistant Bo Porter would have the edge over coach Ron Washington for the team’s managerial job should the Braves part ways with Brian Snitker. Snitker had previously looked very likely to return for 2018, but Fan Rag’s Jon Heyman wrote earlier this week that the Braves were “assessing their managerial situation,” with Porter and Washington (both of them former MLB managers) as possibilities to replace Snitker.

West Notes: Lowrie, Ramirez, Wood, Holland

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It seems increasingly plausible that the Athletics may not only keep second baseman Jed Lowrie for the remainder of the season, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests, but also for the 2018 campaign. It seems a foregone conclusion that the club will exercise the veteran’s $6MM club option, though he could still be traded over the winter. Assuming that Lowrie remains in Oakland when the calendar flips to September, the focus will turn to assessing the desirability of retaining him as opposed to turning the reins over to youngster Franklin Barreto. Slusser notes that, despite the team’s general youth movement, there’s a feeling that Barreto could stand to receive a fair bit more developmental time at Triple-A before he is fully exposed to MLB pitching.

Here’s more from out west:

  • The Angels aren’t sure when they’ll get righty J.C. Ramirez back from an elbow injury, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. Ramirez has been shut down with what has been diagnosed as a strain. “He’s in a no-throw situation as we assess his strength,” says GM Billy Eppler. Ramirez, 29, has been quite the pick-up for the Halos. Since joining the organization last year, he has provided 193 2/3 innings of 3.86 ERA pitching — a distinct turnaround from the marginal results he had produced previously.
  • It’s likely that Dodgers lefty Alex Wood will skip at least one start, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times was among those to report (Twitter links). Wood showed a downtick in velocity and coughed up three home runs in his outing yesterday, though he was able to complete six innings. After the game, manager Dave Roberts said that Wood had experienced a recurrence of inflammation in his SC joint. Given the Dodgers’ place in the standings, there’s little reason to take a risk.
  • Struggling Rockies closer Greg Holland says he’s just not throwing enough “quality pitches,” as Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. Manager Bud Black suggested there’s no cause for broader concern, while Holland noted that he has “been getting beat with mistakes in the middle of the plate.” The veteran righty was carrying a 1.56 ERA entering play on August 6th, but that number has more than doubled over his last five appearances. Assuming he can figure things out, Holland figures to be a key part of the Rockies’ hopeful run to and through October — and quite an interesting free agent to watch once the season ends.

Athletics Option Franklin Barreto to Triple-A, Designate Ryan Lavarnway

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The Athletics have announced a series of roster moves, including the demotion of top prospect Franklin Barreto to Triple-A.  Catcher Ryan Lavarnway has also been designated for assignment.  The two moves create roster space for Josh Phegley (back from the paternity list) and right-hander Chris Smith, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A so he could start today’s game against the Mariners.

[Updated A’s depth chart at Roster Resource]

With Marcus Semien back from the DL, Barreto will be sent back down to the farm to get everyday playing time.  Ranked as Oakland’s top prospect and considered one of the better minor leaguers in all of baseball, the 21-year-old Barreto hit .190/261/.381 with two home runs over his first 46 career MLB plate appearances.  Barreto is likely to get a more extended look later this season, either as a September callup or if Jed Lowrie is traded at the deadline.

Lavarnway signed a minor league contract with the A’s in the offseason and has appeared in one game this season, representing his first taste of big league action since 2015.  Formerly a well-regarded prospect in Boston’s system, Lavarnway has been part of six different organizations since December 2014.  He has a strong .280/.371/.459 career slash line over 3117 Triple-A plate appearances, so Lavarnway will continue to provide the A’s (or another team) with some solid minor league depth.

Smith, 36, will become the oldest pitcher in Athletics franchise history to make his first career MLB start.  (Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle details the amusing story of how Smith got the news from his Triple-A manager.)  It has been a long journey for the veteran, originally a Red Sox draft pick in 2002 who appeared in 50 games for Boston and Milwaukee in 2008-10 before bouncing around the minors and even stepping away from the game for a year.  Smith signed a minors deal with Oakland in November 2015 and he made 13 appearances for the A’s last season.

Athletics Promote Franklin Barreto

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12:11pm: Barreto was not in the initial lineup, with Adam Rosales penciled in at short and Lowrie at second. But he’s now taking the latter’s place, with the club announcing that Lowrie “has been scratched.”

It’s just a slight knee sprain for the veteran, skipper Bob Melvin tells reporters including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). So, it seems there’s no reason to read anything into the move at the moment, though presumably Lowrie could be dealt at any point before the trade deadline.

9:36am: The Athletics are set to call up top infield prospect Franklin Barreto, according to a club announcement. He’ll take the roster spot opened by the team’s placement of Chad Pinder on the 10-day DL for a left hamstring strain.

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Barreto, just 21 years of age, is a key piece of the A’s past and future. He came to Oakand as the prospect centerpiece of the shocking deal that sent superstar third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays back in November of 2014. Even assuming Barreto can stay on the MLB roster from this point forward, he would not be in line to achieve Super Two status; instead, he’d project to achieve arbitration eligibility after the 2020 season while reaching free agency in the fall of 2023.

Since landing with his new organization, Barreto has steadily climbed the ladder and developed into a consensus top-50 prospect leaguewide. He struggled a bit last year in his first attempt at the upper minors and in a stint in the Arizona Fall League, and hasn’t exactly dominated this year at Triple-A. Given his age, though, the A’s still obviously see room for growth — and clearly believe he’s ready now to handle duties at the game’s highest level.

Over his 309 plate appearances this year at Nashville, Barreto owns a .281/.326/.428 batting line. He has knocked eight long balls and stolen four bags, though he has also been cut down on five attempted steals and has a history of being caught on the bases.

Barreto is known as a solid defender at short, but may ultimately line up at second base or even center field in the long run. With Pinder joining the rehabbing Marcus Semien on the DL, though, it seems reasonable to anticipate that Barreto will line up at his natural shortstop position in his first taste of the majors. He could move over to second, though, once Semien returns.

This move comes as part of a wave of others for the struggling A’s, who own the worst record in the American League. Oakland is in the midst of a transition that has already seen several promotions along with the departures of veterans Trevor Plouffe and Stephen Vogt. Odds are that veteran Jed Lowrie will follow them out of town — though he’ll likely be dealt rather than designated for assignment — leaving second base open for Barreto.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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