A's Add Three to 40-Man Roster
Ahead of Tuesday's deadline to set 40-man rosters ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, the Oakland A's announced that they have selected three additional players to the 40-man roster.
The first player should come as no surprise. It was honestly more surprising that he wasn't called up at the end of the 2023 season, but his lack of a spot on the 40-man may have played a role in that. That player is infielder Darell Hernaiz, whom the A's acquired from Baltimore in the Cole Irvin trade earlier this year.
The 22-year-old split his time evenly between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas, batting a combined .321 with a .386 OBP, nine home runs, 32 doubles and 13 steals. Of the 125 games he played in the field, 112 of them came at shortstop, which could lead to an interesting Opening Day roster battle next spring with Nick Allen or Kevin Smith, who is out of options.
The second player added also came over in a trade and also isn't a big surprise, and that right-hander Royber Salinas, who was part of the Sean Murphy trade. Salinas, 22, spent most of his season in Midland, tossing 67 1/3 innings across 18 games (16 starts) with a 5.48 ERA. He has a big arm and has some serious potential, despite the results in his first season in the organization.
Brady Basso is the interesting addition. He was drafted in the 16th round back in 2019, then had the canceled season in 2020 and underwent arm surgery in 2021 after tossing just 21 innings. He missed all of 2022 and returned this season at the age of 26, posting a 2.64 ERA in 44 1/3 innings in Lansing, followed by another 19 innings in Midland where he had an even better 1.89 ERA. Between the two stops he posted a 0.98 WHIP in 63 1/3 innings. He pitched in 20 games, starting 17 of them.
One player that was expected to be added to the roster was catcher Kyle McCann, but perhaps due to the position he plays the team felt that they didn't need to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft since a team generally only carries two catchers anyway. This could also signal that the plan for the A's is to go with Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom as a duo behind the dish heading into 2024.
These three roster additions are on top of the addition of Lazaro Armenteros which was made last week. The A's 40-man roster now sits at 36.