A's Have a Number of Roster Decisions to Make This Offseason
Coming off of a 112 loss season, you could expect the Oakland A's to be busy trying cobble together a better roster ahead of the 2024 campaign. This offseason there will be a number of tricky decisions to be made by the front office when it comes to non-tendering players (not offering them a contract and allowing them to hit free agency), options remaining, the Rule 5 Draft, and the 40-man roster. Each decision will be intertwined.
One non-roster candidate that we've mentioned previously is backup catcher Carlos Pérez. With the arrival of Tyler Soderstrom, and Kyle McCann looming in Triple-A, Pérez likely gets squeezed out and his spot on the 40-man roster is given to McCann. Adding him to the roster also protects him from the Rule 5 Draft in December. So those are some of the decisions at play here, and how the process works.
So let's take a look at how many options some guys on the bubble have remaining, and who will be Rule 5 eligible this winter.
On the active roster, James Kaprielian, Tayler Scott, Sam Long, Kyle Muller, Kirby Snead, and Sean Newcomb are out of options. The last four on that list are all left-handers, and all could very well be bullpen arms. The only uncertainty is Newcomb, who was making a push to be in the rotation before landing on the IL late in the season.
From a roster construction standpoint, we could end up seeing one or two of the southpaws removed from the 40-man with the hope that they'll pass through waivers and remain with the organization. That would clear up room on the 40-man roster to protect Rule 5 eligible players from the Draft.
Paul Blackburn and Luis Medina are also out of options, but they can be penciled into the rotation, barring injury.
On the position player side, only Kevin Smith is out of options, which puts him in a difficult position. On the one hand, the A's could start the season with him at either shortstop or third base to give him one final shot to earn his spot on the roster, but on the other hand, the A's could feel comfortable enough with the options they have (Nick Allen, Jordan Díaz) that they attempt to swing a deal involving Smith, like they did with Cristian Pache when he was out of options this spring.
Two intriguing prospects are also Rule 5 eligible in Darell Hernaiz and Max Schuemann, and both of them should be added to the 40-man roster shortly after the conclusion of the World Series.
Hernaiz was acquired in the Cole Irvin trade with the Baltimore Orioles, and as a 21-year-old hit .321 with a .386 on-base percentage split pretty evenly between Double-A and Triple-A. With Las Vegas he had a 97 wRC+ (100 is league average), but he also hit .300 with a .376 OBP, four homers, six stolen bases, and walked 9.5% of the time with a 10.7% strikeout rate. The A's had him playing shortstop this season while also giving looks to Allen, Smith, and veteran Aledmys Díaz over the course of the season in Oakland. If Hernaiz doesn't make the Opening Day roster, he shouldn't be waiting long to make his debut.
Schuemann was selected by the A's in the 20th round of the 2018 Draft and the only positions he didn't play this past season were pitcher, catcher, and first base. He spent the majority of the '23 season in Las Vegas, batted .277 with a .402 OBP and a 109 wRC+. He also walked 14.3% of the time, struck out 20.1%, and was hit 15 times. He'll likely make it onto the 40-man roster, but with Aledmys Díaz's positional fluidity in Oakland, it's harder to see Schuemann getting the call immediately, unless an injury arises.
There are other players, like Euribel Angeles and Logan Davidson that are Rule 5 eligible this winter, but placing them on the Triple-A roster will likely protect them from being selected since they are not quite big league ready.
The same goes for the once highly-touted Robert Puason, who just turned 21. While he hasn't exactly had a great showing in the minor leagues, batting .142 with a .216 OBP and a 15 wRC+ in Stockton, he's still young enough that a rival team could be interested in trying to unlock some of his potential if left unprotected. He won't make it to the 40-man roster, but he also shouldn't be taken in the minor league portion of the draft, either.
Lazaro Armenteros is currently playing in the Arizona Fall League, and will be Rule 5 eligible. This is either the A's getting a good look at him against higher competition to make an informed decision on whether or not he deserves a 40-man spot, or a showcase to the other 29 teams in an effort to swing a deal before the Rule 5 Draft. That way the team could get something for Lazarito instead of having him plucked away.
On the pitching side, there are a couple of trade acquisitions that will need to be protected in the coming weeks in Royber Salinas (Sean Murphy trade) and J.T. Ginn (Chris Bassitt trade).
Salinas spent the season in Double-A Midland and struck out 30.9% of the batters he faced while racking up a 5.48 ERA (4.21 FIP) in 67 1/3 innings. In his first Arizona Fall League start, he went five innings, gave up three hits, one run (unearned), walked two and struck out seven. While it would be unlikely that he'd be selected in the big league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, it's not impossible that a rebuilding team would stash him in the bullpen and use him once a week in non-crucial situations. Whether he makes it onto the 40-man will be dependent on how confident the A's front office is that no other team will take him.
For Ginn, he has accumulated just 57 2/3 innings in two seasons with the A's as a starter and holds a 6.87 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in that time after dealing with a forearm strain in 2022 and bicep tendinitis this year. He showed the upside he possesses last year in the AFL, holding a 2.25 ERA in five starts spanning 16 innings. If he can stay healthy, MLB Pipeline has him projected as a mid-rotation starter. He's unlikely to grab a 40-man spot, but should remain protected from the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft as well.
There are a lot more names that will be eligible for the Draft in the A's system, but the ones mentioned above are the ones that will either be in the mix for a roster spot, or could be targeted by other teams in December. The full list of players can be found at Roster Resource.
In order to make room for Hernaiz, Schuemann, McCann, and potentially Salinas and Armeteros, the A's will need to make some additional roster moves in the coming weeks.