A's Option AL Rookie Stolen Base Leader Acquired in Sean Murphy Trade
On Sunday evening, the A's surprised many with the next round of their roster cuts. As Spring Training is quickly coming and going, more and more roster cuts are being announced, leading up to the eventual 26-man roster that the A's will roll with on Opening Day.
The Athletics optioned right-handed pitchers Elvis Alvarado, J.T. Ginn and Grant Holman, infielder Darell Hernaiz, and outfielder Esteury Ruiz to Triple-A Las Vegas. The A’s also reassigned four non-roster invitees to their minor league camp, including left-handed pitcher Matt…
— A's Communications (@AthleticsPR) March 17, 2025
This round of roster cuts includes former AL rookie stolen base record holder, Esteury Ruiz, and also includes right-handers Grant Holman, Elvis Alvarado and J.T. Ginn. Infielder Darell Hernaiz will also begin 2025 in the minor leagues, as he was optioned as well.
A handful of non-roster invitees have been reassigned to the minor leagues including Matt Krook, Will MacIver, Alejo Lopez, and Logan Davidson. Notably, all four names were linked as possible Opening Day Roster options at different point this off-season.
Heading into camp, Esteury Ruiz was expected to make the roster potentially as the A's fourth outfielder behind Lawrence Butler, JJ Bleday, and Miguel Andujar. However, a rough spring campaign would lead fellow speedster and non-roster invitee Drew Avans to get some time in the A's outfield.
Avans has made the most of his opportunity in A's camp, which could earn him an Opening Day roster spot.
Grant Holman was projected to have a spot in the A's bullpen heading into camp, but his performance and how the A's are looking to build out their bullpen didn't earn him a spot. Holman pitched to a 4.02 ERA last season in the big leagues in 15.2 innings of work. In six innings this spring, Holman pitched to a 3.00 ERA, but was unable to compete with the A's new relief pitching depth.
In the franchise's last game in Oakland, the team gave the young J.T. Ginn the start, and he led the A's to the win. Ginn filled in well last season when several A's arms went down with injuries in August and September, which earned him a shot in the rotation for the upcoming 2025 season.
If you took out Ginn's nine innings pitched on the road, his ERA would've been 3.24 in 25 innings, albeit in a pitcher-friendly stadium. With Ginn's early success in the big leagues, he was an option for the A's rotation, but got roughed up quite a bit this spring.
In 13 innings, he pitched to an ugly 7.62 ERA. Once the prized return in the Chris Bassitt trade to the New York Mets, he will begin his 2025 campaign with the A's Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators.
Matt Krook, Willie MacIver, and Alejo Lopez were all brought in this off-season on minor league pacts. With the A's lack of depth in left-handed relievers, Krook was expected to have a shot at a bullpen spot, but gave up four runs in just five innings with the A's in camp.
Willie MacIver was expected to be in the competition for the A's backup catcher spot, but ultimately didn't bring his best bat to camp, which was the main reason the A's brought him in. MacIver posted a .154 batting average in 19 plate appearances.
Although NRI's Matt Krook and Willie MacIver had their fair share of struggles this Spring, Alejo Lopez played quite well. Unfortunately, he had some good competition at his position.
Lopez batted .321 in 29 plate appearances, which included a pair of doubles in his fight to make the roster as a utility man. Unfortunately for him, it looks like the club will be leaning towards Luis Urias to fill in the last infield bench spot.
Finally, the last roster cut was Logan Davidson, who was also off to a hot spring for the club. Davidson had 34 plate appearances for the A's, where he batted .333 with a home run. With the team having lots of infield depth, it looks like Davidson will start his 2025 campaign down in the minors, however, it wouldn't be surprising if the switch-hitter makes his MLB Debut at some point this season.
Overall, this round of roster cuts was interesting in that there isn't a whole lot of non-roster invitees still at camp. Former first rounder Max Muncy is still fighting in camp for an infield spot, however, it looks like veteran Luis Urias could have an edge on him, especially considering he's already on the club's 40-man roster.
All of these cuts just mean that Opening Day is right around the corner, and it sure looks like the A's will have plenty of depth to get them through the season.
I grew up playing baseball, and also enjoyed watching and writing about my favorite team, the A’s. Being a diehard A’s fan from New Jersey is certainly not common, but I love the team and all of the current and former players so much. I currently attend school at Penn State Scranton where I get the opportunity to play college baseball.