Brown Making Move on A's Roster Spot

A 37-homer season at Triple-A has changed the outlook for outfielder/first baseman Seth Brown, who can give the A's much-needed left-handed power.

There’s an old baseball adage that goes something like “there’s always room for someone who hits.”

And that describes Oakland’s Seth Brown, whose hitting in 2019 forced the A’s to make room.

The 19-round pick in the 2015 draft out of Idaho’s Lewis-Clark University, Brown was just another body in the A’s organization last spring. He wasn’t invited to the big-league camp after a 2018 season when he hit .283 with 14 homers as a first baseman/outfielder with Double-A Midland in the Texas League.

Things were such that each offseason, Brown spent his time not working on his game but working in maintenance for the Lewiston, Idaho public parks. When he wasn’t doing that, he was working for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Then he hit 37 homers in 2019 while playing with Triple-A Las Vegas. Suddenly, he was on the A’s radar. They called him up in August, where he responded with a .293 average. And while he didn’t hit any home runs, he did have 10 hits in his first five games.

And he could, for the first time in three seasons, spend his offseason working on his game rather than working out of need.

While he only played in 26 games for the A’s, that showing was enough to get him on the roster for Oakland in the Wild Card game against Tampa Bay.

Fast forward to 2020. Major League Baseball has added a 26 player to each team’s roster, creating more room for players like Brown. And the A’s specifically are moving along without right fielder Stephen Piscotty (rib problems), meaning they have more than enough space to allow Brown to prove himself.

And he’s doing just that. He comes into the week, the last full week in Arizona before the A’s break camp and head north, Brown boasts a .375 average with five doubles, one triple and one homer, a grand slam. For Monday night’s game in Surprise, Ariz. against the Texas Rangers, he was batting fourth as the DH.

In many ways, the A’s need Brown as much as he needs them. He’s a left-handed hitter with power, and with the exception of first baseman Matt Olson, the A’s are woefully thin in that area.

And the A’s recognize what he could add to their roster.

“He came in (last year) and was thrown in the lineup and produced right away,” manager Bob Melvin told the San Francisco Chronicle. “When you talk about a 26th man on the roster, there are different ways for him to get here. And being able to play first and the outfield increases his chances.”

He mostly played left field last year, and he could get some time there in April with Mark Canha and Ramon Laureano moving around to cover for Piscotty. He can back up Olson and give the A’s a left-handed power option as the designated hitter.