The A's have a ton of outfield options, and will need to clear space on the roster

Jason Burke | Oct 11, 2024

Aug 22, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics outfielders Daz Cameron (left), Miguel Andujar (22) and Lawrence Butler celebrate their 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

As the A's continue to improve and find out who their core pieces are, there will be fewer spots available for regular at-bats for guys still trying to carve out their own spot on the roster. One of those positions that will have a lot of bodies fighting over it in spring training will be left field.

With the emergence of Lawrence Butler in right field and JJ Bleday in center, the remaining outfielders on the roster will be vying for a spot in left.

Miguel Andujar would appear to be the favorite to win the job heading into the offseason, but with just one more year of team control left, it's entirely possible that he's a trade piece this winter. Andujar, 29, hit .285 with a .320 OBP and four homers across 75 games, good for a 103 OPS+ for the Athletics this season, all of which are solid numbers.

Seth Brown started slowly, but returned from the minors with a vengeance, batting .263 with a .304 OBP and seven homers in the second half. He has two more years of team control, but after finishing with a 91 OPS+ in his age 31 season, the A's could decide to go another route this winter.

During the end-of-season Zoom call, A's GM David Forst said that Brent Rooker was dealing with an injury during the second half of the season, which kept him from playing the outfield. Now that he has had that injury cleared up, he will be available as an option in the field yet again.

Then there is the guy that most people seem to have forgotten about, and that's Esteury Ruiz, who swiped 67 bags in his rookie season with the Oakland A's in 2023 but missed most of the 2024 season due to injury, playing in just 29 games and netting 65 plate appearances. After missing so much time, it's unlikely that he'll be the starting left fielder, but he should certainly be in the mix. He will also have two options remaining if the A's want to send him to play in a different minor league park for any length of time.

The A's gave Daz Cameron more playing time in the big leagues than he'd received in any other season, which consisted of 186 plate appearances in 66 games. He ended up hitting .200 with a .258 OBP and five home runs, but he did rake against left-handers. If the A's want to roll with a platoon situation in 2025, Cameron and his 134 wRC+ against lefties could be a valuable skill set to have on the roster. He will be out of options next season, so if he makes it through the winter on the roster, then there's a good chance the front office has plans for him in '25.

The A's also have the trio of left-hander Ryan Noda and righties Tyler Nevin and Max Schuemann who could also be used in left field, though they likely wouldn't be regulars at the position.

That is eight players, all of whom are on the 40-man roster, that will be looking for a spot on the roster, and left field is the best bet for many of those guys to land regular playing time. Rooker is the one player mentioned that won't have to worry about any playing time issues given that he's the main bat in the lineup. The question for him will be how often the A's plan to use him in the outfield.

Because of the congestion at the position, and the fact that the team's No. 7 prospect on MLB Pipeline should also be ready for a look at the next level before long, there is a decent chance that we see some roster movement from this group of players.

Max Schuemann proved his value to the A's in 2024 by being able to handle a few different positions, especially when he took over shortstop for months while the team dealt with injuries to Darell Hernaiz and Jacob Wilson. It's unlikely that the team would part ways with him.

The same goes for Ruiz, who they would be selling low on if they traded him now. But just about everyone else that was mentioned could be either a trade piece or a non-tender candidate in the coming weeks.

Decisions will have to be made.