Athletics Rumors & News

NBC Sports Bay Area "Who knew a few ounces could make such a difference? Marcus Semien has been having his best season as a pro, on pace to set career-highs in batting average (.273), on-base percentage (.359), and wins above replacement (5.7). What has been the key to Semien’s breakout..." August 24

12 Up "We know how boring this MLB trade deadline was even with the Zack Greinke deal. There was a surprising amount of inaction from fringe contenders who decided to stand pat rather than sell. Plenty of players who should have gotten a change of scenery didn't, but these are the six players we..." August 23

The Ringer "Gio Urshela spent the past few weeks showing his previous employers what they’re missing. In four games against the Blue Jays, for whom Urshela played 46 uneventful games last year, the Yankees third baseman tallied six hits, including three home runs; in four games against..." August 23

ESPN "For more than two years, Mallex Smith didn't tell anyone on his team why he wore No. 0. Back in January 2017, Smith found himself in a whirlwind of trades in one day, going from the Braves to the Mariners -- for all of 77 minutes ("Some of the best 77 minutes of my..." August 23

Uproxx "One of the many highlights of the Little League World Series in Williamsport is a collaboration between the World Series and Major League Baseball, where two MLB teams play in the tiny Pennsylvania town and give kids a personal look at the big leagues. With that event in the books and..." August 23

USA Today "After striking out the side in his professional debut, Oakland Athletics farmhand Nathan Patterson had a tougher time in his second outing. Patterson, who was signed after throwing 96 mph at a speed-pitch radar booth at a Colorado Rockies game, gave up three runs in two innings..." August 22

ESPN "Major League Baseball in a memo warned about the "very real risk" of over-the-counter sexual-enhancement pills after at least two players this year were suspended for performance-enhancing drugs and claimed the banned substances found in their urine came from the unregulated products,..." August 21

USA Today "For years, it was perhaps the noblest surrender in sports, a rare raising of the white flag that mixed comedy, camaraderie and selflessness. Now, the sight of a position player climbing the mound to record the final outs of a lopsided major league game is an almost routine occurrence,..." August 21

MLB.com "The Oakland A’s released right-handed pitcher Marco Estrada, the club announced on Tuesday. Estrada was signed by the A’s as a free agent Jan. 25 and began the season as the A’s number two starter. He was 0-2 with a 6.85 ERA and .242 opponents batting average in five..." August 20

Beyond The Boxscore "51 was a foreign number to me. At the age of seven, an emboldened 51 on the back of a baseball card simply didn’t belong in the home run column. It was absurd and grotesque. Hitting 50 bombs was something I read about in baseball history books (yeah, I was a weird second grader). It..." August 20

Bleacher Report "With trade season over and the postseason still a good distance in the future, now is a perfect time to second-guess decisions Major League Baseball teams have made in 2019. Specifically, we've attempted to pinpoint each team's most boneheaded choice since the season properly..." August 20

CBS Sports "It's no secret that active managers and coaches are getting younger each and every year. Most recently, front-offices have become more open to hiring recently retired players to lead their clubs. With a higher reliance on analytics and less dependency on the Xs and Os, the..." August 20

MLB Trade Rumors "We’re nearing the end of the 2019 regular season, a campaign which has featured plenty of valuable contributions from young starters. By my count, no fewer than 10 starters age 25 or younger have excelled this year. Several of them could continue helping their teams’ causes once the..." August 20

MLB Trade Rumors "The Athletics outrighted catcher Dustin Garneau to Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday after he cleared waivers, the team announced. Garneau has been outrighted in the past, meaning he could have turned down the assignment in favor of free agency. However, he’ll stay in the..." August 20

NBC Sports Bay Area "The A's aren't messing around. After taking three of four games from the Astros in a critical home series, Oakland is calling up one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. MLB.com's Martin Gallegos reported Monday morning that the A's are promoting A.J...." August 19

USA Today "The game is still played with the pitchers’ mound 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate, the bases 90 feet apart, three outs per half inning and nine innings in a regulation game. Those are about the only constants resembling the game of baseball as we once knew..." August 19

CBS Sports "Ramon Laureano (shin) will begin running next week, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. He has already been taking swings and will now move to full baseball activities next week. " August 18

USA Today "Nathan Patterson's fairy tale story has added another chapter. Because as far as debuts go, this is as good as it gets. Patterson, the right-hander who drew notice after throwing 96 mph at a speed-pitch radar booth at a Colorado Rockies game this year, made his professional debut..." August 18

The Sports Daily "Khris Davis, the Athletics’ designated hitter, is commonly thought of as the most consistent year-to-year hitter in all of baseball. That reputation comes from the fun of repeating a .247 batting average for 4 consecutive seasons, and a very close .246 over the course of his career. Up..." August 18

Bleacher Report "As we head into the dog days of summer and toward the MLB stretch run, it's as good a time as any to examine every team's worst bang-for-your-buck star. This isn't an exact science. But we'll consider each player's 2019 salary (per Spotrac) versus..." August 16

SB Nation "Watch any major league game these days, and you’ll probably see both managers make several trips out to the mound to make a pitching change. Heavy reliance on relief pitchers lends itself to roster churn, a near-constant replenishing of bullpen arms. It’s created a class..." August 16

MLB Trade Rumors "The ability to handle late-inning pressure still has value to teams. But the accumulation of saves, standing alone, isn’t generally the driver of open-market bullpen salaries that it once was. For arbitration, however, saves tallies pay big, opening the door to significant earning..." August 16

Bluebird Banter "The Blue Jays have taken left-handed hitting catcher Beau Taylor from the A’s off waivers. Beau is 29, he’s played 16 games in the majors career. He was a fifth round draft pick in 2011. He’s played mostly at AAA Vegas this season, hitting..." August 16

MLB Trade Rumors "There was a well-documented run on contract extensions prior to this season, which bled into the current campaign in multiple instances. All told, 30 players inked multiyear pacts with their clubs between January and April. We highlighted five last week who’ve disappointed this..." August 16

Bleacher Report "Now that the Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone, up next on the list of things to look forward to are the stretch run of the regular season and, of course, the postseason. But let's skip right past those and look ahead to free agency. We have fresh..." August 15

USA Today "With just six weeks left in the regular season, baseball's playoff races are heating up. Several divisions are still in play, which trickles down to the wild-card races, particularly in the National League with seven teams within 4 ½ games. Here's a..." August 15

San Francisco Chronicle "With the addition of Corban Joseph to the A’s, Jurickson Profar is being pushed far into the background. And it’s official: Before Wednesday’s 9-5 win over the Giants at Oracle Park, manager Bob Melvin spoke to Profar about his greatly reduced role. Profar,..." August 15

Athletics Nation "The Oakland A’s have signed pitcher Matt Harvey to a minor league contract, reports insider Jon Heyman on Wednesday. He’ll report to Triple-A Las Vegas, adds Susan Slusser of the S.F. Chronicle. The 30-year-old Harvey signed with the Angels last winter, on a..." August 15

Athletics Nation "The Oakland A’s called up infielder Corban Joseph on Wednesday, the team announced. To make room on the 40-man roster, catcher Beau Taylor was designated for assignment. To make room on the 25-man roster, outfielder Nick Martini was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. The..." August 14

MLB Trade Rumors "The Reds have made a pair of claims already, nabbing Kevin Gausman from the Braves and Freddy Galvis from the Blue Jays. While the Cincinnati organization still hasn’t manage to make a run into clear postseason contention, it’s in shouting distance and obviously..." August 14

San Francisco Chronicle "A’s left-hander Sean Manaea took a sizable step forward Tuesday in his recovery from shoulder surgery. Manaea threw 5 2/3 strong innings in his rehabilitation start for Triple-A Las Vegas, in a 4-2 victory over Omaha. Manaea allowed only run, collected 10 strikeouts and threw 82..." August 14

CBS Sports "Corban Joseph is expected to have his contract selected from Triple-A Las Vegas prior to Wednesday's game against the Giants, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Joseph has been seeing the ball well at Triple-A this season, slashing .373/.422/.588 with 13 homers..." August 13

CBS Sports "We're inside seven weeks to go in the 2019 season, which means every pitcher has about 8-9 starts and maybe 45-50 innings remaining. That is, if they're allowed to use them. Innings limits are a fact of life. When a guy's workload enters uncharted territory, you..." August 13

ESPN "Good news if you're a Tigers, Orioles, Mariners or Royals fan: You can start prepping for 2020! MLB released its 2020 schedule and here are some key dates to know. Opening Day, March 26: All 30 teams will open up on a Thursday in late March. At least MLB did a better job of..." August 12

The Score "Major League Baseball has announced the schedule for the 2020 season, which will officially begin with all 30 teams playing Thursday, March 26.  MLB Communications cataloged some noteworthy contests on next season's calendar, including the first game at the Texas..." August 12

MLB Trade Rumors "With over two-thirds of the 2019 season in the books, let’s check in to see how seven players are progressing towards possible vesting options in their contracts.  For those unfamiliar with the term, a vesting option is an agreed-upon threshold within a player’s contract..." August 12

NBC Sports Bay Area "Baseball players do weird things to try to bust out of slumps. Recently, we've seen a few players, like Yasiel Puig, shave their facial hair during a game in an attempt to change their luck. A's third baseman Matt Chapman took the hair removal idea one step..." August 10

Bleacher Report "There are no more trades to be made in Major League Baseball. This season's July 31 deadline truly ended the summer trading season, so contenders will have to find other means to make upgrades. We have a few ideas. We've taken a look at each of the 17..." August 09

MLB Trade Rumors "MLBTR is the hottest spot on the internet for all your arbitration needs! I know, I know … bold marketing statement. But it’s true. We take the arb process seriously in these parts, from essential arbitration projections to detailed breakdowns to in-time coverage of the..." August 08

Bleacher Report "The MLB trade deadline is in the rearview. We're headed for the stretch run. Let's pause for a moment to gaze ahead at the upcoming free-agent market and predict the direction each team will take.  It's early, sure. But it's an interesting thought..." August 07

Bleacher Report "Pitching might win championships, but a sputtering offense can derail a title run just as quickly as an underperforming starting rotation or a porous bullpen. More than a few notable hitters changed teams at this year's trade deadline, while other squads have made in-house..." August 06

MLB Trade Rumors "Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien has hired the Wasserman Agency for representation, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Agent Joel Wolfe will take the lead. Semien’s agency switch comes amid a breakout campaign for the 28-year-old, a valuable regular from..." August 06

MLB.com "The San Francisco Giants announced today that they have claimed right-handed pitcher Ryan Dull off waivers from the Oakland Athletics. Dull will report to triple-A Sacramento. The 29-year-old was on Oakland’s Opening Day roster this year and posted no record with a 12.00 ERA in..." August 05

Larry Brown Sports "The Oakland Athletics were hoping to get starting pitcher Sean Manaea back in mid-August after shoulder surgery, but that return may be delayed. According to manager Bob Melvin, Manaea suffered soreness in his right side after his last rehab start, but it is not said to be..." August 04

San Jose Mercury News "The Oakland Athletics reinstated outfielder Stephen Piscotty from the injured list amid a flurry of roster moves Saturday. Five players were involved, including shortstop Franklin Barreto, pitchers Ryan Dull and Andrew Triggs, and catcher Dustin Garneau. Garneau, who has..." August 03

Yardbarker "The A’s have claimed catcher Dustin Garneau off waivers from the Angels, designated righty Ryan Dull for assignment and released injured right-hander Andrew Triggs, among other roster moves, the team announced. Garneau, designated for assignment Wednesday by Los..." August 03

USA Today "Jordan Patterson is the talk of the baseball world after a video of him throwing a 96-mph pitch led to the Oakland Athletics signing the 23-year-old to a professional contract and he has a new high-profile admirer. St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks, the hardest thrower in..." August 03

San Francisco Chronicle "No one can say the A’s don’t go out of the box with their decision-making. In this case, out of the speed-pitch cage. The A’s have signed a baseball fan who went viral for throwing baseballs at high velocities in those test-your-speed booths that are..." August 02

Bleacher Report "As Jose Martinez walked toward his position in right field during batting practice one day earlier this summer, he casually bounced a ball into the infield dirt. The scene was striking: The baseball hit the dirt with a thud, bounced up waist-high, and Martinez caught it with his right..." August 02

USA Today "In cardboard boxes and plastic bins. On shelving units and tabletops. Even suspended in midair, as if by magic. In the sprawling Sports Science Laboratory at Washington State University, baseballs are everywhere. In flight, too, when they’re fired out of air..." August 02