The A’s front office began the arduous process of paring the team’s roster down to 40 this week. With all the players on the disabled list needing to be activated in the offseason as well as a number of promising young prospects needing to be added to the roster in order to be protected in the Rule-5 draft, the task is particularly difficult this year.
The A’s begun the paring process on Wednesday when they outrighted pitcher Chris Smith and catcher Matt McBride to Nashville. The team followed that on Thursday by outrighting infielders Eric Sogard and Tyler Ladendorf, outfielder Andrew Lambo and pitchers Fernando Rodriguez, J.B. Wendelken and Donn Roach to Nashville and also announced that utility man Arismendy Alcantara was claimed off waivers by Cincinnati, then finished up by outrighting pitchers Jarrod Parker, Felix Doubront and Henderson Alvarez to Nashville on Friday.
Later on Friday, six of those players who were outrighted elected free agency – infielder Eric Sogard, catcher Matt McBride and pitchers Fernando Rodriguez, Jarrod Parker, Felix Doubront and Henderson Alvarez. Their tenure with the A’s has effectively ended, unless they choose to re-sign with the team, but they are now free to sign with any team.
With the recent subtractions, there are currently 38 players remaining on the A’s roster – 19 pitchers and 19 position players. Two of those players, outfielder Sam Fuld and pitcher Ross Detwiler, are eligible for free agency. And once they declare, as expected, the A’s roster will then stand at 36, which will enable the team to add infielder Franklin Barreto, outfielder Jaycob Brugman and relievers Bobby Wahl and Tucker Healy to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule-5 draft. All have performed well in their time at the Triple-A level and could be prime targets for other organizations if the A’s were to leave them unprotected.
Of course, this is the A’s, so further roster changes could occur at any time. But for now, you can check out the A’s current roster here.
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