Elephant Rumblings: Roster shuffle continues

MLB news roundup

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

The A’s have been moving players around a lot due to injuries and growing pains among a young roster with little to no big league experience. The most recent shuffling took place in the infield. Veteran Aledmys Diaz is off the 60-day IL and back in Oakland, ready for his first MLB action of 2024. Correspondingly, Tyler Nevin has been designated for assignment. His offense simply vanished after a surprisingly strong start to the season at the plate. Check the latest report with details on these roster moves from Connor Ashford here on AN.

The July 30 Trade Deadline is coming into view, and the A’s are looking like sellers once again. The Braves just lost their reigning MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. to an ACL tear that will keep him out of play for the rest of 2024, and Jon Morosi at MLB Network deems Brent Rooker to be among the best substitutes potentially available for the Braves’ superstar outfielder.

Rooker has been a key producer in the A’s offense this month, which as of yesterday ranked as MLB’s fourth best in May with a wRC+ of 114. Trading The Rook would certainly downgrade today’s team, and personally, I favor keeping the best players around for this last season in Oakland. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we still have top guns like Rooker and Mason Miller come August.

If you’re boarding the train to Vegas via Sacramento as the A’s front office presumably is, you may feel differently.

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics Stymie Rays 3-0 in St. Petersburg
• Athletics activate Aledmys Diaz off IL
• Morosi believes Braves could target A’s Rooker as Acuña replacement
• Oakland A’s Offense Among the Best in May

MLB News & Interest:

• MLB Power Rankings: Phillies finally reach the summit; extreme stats for every team ($)
• 4th annual Draft Combine to be held at Chase Field next month
• Yankees Activate DJ LeMahieu, Outright Kevin Smith
• Diamondbacks Release Kolten Wong
• Giants Designate Ryan McKenna, Drew Pomeranz For Assignment
• Rosenthal: The Dodgers, even after $1.4B offseason, have key needs to address at trade deadline ($)
• It’s hard to not be a fan of Guardians announcer Tom Hamilton — just ask his kids ($)
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Roster moves.

No doubt, Coli via BART is a snap.

Medina bringing heat, evading traffic.

The Ballers sell out.