A’s GM: “We’re Going To Hold [Brent Rooker]”

Athletics slugger Brent Rooker was one of the sought-after candidates on the summer time commerce market, however the A’s have been reluctant to maneuver him then and are equally unwilling to maneuver him now. Normal supervisor David Forst candidly instructed Jon Heyman of the New York Submit at in the present day’s GM Conferences (X hyperlink): “We’re going to maintain [Rooker].”

Skeptics will crack sensible that this solely means Rooker is even likelier to be traded, however that’s fairly doubtless not the case. Baseball executives not often make such definitive declarations a few participant’s commerce candidacy (or lack thereof) on the document. The overwhelming majority of the time they accomplish that, the participant certainly stays put. Essentially the most well-known latest exception is again in 2022, when Nationals GM Mike Rizzo mentioned in June that he wouldn’t commerce Juan Soto however then did so the next month; nonetheless, even then, Rizzo solely did so after Soto rejected a reported 15-year extension provide value greater than $400MM assured.

Groups might nonetheless attempt to pry Rooker away from the A’s, however in the present day’s frank feedback from Forst all however rule out the chance this winter. Maybe subsequent July or subsequent offseason the membership will rethink, however the A’s management Rooker for a further three seasons. They’re doubtless headed to West Sacramento to kick off a brand new period for A’s baseball, forward of their deliberate transfer to Las Vegas in 2028. It stands to purpose that the A’s will need some recognizable expertise on the roster as they purpose to enchantment to followers of their non permanent residence market, promote merchandise, and so forth.

Rooker, who turned 30 final week, has gone from waiver fodder to one of many sport’s premier sluggers since touchdown with the Athletics. The Twins chosen him with the thirty fifth total decide in 2017, gave him his MLB debut in 2020, and finally traded him to the Padres alongside Taylor Rogers within the deal that introduced Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan and prospect Brayan Medina again to Minnesota. San Diego solely held Rooker for a bit greater than three months, giving him simply seven huge league plate appearances earlier than buying and selling him to the Royals in trade for backup catcher Cam Gallagher. Kansas Metropolis waived him lower than three months later.

The A’s positioned a declare, and it proved to be maybe the perfect waiver declare in latest reminiscence. Rooker, all the time touted for his plus energy however panned for strikeouts and defensive limitations, broke out with a .246/.329/.488 slash and 30 homers in an uneven 2023 marketing campaign. He was sensible in April, July and September however struggled within the interim months that season.

Rooker’s 2024 marketing campaign, nonetheless, left little doubt concerning the sustainability of his breakout. He was a plus hitter in each month of the season and completed out the yr with a superlative .293/.365/.562 batting line and 39 residence runs. Solely 4 gamers — Aaron Choose, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Santander and Juan Soto — hit extra residence runs than Rooker this previous season. By measure of wRC+, he was the seventh-best certified hitter in MLB, trailing solely Choose, Ohtani, Soto, Bobby Witt Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Yordan Alvarez.

Rooker is hitting arbitration for the primary time in his profession. Due to his restricted monitor document previous to touchdown with the A’s, he’s projected for an affordable $5.1MM wage by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. With one other season just like the one he simply loved, that sum might greater than double within the 2025-26 offseason. If he can maintain this for 2 extra years, Rooker might properly be sporting a wage within the $15-20MM vary throughout his closing yr of arbitration. Suffice it to say, that opens the door for potential commerce eventualities down the street, however evidently Rooker will keep put in the intervening time.

The A’s don’t have a single greenback dedicated to the 2025 payroll. Rooker is one among 4 arbitration-eligible gamers, and the others — Seth Brown, Miguel Andujar and Dany Jimenez — are all potential non-tender/commerce candidates. Rooker, together with outfielders JJ Bleday and Lawrence Butler, slugging catcher Shea Langeliers and rebound candidate Zack Gelof, includes a possible lineup core for the A’s subsequent season. With nothing assured on subsequent yr’s books, the A’s are doubtless so as to add some cash by way of free company and/or commerce within the subsequent few months, as they’ll have to put money into the roster to an extent to be able to retain their standing as a income sharing recipient. It’s a low bar to clear, however the A’s did end the ’24 season with an roughly $63MM payroll, per RosterResource, so that they’ll have to make some additions alongside Rooker, given the dearth of some other significant monetary commitments on the roster.