With Opening Day nearing, A's roster battles gain clarity

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ Athletics Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MESA, Ariz. -- With less than a week of Spring Training left, the Athletics appear to have the finishing touches on their Opening Day roster.

With the majority of their position-player group already established entering camp, the focus in terms of roster decisions this spring consisted of three battles: fifth starter, final bullpen spot and backup catcher.

After Sunday’s roster cuts trimmed the number of players in camp to 33, those three competitions received major clarity.

Let’s sort those three battles out.

Fifth starter
Right-hander J.T. Ginn was among the latest round of cuts. He was in the mix for the final spot in the rotation, which will now come down to Joey Estes and Mitch Spence. Whoever does not make the rotation from those two will likely begin the season as a multi-inning reliever in the bullpen.

Ginn, ranked as the A’s No. 14 prospect by MLB Pipeline, got off to a slow start in Cactus League action with atypical command issues, walking eight batters in 13 innings. He did manage to leave a strong impression with his final outing of spring against the Rangers on Saturday, racking up seven strikeouts and walking just one batter in four innings. Optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas, Ginn -- who was part of history last season by earning his first Major League win in the A’s final game at the Colisuem -- will join the Aviators’ rotation and is still expected to contribute to the big league club in 2025.

“For J.T., his last outing was exceptional,” said manager Mark Kotsay. “Up to that point, he hadn’t had the type of success he wanted in camp. But we know what he’s capable of and the way he can throw the baseball. It’s nice to have that depth. He very easily could have made this roster if things were different like they were a year ago.”

Final bullpen spot
Arguably the most surprising of the nine cuts on Sunday was A’s No. 18 prospect Grant Holman, who ended last season in the A’s bullpen and figured to be a frontrunner to continue that role to start 2025. Holman and right-hander Elvis Alvarado getting optioned to Triple-A, plus a recent injury to right-hander Michel Ota?ez, leaves the A’s with eight healthy relievers in camp: Mason Miller, José Leclerc, Tyler Ferguson, T.J. McFarland, Noah Murdock, Hogan Harris, Justin Sterner and either Spence or Estes.

Sterner’s inclusion is a bit of a surprise considering where he stood on the depth chart, but the right-hander earned his spot. After Monday’s game against the Mariners, Sterner -- claimed off waivers from the Rays this offseason -- has yet to allow an earned run, with 14 strikeouts and one walk in 9 2/3 innings this spring.

“I’ve been impressed,” Kotsay said of Sterner. “Throughout camp, he’s gotten better and better. The velocity is something that has ticked up, and that’s really helped his breaking ball. The fastball has some real life to it and some carry through the zone.

“Our baseball operations team does such a great job of finding these guys and putting them on the roster. Then, when they get here, [pitching coaches] Scott Emerson and Dan Hubbs have done a tremendous job of just getting the most out of these guys. He’s a guy I can see having some impact in the bullpen.”

Backup catcher
Willie MacIver was part of Sunday’s cuts, which leaves Shea Langeliers and Jhonny Pereda as the only two catchers left in camp. Unless the A’s make a late move to bring in another catcher, Pereda, who grinded through the Minors for 11 years before finally getting his first call to the Majors last season with the Marlins, will enter the season as the backup to Langeliers.

“It’s never easy making those decisions,” Kotsay said of Sunday’s roster cuts. “They’re tough conversations, especially because you know you’re impacting their future. But I think those guys understand that the landscape of this club is different. As you can see, we have very few people in camp, and we still have a week left before we leave camp. That’s different from how we’ve done things in the past.”