The Oakland A's announced today that Aledmys Díaz has been activated from the 60-day IL, and to make room for him on the roster, they have designated Tyler Nevin for assignment.
Nevin was claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles at the end of March, and hit .316 in April with a .389 OBP and three homers. Once the calendar flipped to May, he began to struggle and his playing time took a hit. He went just 3-for-47 (.064) this month, and two of those hits were on May 1.
The 26-year-old has already been in three organizations this season, beginning with the Detroit Tigers before landing with the O's, then the A's.
As for Díaz, he is set to make his season debut with the A's after being placed on the IL at the end of March with a right calf strain. The 33-year-old played in ten games with Triple-A Las Vegas as part of his rehab assignment and went 4-for-26 (.154) with six walks and five strikeouts, which led to a .313 on-base.
While on his rehab assignment, Díaz split time between DH (four games), third base (four), second base (one), and shortstop for one game. While his bat may not quite be ready, his versatility in the field will be a nice addition to the roster. Last year he also logged time in left field and first base with Oakland as well.
In 2023, Aledmys hit .229 with a .280 OBP and he didn't really have a huge gap in play when comparing his numbers versus righties and lefties, so he should be able to be used in a way that is most beneficial for the A's on a game-to-game basis this year. That could even mean coming off the bench as a defensive replacement late in games for any number of players.
The addition of Díaz also gives the A's a second player on the roster that could potentially play shortstop in addition to Max Schuemann. On A's Cast on Friday, A's GM David Forst said that Schuemann is the only guy in Oakland that can play the position, and that Zack Gelof would be the emergency shortstop if Schuemann went down mid-game. Now that backup is likely Díaz.
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