A's Activate Likely Trade Candidate Ahead of Deadline

The Athletics are getting back one of their potential trade pieces ahead of the deadline at the end of the month, with left fielder/third baseman Miguel Andujar officially being activated from the IL ahead of Wednesday's game. The A's optioned Colby Thomas back to Triple-A Las Vegas as a corresponding move.

From the A's press release, "Andujar was batting .296 with three home runs and 20 RBI in 46 games when he was placed on the IL June 2 with a strained right oblique.  He went 4-for-18 (.222) with two runs and a triple on a five-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Las Vegas, starting three games at third base, one in left field and one at designated hitter. 

"The 30-year-old right-handed hitter has started games at four different positions with the A’s, including 21 in left field, 18 at third base, two in right field and two at designated hitter.

Thomas was selected from Las Vegas on June 30 and went 1-for-11 (.091) with six strikeouts in five games in his Major League debut.  He began the season with the Aviators and was batting .297 with 17 home runs, 70 RBI and a .907 OPS in 76 games when the A’s called.  Thomas was leading all of minor league baseball in RBI and was tied for the lead in extra base hits (40) at the time of his promotion."

Getting Andujar back at this point will provide a few weeks to showcase him to contenders around the league. He's hitting nearly .300 this season and has a high-contact profile, which would make him a likely target of some club out there. He may not be the biggest move a team makes, but he'd be a terrific supplemental bat to a roster.

That said, a potential return isn't expected to be terribly high, but he's going to be a free agent at the end of the season, so it's likely that he's moved in the coming weeks.

It will be interesting to see what kind of a role he has with the A's now that he's back, with Tyler Soderstrom taking most of the at-bats in left field, and Max Muncy coming into his own at third. Both are also better defenders at those positions, so a late-game substitution may not be the solution either.

Andujar is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves, nor is Jacob Wilson, who was hit on the hand in the first inning of last night's game. Muncy will be taking over at his natural shortstop tonight, while Gio Urshela gets a turn at third.