A's Sign Former Houston Astros First-Round Pick to Minor League Deal

Before Friday's non-tender deadline the A's announced a series of moves. According the club, they have signed Miguel Andújar and Abraham Toro to one-year deals, which isn't terribly surprising given that Andújar was claimed off waivers earlier this month and Toro was acquired in a trade earlier this week. 

They also announced that they had non-tendered SS/3B Kevin Smith, which, with the addition of Toro to the mix of Nick Allen and Darell Hernaiz at shortstop and Jordan Díaz, Brett Harris, and Toro at third, isn't too surprising. It felt like the organization wasn't in on Smith anymore once he didn't play regularly down the stretch of the 2023 campaign. That said, he's a new dad and was a wonderful person to talk with in the clubhouse, so hopefully he lands somewhere that works for him and can help him reach his full potential. 

Smith had been part of the Matt Chapman trade. Now Gunnar Hoglund is the only piece of that return still in the Oakland organization less than two years later. 

The A's also announced that they had claimed Michael Kelly off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians. With the departure of Smith, who shares a name with a famous actor/director, the team decided to bring in another name that you can find on IMDB. 

Kelly will be in his age 31 season and has tossed all of 20 2/3 innings in the big leagues. That said, they have been effective innings from the right side, totaling a 3.48 ERA with a 1.26 WHIP. With the departure of Austin Pruitt, he could slide into that type of role with the A's in 2024. He has a mid-90's fastball but mainly relies on his sweeper/slider combo, using those two pitches roughly 70% of the time. 

The final addition the A's announced is one that isn't actually on the 40-man roster yet, and that's former Houston Astros first-round pick Daz Cameron, who was signed to a minor-league deal. Houston selected him 37th overall (he dropped due to signability concerns) and was traded to the Detroit Tigers in the Justin Verlander deal back in 2017. 

Cameron will be 27 years old when the season begins and has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues, totaling 73 games played and a .201 batting average with a .266 OBP and five home runs. He spent the 2023 season in Baltimore's system and played in 110 games with Triple-A Norfolk, batting .268 with a .346 OBP and 16 homers. 

One thing the A's have always been able to provide is an opportunity. It worked for Brent Rooker in 2023. Now they are hoping that one of Andújar, Toro, or Cameron can take advantage of their opportunity, too.