Athletics Claim Johnathan Rodríguez

The Athletics announced that they have claimed outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez off waivers from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment earlier this week. Outfielder Tyler Soderstrom has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. It was revealed earlier this week that Soderstrom will undergo season-ending hip surgery on Friday.

Rodríguez, 26, has been bouncing around the league this year. A Guardians draftee from 2017, he was designated for assignment by Cleveland in March of this year. He was traded to the Orioles but that club designated him for assignment in July. He was traded to the Pirates but lasted only a few weeks on that club’s roster before getting designated for assignment, which led to this waiver claim.

All the movement is surely related to the fact that Rodríguez has put up massive minor league numbers but hasn’t yet hit in the majors. Over the past few seasons, he has stepped to the plate 1,403 times at the Triple-A level. In that time, he has hit 62 home runs and drawn walks at a strong 12.5% clip. That has led to a combined line of  .298/.388/.508 line and a 135 wRC+.

However, in his 132 big league plate appearances, he has a rough .177/.288/.301 line and a 31.8% strikeout rate. Scouting reports from Baseball America suggest that may not just be a small-sample fluke. Rodríguez apparently struggles with spin, so big league pitchers can just stay away from the fastball. That is something that minor leaguers will generally find more difficult, as they usually have less command with their secondary stuff.

For the A’s, they effectively had an open roster spot with Soderstrom out for the year. Since Rodríguez is still optionable for the rest of this year, it’s understandable for the A’s to claim him and stash him at Triple-A for now. If he can finally break out at the major league level, he would be cheaply controllable for years to come since he still has under a year of service time. He will be out of options next year, which should more of a squeeze on his already-tenuous roster status.