Cincinnati Reds Send Rule 5 Pick Back to Athletics

The Rule 5 Draft is one of the most fascinating pieces of the offseason schedule, because the nuance involved is quite interesting. This past December, the Cincinnati Reds took a flier on Cooper Bowman, a versatile defender that mashed 12 homers and swiped 43 bases last season, primarily in Double-A.

This spring with the Reds, Bowman went just 3-for-25 (.120) with four walks bringing his OBP up to .267. While he didn't get on base much, he did still manage to steal three bases in three attempts. All of his hits were singles.

Because of the lack of production Cincinnati saw, they have sent him back to the Athletics, which is another wrinkle to the Rule 5 Draft. A player must stick on the selecting team's (the Reds in this case) 26-man roster for the duration of the season, or else he is to be offered back to his former club. The former team nearly always brings the player back when this happens.

Bowman is now back with the A's, where he could be an interesting depth option for the club entering his age 25 season. He was originally acquired by the A's from the New York Yankees in the Frankie Montas/Lou Trivino deal, heading to the green and gold with Ken Waldichuk, Luis Medina, and JP Sears.

All three of those pitchers have already made their debuts with the A's, though Medina is expected to miss most of the 2025 campaign, and Waldichuk is out until around midseason.

Bowman has been working his way up the organizational ladder in his time in the A's system, ultimately reaching Triple-A Las Vegas for the first time in 2024. He ended up hitting just .218 with a .284 on-base across 152 plate appearances in his first stint at the level.

After spending most of his time playing at second base in the minors the previous two seasons, Bowman saw most of his time on the field in center in Las Vegas. According to those that we spoke with in Oakland, he was playing the position well and certainly has the athleticism to make that a regular spot for himself, if needed.

He was mostly there last season due to a lack of roster flexibility, and not too many true center field options on the team. It was kind of a "let's see what happens" scenario. Shortstop Nick Allen and first baseman Ryan Noda also received brief looks at the position for the Aviators.

Bowman has long been an intriguing prospect to keep an eye on with his power and speed combo. Now that he's back in the A's organization, we'll have to see how he's utilized moving forward after the club left him unprotected for the Rule 5 Draft in the first place.