On Tuesday, the Athletics announced in a slew of roster moves that they would be designating outfielder JJ Bleday for assignment. Prior to the move, the 40-man roster sat at 38, and the team added Braden Nett, Junior Perez, and Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang, which meant the team needed to free up one more spot to get back to 40. The odd man out would be Bleday.

The decision would be mostly due to the packed A’s outfield consisting of Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler, Denzel Clarke, Colby Thomas, Carlos Cortes, and even Brent Rooker. And with the club adding another young outfielder in Junior Perez to the 40-man, the move made sense. The club also has outfield prospect Henry Bolte as a potential option in 2026.

He was coming off a breakout 2024 campaign where the Vandy product posted a 20 home run season and a solid .762 OPS in 642 plate appearances. Notably, Bleday played in 159 games, just three games short of appearing in all 162 games that season.

After consistent playing time in ’24, Bleday would open up his 2025 season as the A’s starting centerfielder. After a disappointing start, the team would eventually option him to Triple-A Las Vegas, calling up Denzel Clarke as a corresponding move.

While Bleday was in the minors, it allowed the young Clarke to get starts in center, and he did not disappoint. Although his bat was probably not much better than Bleday’s, he was proving to be one of the best defensive centerfielders in the league, and even went three weeks in a row earning plays of the week.

Denzel Clarke would eventually go down with an injury that would allow Bleday to head back up to the big league team and provide him another opportunity. He would pull things together a little bit in the second half, but received scarce playing time due to the packed outfield depth.

Bleday notably posted an .801 OPS after the All-Star break, with help by his impressive September, where he posted an .839 OPS with 7 extra-base hits and 10 runs batted in.

Aug 3, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics left fielder JJ Bleday (33) hits a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

The splits from JJ Bleday’s 2025 season are also quite interesting to look at. Traditionally, left-handed hitters struggle against left-handed pitching. However, over his entire 2025 campaign, he batted to a .324 batting average and an .870 OPS against southpaws.

Unfortunately for Bleday, he got a majority of his at-bats against right-handers, where he only batted to a .180 batting average. In total, he’d finish with a rough .212 batting average and a .698 OPS with 14 homers in 307 at-bats this past season.

The 2019 Marlins’ fourth overall selection now will either be outrighted to Triple-A, claimed off waivers by another organization, or will end up electing free agency. Because Bleday was such a highly touted prospect just a few years ago, and has even had a really solid big league season in 2024, he will be attractive to teams looking for more outfield depth.

Teams will certainly like his ability to hit left-handed pitching, and could look at him as a solid platoon guy. If he can improve at hitting right-handers as well, it could make him a complete hitter once again. Expect a handful of teams to show interest, and ultimately for him to be back in the big leagues somewhere in 2026.

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