The Athletics announced a notable roster move on Friday afternoon before starting their weekend series with the Angels, recalling infielder Brett Harris from Triple-A and designating veteran Gio Urshela for assignment:
The club also claimed left-handed reliever Jared Shuster off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
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So ends the Urshela experiment with the A’s. Signed to a modest 1-year, $2.15 million contract, the 10-year veteran began the year as the starter at the hot corner as an inexpensive option to play third base, with the hope that he could provide at least league-average production. That steady production would have been an upgrade from the previous year. Instead he started slow and began to lose playing time to younger options like rookie first-rounder Max Muncy. Urshela suffered a hamstring injury in mid-May that cost him roughly a month of playing time, during which his spot on the roster came into bigger question with the free fall down the standings. Hitting just .238/.287/.387 with no homers and no stolen bases, Urshela wasn’t an attractive trade chip for contenders and stuck with the A’s through the deadline. Now 33-years-old, Urshela was never going to be around much longer anyway so the writing was on the wall for this breakup. He’ll now be free to sign with any team or contender for the final month-plus of the season, and the A’s can try out a younger option with potential.
Harris will immediately slide into Urshela’s role as the part-time third baseman. Harris, a former 7th-round draft pick, made his big league debut last year but struggled across 36 games hitting below the Mendoza line. Now 27, Harris has hit well in Triple-A over the past couple of years but not quite enough to force his way back to the big leagues. The righty hitter is not particularly known for his power (50 home runs across 380 minor league games) but possesses a strong ability to put the ball in play and avoid strikeouts. This season for the Aviators he’s slashed .282/.369/.500 with 12 long balls and a tremendous 28/38 BB/K ratio, in addition to chipping in seven stolen bases. With the youth movement in full swing it’s a no-brainer to let Harris get some reps at the big league level (especially with Muncy still on the IL). He’s now joined the team for the first time this year and is in the lineup tonight playing third base and hitting eighth. Right into the fire as they say.
In addition to those two moves, the claim on Shuster should provide another left-handed option for the organization to turn to when they need another arm for the bullpen. A former starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, Shuster has pitched almost exclusively out of the Chicago White Sox bullpen for the past two seasons. While he was a quality and steady option for them last season (4.30 ERA in 73 1/3 IP), he’s had massive struggles this season en route to a sky-high 8.04 ERA in just 15 2/3 frames. It hasn’t gone much better for the 27-year-old down in Triple-A either. Still, left-handed depth is almost always something in need and the club could very well be needing Shuster here in a few days or weeks depending on how things shake out. No harm in rolling the dice, right?