Cody Ross officially signs with Oakland A's

The Oakland Athletics have agreed to terms with outfielder Cody Ross, the team announced, after he was officially granted his release by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Outfielder Billy Burns has been optioned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds to clear space on the active roster, and outfielder Alex Hassan has been designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster. Cody Ross will bat second in tonight's lineup against left-handed pitcher Ross Detwiler.

The deal is for the prorated portion of the major league minimum of $507,500, and the Diamondbacks will pick up the remainder of his $9.5 million salary and 2016 buyout. Because he was already under contract with the Diamondbacks, the A's would only be on the hook for the prorated minimum salary as long as he remains with the team, according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser. This means the team could release him on Saturday without significant payroll consequence when Josh Reddick returns to the active roster, or the club could option Tyler Ladendorf to Triple-A.

Ken Rosenthal reported that Ross was signing with the A's on Tuesday, and Susan Slusser reported Oakland's interest in Ross on Monday.

Ross has a severe career platoon split: a 141 wRC+ against lefties and 89 against righties. In the last three years, from most recent to least recent, Ross's splits against left-handers are 81, 177, and 165. It's a low risk signing, with the team clearly hoping for a bounceback even halfway to those bigger numbers.

The A's will try to sneak Alex Hassan through waivers for a second time this offseason. Thus far, only teams that qualified for the postseason last year have claimed him: the A's twice, and the Orioles after the A's waived him the first time.

40-man roster tree

I just needed to substitute Cody Ross's name for Alex Hassan's, and the rest of the roster stays the same:

Here you go: