Oakland A’s spring training 2017: Jesse Hahn and Ross Detwiler out, roster at 37

The Oakland A’s roster became three players lighter on Sunday. The team began spring training with 70 players in MLB camp, but this new round of cuts brings that number down to 37 — of course, it needs to be 25 by Opening Day. Here are the three players exiting this time:

• RHP Jesse Hahn
• LHP Ross Detwiler
• C Bruce Maxwell

Also see: 1st round of cuts | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th

These three moves are quite different in nature, so let’s take them one at a time.

Hahn was in a legitimate competition for a spot in the starting rotation. He was looking to make a bounce-back after struggling in 2016, but simply didn’t perform well enough in the Cactus League this year. Of his six appearances this spring, two were great but at least two more were absolute disasters (maybe four, depending on your definition of disaster). Overall he averaged a run on two hits every inning, though at least he kept the walks down.

Hahn is on the 40-man roster, so cutting him means that he was optioned to Triple-A. This will be his final option year, presuming he’s not back in MLB within 20 days.

Meanwhile, Detwiler is a different story. In fact, the A’s didn’t even really cut him — he did it himself, by opting out of his contract. The veteran lefty was on a minor league deal but had an opt-out clause that let him bail out this morning (March 26) if he didn’t like his chances of making the team. Given his 11.88 ERA this spring, it was clear that his story was not shaping up as that of a Cinderella run onto the roster, but rather one of a pumpkin being smashed by teenagers.

Between these cuts, and the previous injuries to Sonny Gray and Daniel Mengden, the Opening Day rotation is now clear. Susan Slusser of the S.F. Chronicle confirms:

1. Kendall Graveman, RHP
2. Sean Manaea, LHP
3. Jharel Cotton, RHP
4. Andrew Triggs, RHP
5. Raul Alcantara, RHP

I will be following up this post with a deeper look at that rotation and the implications thereof, but for now I just wanted to get this roster news posted before it gets any later.

Finally, after Sunday’s game Maxwell was also optioned to Triple-A. The catcher ranks No. 8 on our Community Prospect List after making his MLB debut last season, but he’ll have to wait just a little longer to get a permanent spot in Oakland as he’s blocked by some quality veterans. He homered twice this afternoon before being sent down, and overall this spring he’s 11-for-39 with an .876 OPS. He’s definitely a part of the A’s near future and had an outside chance of making the team out of spring, but carrying a third catcher on this crowded roster always felt like a long shot.

There are now 37 players in MLB camp, though that doesn’t necessarily mean much for game purposes because extras are often borrowed from minor league camp. For example, on Sunday against Brewers the the A’s starter at 2B was Max Schrock, a Double-A prospect who is “assigned to [the] Oakland Athletics” according to the team’s transaction logs (along a couple dozen other prospects) but doesn’t count toward that total of 37.

Hahn is the first truly meaningful cut from spring camp, as a player who had an absolutely real chance of making the team. That means the season is getting closer! With most of the low-level prospects and fringe filler gone, just about everyone left has at least a vague outside shot of breaking camp with the team. Remember, four of the 37 remaining players are out of the picture due to long-term injury, so really there are only 8 cuts left to be made in order to take this group down to a 25-man unit for April.

Here’s the full spring training squad. Players in italics are non-roster invitees. Players in strikethrough have been reassigned to minor league camp. Players with **asterisks will miss the start of the season to injury. (Note that some of the injured players could wind up on the 60-day DL, which would make room to add replacements to the 40-man roster.)