A’s 40-man roster update after flurry of February moves

Who is on the 2021 Oakland A’s now? It’s a fair question after the last few weeks, in which they uncorked a flurry of moves that effectively added up to a whole offseason.

The A’s began February with one spot open on their 40-man roster, and since then they’ve made the following additions (click each link for more details):

• signed RHP Mike Fiers
• acquired LHP Adam Kolarek
• signed RHP Yusmeiro Petit
• signed RHP Sergio Romo
• signed RHP Trevor Rosenthal
• acquired C Aramis Garcia
• acquired SS Elvis Andrus
• signed DH Mitch Moreland

That’s eight new players, though two of them were here last year and are just returning. Eight players is 20% of the 40-man and nearly one-third of the active 26-man squad.

They’ve also picked up a few non-roster minor league free agents this month, including Jed Lowrie, who could be a factor for DH and/or 2B if he’s healthy. Another is reliever Deolis Guerra, who has MLB experience.

With 39 on the roster and eight additions, there needed to be corresponding subtractions. A couple of these moves were trades, which netted out even with the same number of rostered players going to the other team, but four of the free agents required direct responses. The departures:

• DFA’d RHP Paul Blackburn
• deactivated RHP Frankie Montas (COVID IL)
• traded C Jonah Heim
• traded IF Sheldon Neuse
• lost IF Nate Orf (retired)
• DFA’d OF Dustin Fowler
• traded DH Khris Davis

Montas is only out temporarily, due to the coronavirus, so another move will be required at some point to reinstate him. Otherwise, Blackburn, Fowler, and Orf were the ones squeezed out, though Orf’s departure came not via DFA but by choosing to retire.

Here’s the updated roster. Players in --italics haven’t yet debuted in MLB, and those with asterisks** are Rule 5 draft picks who can’t be sent down to the minors. Montas does not count toward the 40 for now, just like if he were on the 60-day IL but without a specific maximum or minimum time limit on his absence.

On top of this 40-man roster, there are also 23 non-roster invitees in A’s spring camp, as well as 10 extra prospects in a sort of spring taxi squad. Click here to see those lists!