Elephant Rumblings: A’s sign two-way international prospect Bjay Cooke

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

And g’day, Bjay! Welcome to the Oakland Athletics organization!

With the phenomenal success of Shohei Ohtani as a two-way player, we shouldn’t be surprised to see more aspiring stars follow suit going forward. On Monday, the A’s picked up their own two-way prospect, Bjay Cooke. He announced the signing himself on Twitter:

Melissa Lockard at The Athletic profiled the 19-year-old from Australia yesterday, pointing out that the A’s have had several players from the Land Down Under in the past—most recently ace reliever Liam Hendriks, who left for the White Sox in free agency after the 2020 season. Former Athletics Grant Balfour, Travis Blackley, Luke Hughes, and Rich Thompson also hail from Australia.

But Cooke, who plays infield between pitching appearances and occupies a spot in the batting order, will be the first Aussie to begin his professional baseball career in the Athletics organization. Bjay (short for Bailey-Jay) was signed by A’s international scout Dan Betreen, who praised the 6’2” righty for his velocity on the mound (“easy low 90s and touched 93/94 a few times”) and his bat speed, strike zone feel, and “swing decisions” at the plate, per Lockard.

Be sure to check out Melissa’s full story at The Athletic! Her Oakland A’s MiLB roundups for the website are also fantastic and worth a regular look.

Cooke has actually posted evidence that he can touch as high as 96—and listen carefully to the commentator who thinks he’s seen Bjay throw even faster. He also showcases his bat with a pair of choice rips in this clip.

This youngster clearly has a lot of talent, and it will be exciting to see him develop in the A’s organization. Welcome to pro baseball, Bjay! Hope to see you going toe-to-toe with Shohei at Henderson Field (I’d vote to keep that name at the A’s next home) in a new stadium at Howard Terminal in a few years.

A’s Coverage:

• Hall: Game #39: A’s score some runs! Win 5-2 over Twins
• Hall: A’s injuries: Cole Irvin begins rehab, Sheldon Neuse out of lineup
• Sarris and Rosenthal: Why aren’t the Oakland A’s trying harder to fill their stadium? ($)
• Lockard: Oakland A’s sign Australian two-way prospect Bjay Cooke to minor-league deal ($)
• Kawahara: Opossum trapped after visiting Coliseum press box and TV/radio booths ($)
• Gallegos: Matchup with Gray a ‘full-circle’ moment for A’s rookie

MLB News & Interest:

• Adams: Dodgers Announce Series Of Roster Moves
• Adams: DeGrom MRI Reveals “Continued Healing”; Still No Clear Timetable For Return
• Franco: Matt Harvey Suspended 60 Games For Violation Of Joint Drug Agreement
• Adams: Twins Designate Jharel Cotton For Assignment
• Adams and Franco: Red Sox Notes: Martinez, Bogaerts, Vazquez, Sale, Paxton
• Franco: Injury Notes: Perez, Matzek, McCann
• Adams: Brandon Lowe Diagnosed With Stress Reaction, Shut Down For At Least Three Weeks
• Buchanan: This Week in Minor League Baseball: Angels’ Jo Adell feasts on Triple-A pitching; Cubs’ Ed Howard is hurt ($)
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

Need more hitting, and badly! At least Murph and Smith broke their 0-fers yesterday.

Longballs in Lansing.

Recent roster moves.

Wish we had some numbers like this on the big league club!

Cole’s rehab assignment off to a fine start.

Cristian pays respects to a trailblazer.

Selleck’s notes for Tuesday.

My money—take it!

Young Jedi.

Great snap of a baseball legend.