A’s to designate former All-Star for assignment

The A’s are designating first baseman Jesús Aguilar for assignment, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El ExtraBase. The team has not yet announced the move, though it’ll free an active roster spot for right-hander Paul Blackburn once made official. Blackburn is expected to be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to make his season debut Monday against the Braves.

Aguilar’s time in Oakland will prove relatively brief. The A’s signed the right-handed hitter to a $3M deal at the end of January. It was a buy-low flier on a former All-Star and a 35-homer bat who’d had a down 2022 campaign. Aguilar slumped to a .235/.281/.379 showing in 129 games last season. Towards the end of the year, he was designated for assignment by the Marlins but caught on with the Orioles as part of the September roster expansion.

The Venezuela native didn’t hit well with either team. Those offensive struggles continued in green and gold. Aguilar has tallied 115 plate appearances over 36 games with the A’s. He’s slumped to a .221/.281/.385 batting line. He has just five home runs and a personal-low 29.3% hard contact rate. His strikeout percentage has jumped a couple of points from last year’s 23.5% clip, as he’s gone down on strikes 27% of the time.

Going back to the start of the 2022 campaign, Aguilar carries a .232/.281/.380 slash over 622 trips to the plate. For a player who doesn’t offer much defensive or baserunning value, that production hasn’t been sufficient to hang onto a roster spot. Aguilar was a slightly above-average hitter two seasons back when he connected on 22 homers with a .261/.329/.459 showing for Miami. He’s now five seasons removed from his aforementioned All-Star showing when he put up an excellent .274/.352/.539 line with 35 home runs and 108 RBIs for the 2018 Brewers.

Aguilar is still due around $2M through the season’s end. It’s unlikely another team will pick up that tab given his continued struggles. While the A’s have a week to explore trade possibilities, it’s probable Aguilar will return to free agency. That could come via release or rejection of an outright assignment. Aguilar has well over five years of MLB service and can therefore decline a minor league assignment while collecting his entire salary.

The A’s have used the lefty-swinging Ryan Noda as part of a first base platoon with Aguilar of late. A Rule 5 draftee from the Dodgers’ system, Noda has impressed with a .241/.400/.451 showing through his first 50 MLB games. Oakland could give him a few more reps against southpaws, gauging whether he can be more than a platoon bat moving forward. If skipper Mark Kotsay wants to keep Noda in a more sheltered role, Brent Rooker or Aledmys Díaz could pick up a few first base reps against left-handed pitching.