Morning everyone and happy President’s Day!
Yesterday afternoon we got word that right-handed reliever Grant Holman was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks, ending his time in the A’s system and thinning out the bullpen:
That’s lame. The A’s were clearly trying to sneak him though waivers and hoping he would go unclaimed. That would have opened up a spot on the 40-man roster but instead the A’s trickery comes back to bite them in the butt.
Holman was one of the more intriguing relief prospects that the A’s had developed in recent years. The 25-year-old, a former 6th-round pick in 2021, began his pro career as a starter but shifted to a relief role after struggling in his first couple years in the system.
That change in role did wonders for Holman. After a year adjusting to his new role Holman had a lockdown 2024 season split between Double and Triple-A, allowing just 3 earned runs in 40 appearances. That earned him his first call up to the big league squad and though he wasn’t as unhittable as he was in the minors he still showed plenty of potential in his brief call up.
Holman entered 2025 with raised expectations but fell flat this past season. He struggled when he was on the mound before eventually getting demoted back to Triple-A. There things continued to go south as he suffered rotator cuff tendinitis that more or less ended his season before he could ever fix things on the field.
Though he was coming off a down season it wasn’t long ago he was a hot relief prospect coming up through the system. The homegrown arm was likely looking at beginning the year in Triple-A but would have surely been an option at some point this season. That won’t be the case as he’ll instead be an option for the Diamondbacks down in Arizona. It’s not a crippling loss but it won’t feel good if we see him take off with his new team while the A’s continue to face bullpen struggles. Relievers are super unpredictable so we’ll have to see if this was a smart move to move on from Holman, but my gut says that we’ll regret letting him go before giving him a real extended chance.
Have a great week guys!
A’s Coverage:
- A’s Community Prospect List: Baez Takes 13th spot
- Waiting For Gelof: What Do We Do?
- “Relievers Are Volatile”… But Why?
- A’s Trade Mitch Spence to KC Royals in exchange for minor leaguer
- Darrell Hernaiz to play for Team PR in WBC
- Are The Final Two Rotation Spots Really Up For Grabs?
- Story Lines To Watch As Spring Training Unfolds
- A’s Sign Starter Aaron Civale
- Athletics add developmental leaguer in trade with Yankees
- Little Signings Everywhere
- A’s Non-Roster Invites to Keep an Eye On
- What to know as A’s head to spring camp with high hopes for ‘26
- A’s Claim Andy Ibanez, Add Scott Barlow In Busy Roster Shuffle
- Extensions For Everyone! (Except Kurtz)
- Managers & Top Front Office Executives On Expiring Contracts
- De Vries (No. 4 overall) leads Athletics trio on Top 100 Prospects list
MLB News and Interest:
- Diamondbacks sign veteran starter Zac Gallen to one-year contract
- Cubs ink reliever Shelby Miller to one-year pact
- Bryce Harper addresses comments Dombrowski made about him
- Machaco embraces Dodgers’ big spending ways
- Rays generating interest in lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger
- Boone: no restrictions for Judge this spring
- Castellanos embracing move to first base with Padres
- Roku Sasaki working on 3rd pitch
- Ha-Seong Kim could return in early May
- Today in Baseball History
Best of X:
Pretty close to just about right but I’d still take Soddy over a couple guys higher than him:
Thoughts on that projected Opening Day lineup?
Recent roster moves, ICYMI:
Former fan favorite is joining division-rival Rangers: