This week, 28 Athletics minor leaguers elected free agency, which is to be expected. These rosters turn over every season. The interesting part for the A's group specifically is that 12 of those free agents were Triple-A pitchers in 2026, meaning there will need to be some replacements brought in to fill out the roster.

This plays right into the idea Athletics Roundtable posed recently, where the A's could add free agents (or trade pieces) on minor-league deals, keeping them off the 40-man roster, and therefore not subject to the expected lockout in December.

The minor-league season will still happen, regardless of the CBA negotiations, and bringing in non-roster arms will give those guys an audition for the big-league squad when the MLB regular season begins. Given the A's pitching woes last season, the club can pitch its numerous big-league opportunities as a carrot to those free agents. 

A few names from this list stand out, like right fielder Johnathan Rodríguez, who makes hard contact but has had trouble getting the ball in the air. If he figures out his launch angle consistently, he could be a solid bat for a club. Given the A's abundance of outfielders and a slight move towards improving the defense on the roster, the path for Rodríguez to the big-league club was complicated. 

Right-hander Henry Baez was acquired as part of the Mason Miller trade with the Padres, but after an injury-plagued 2026, things just didn't work out for him with the A's. He held a 6.85 ERA across 65 ⅔ innings with Double-A Midland since the 2025 trade deadline deal that brought him to the A's. 

Going a little further back in the team's trade history, you'll find Euribiel Angeles, 24, who was part of the return package the A's received for Sean Manaea in their deal with San Diego after the last MLB lockout. He's primarily a singles hitter, with 75.5% of his hits in the minors landing him at first base. 

The final noteworthy name is right-hander Robert Puason, who began his minor-league career as a shortstop and was ranked as the A's No. 6 prospect back in 2021. After four seasons of struggles with the Stockton Ports, batting a cumulative .204 with a .270 OBP and a 36.8% strikeout rate, Puason has transitioned to pitching for the past two seasons.

Puason notched 16 innings in Stockton this past season, holding a 4.50 ERA, walking six, and striking out 12. 

2B Michael Stefanic

RF Johnathan Rodríguez 

C Brian Serven

RHP Taylor Rashi

RHP Henry Baez

RHP Andrew Bash

LHP James Gonzalez

CF Brayan Buelvas

RHP Matt Sauer

2B Jack Winkler

C Bryan Lavastida

C Chad Wallach

RHP Wander Suero

LHP Dallas Keuchel

RHP Geoff Hartlieb

RHP Gustavo Rodriguez

LHP Ben Bowden

RHP Joey Estes

RHP Nick Hernandez

RHP Stevie Emanuels

RHP JJ Goss

RHP Shohei Tomioka

LHP Domingo Robles

3B Euribiel Angeles

RHP Luis Carrasco

RHP Darlin Pinales

RHP Jose Dicochea

RHP Robert Puason