The A’s have chosen the contract of outfielder Carlos Cortes from Triple-A Las Vegas and instantly optioned him again to Vegas, per the workforce’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’s now on the 40-man roster however is just not but getting a name to the key leagues for his debut. Proper-hander Grant Holman was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Cortes, 28, was a 2018 third-rounder with the Mets. He turned a minor league free agent following the 2024 season and signed a minor league contract with the A’s again in November. The weird nature of at the moment’s addition to the 40-man roster and rapid choice again to Triple-A means that Cortes might have had an opt-out in his contract.
The Athletics’ signing of Cortes has labored out properly to this point. He’s turned in a terrific .321/.418/.603 slash (140 wRC+) in 299 plate appearances to date in Triple-A. Cortes’ 16 dwelling runs tie a career-high, and his 13.7% strikeout fee is a good match together with his career-low 13.7% strikeout fee. He’s been on a tear of late, together with a Pacific Coast League Participant of the Week nod in late June (on the heels of every week by which he recorded back-to-back four-hit video games). Over his previous 30 video games, Cortes boasts a ridiculous .403/.500/.773 batting line.
That massive manufacturing and his choice to the 40-man roster now has Cortes on the cusp of a possible massive league debut. He’s performed the outfield corners completely this season. The A’s are usually set there in the intervening time, with Lawrence Butler in proper and Tyler Soderstrom dealing with left discipline on most days. Cortes might finally emerge as a bench choice, notably if the A’s wind up buying and selling veteran bench gamers Gio Urshela and/or Miguel Andujar earlier than this month’s deadline.
Holman, 25, was positioned on the 15-day IL in mid-June as a result of tendinitis in his rotator cuff. He’s pitched 23 2/3 innings for the A’s this season and yielded a 5.09 ERA with a 16.5% strikeout fee, an 8.7% stroll fee and a 43.4% ground-ball fee. He’s tossed a complete of 38 2/3 MLB frames courting again to final yr’s debut and has a 4.66 ERA in that point. Holman posted a stunning 0.55 ERA in 48 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A final season and has fired 9 1/3 shutout innings in Triple-A this yr. The transfer to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset his timetable; he’s already been out near a month and can now be eligible to return on Aug. 18.
