A's Overhaul Their Roster

Friday was definitely moving day for the Oakland A's. The team departed the Bay Area for Texas on Thursday night, but by Friday morning, they were a much different looking ballclub. The A's made nine roster moves on Friday involving the big league club, and numerous more involving the minor league team. We have the details inside...

Beset with injuries, the Oakland A's were forced to make major roster changes on Friday. The team announced this afternoon that outfielders Travis Buck and Carlos Gonzalez and reliever Brad Ziegler were being promoted from Triple-A Sacramento. The A's also activated reliever Kiko Calero from the 60-day disabled list. Those moves meant that the team had to drop two players from the 40-man roster and one from the 25-man roster. Infielder Kevin Melillo and pitcher Lenny DiNardo were the two players dropped from the 40-man (DiNardo was also on the 25-man roster). Melillo and DiNardo join Jeff Fiorentino as three players designated for assignment by Oakland in the past day.

The A's moved a whole score of players to the disabled list on Friday, sending Mike Sweeney (knee soreness), Ryan Sweeney (bruised toe) and Joey Devine (sore elbow) to the DL.

Gonzalez and Ziegler will be making their major-league debuts. At the time of his promotion, Gonzalez was the top position player prospect in the A's system. The five-tool outfielder was acquired in the Dan Haren trade with Arizona this off-season. He was batting .293 with four homers and a 790 OPS in 41 games for the River Cats. Gonzalez has seen much of his time defensively in centerfield this season. For more on Gonzalez, please click here.

Ziegler had a 0.37 ERA in 24.1 innings at the time of his promotion to Oakland. The right-hander has been in the A's system since 2004, when he was signed as a minor-league free agent. Ziegler was a starter from 2004-2006, but was converted to a submarine reliever in 2007. He won 12 games and posted a 2.41 ERA last season, his first as a reliever, and he was an important member of the River Cats' playoff bullpen during their championship run. He has been a part of three league champions during his time in the Oakland chain. For more on Ziegler, please click here.

Buck returns to Oakland after more than three weeks with Triple-A Sacramento. He struggled early in the season with Oakland, batting only .154 in 15 games with the A's before landing on the DL with shin splints in late April. After rehabbing with the River Cats for a week, Buck was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to get his swing back on-track. In 24 games with the River Cats, Buck hit .337 with an 892 OPS, including a .500 average over his last 10 games.

Calero returns to the A's active roster after missing all of spring training and the first part of the season with a sore right shoulder. Calero appeared in eight games for the River Cats during his rehab assignment, posting a 4.00 ERA and striking out 10 while walking 10 in nine innings.

Melillo was designated for assignment despite being the A's top second base prospect. He made his major-league debut with Oakland last season and walked in his only plate appearance. Melillo was hampered last year by a sore wrist that eventually required surgery, but he still managed to hit 10 homers and post a 798 OPS for the River Cats. He began this year on the DL with lingering wrist soreness, but he had played nearly every day since being activated in mid-April. He is hitting .260 with five homers and 17 RBIs this season.

DiNardo was removed from the roster after posting a 10.24 ERA in 9.2 major league innings and a 5.25 ERA in 24 Triple-A innings this season. He spent all of last season with the A's, posting a 4.11 ERA in 131.1 innings as both a starter and a reliever. DiNardo signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with Oakland this off-season.

All of these roster moves have had a ripple effect in the A's system. Sacramento is welcoming a whole host of new players to their roster: outfielders Danny Putnam, Richie Robnett and Mike Massaro and infielder Cliff Pennington. Robnett is being activated from the DL, while Putnam and Pennington are arriving from Midland and Massaro from Stockton. Sacramento's roster figures to be in flux over the next few days, as the A's hope that Melillo, Fiorentino and DiNardo clear waivers and return to the club.

Other moves throughout the system include:

- Outfielder Todd Donovan was activated from the DL for Midland.

- Shortstop Michael Richard was activated off of the Kane County DL and infielder Carlos Arrieche was sent back to extended spring training.