A's Make Five Roster Moves

Just days before the September 1st roster expansion date, the Oakland A's have announced a series of roster moves, including that DH Frank Thomas has been sent to the DL and outfield prospect Aaron Cunningham has been promoted to Oakland for the first time. The A's also announced that lefty Dan Meyer has been sent to Double-A Midland. We have the details on all five roster moves inside...

Just days before the major league rosters were expanded to 40, the Oakland A's made five roster moves, including promoting outfield prospect Aaron Cunningham from Triple-A Sacramento. The A's also activated reliever Keith Foulke from the disabled list, DL'd DH Frank Thomas, sent left-hander Dan Meyer to Double-A Midland and placed reliever Andrew Brown on the 60-day DL.

Cunningham will be making his major league debut with Oakland. He is the ninth player to make his big league debut with Oakland this season. Cunningham was acquired by the A's during the off-season as part of the Dan Haren trade. The outfielder was originally a draft pick of the Chicago White Sox and was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2007 season.

The Washington native was a non-roster invitee to the A's major league spring training camp this spring. A promising spring training came to an abrupt end when he broke his left wrist sliding into second base. He missed the first month of the season before joining the Double-A Midland Rockhounds on May 2. He didn't miss a beat despite the time on the shelf, batting .317 with 12 homers and 12 stolen bases in 87 games for the Rockhounds.

At the start of August, he was promoted to Triple-A Sacramento, where he was red-hot for the River Cats. In 20 games, he hit .382 with five homers and a 1105 OPS. Combined in 107 games, Cunningham hit .329 with 17 homers, 66 RBIs, 15 stolen bases and a 932 OPS this season in the minor leagues. He went 4-5 with a grand slam in his last game with Sacramento.

Cunningham replaces Thomas on the A's roster. The DH has hit the DL for the second time since joining the A's in late April. Thomas is hitting .263 with five homers in 55 games with the A's this season.

The A's pitching staff also shifted some on Saturday. Oakland activated reliever Keith Foulke, who had been on the DL since July 3rd with a sore right shoulder. Foulke had been rehabbing with Sacramento in early August and was shut down after struggling with the River Cats. He resumed his rehab with the A's Rookie League team this week, making one one-inning appearance. Foulke has a 3.81 ERA in 26 appearances with Oakland this season.

Meyer was optioned to Double-A Midland after a rough start against Minnesota on Friday. He is 0-3 with a 6.33 ERA in eight games with the A's this season. He went 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA in two starts during his latest stint with Oakland.

The A’s have now used the disabled list 24 times this year, an on-going Oakland record. The previous mark of 22 was set in 1992 and matched last year. The A’s currently have six players on the DL and the 24 players on the DL have combined to miss 754 games.