A's DFA Two—One to Trade and One to Pass Through Waivers?
In this story:
With the A's reportedly signing Scott Barlow and Aaron Civale, there was always going to have to be corresponding moves that came down too. On Tuesday, the day before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, we got those moves
The A's announced early Tuesday evening that they have designated both Mitch Spence and Grant Holman for assignment. The Spence move was somewhat expected after he struggled last season and didn't necessarily have a clear path to the big leagues with the A's in 2026, but the Holman piece of this is a little surprising.
Holman, 25, made his MLB debut in 2024 after holding a 0.55 ERA across 48 2/3 innings with Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas. With the A's that season he put up a 4.02 ERA (3.87 FIP) in 15 2/3 innings of work. This past season he began the year in Triple-A, but returned to the roster in April, putting up a 5.09 ERA (4.66 FIP) in 23 frames.
In the middle of June he landed on the IL with right shoulder rotator cuff tendinitis that ended his season.
Why these two?
The A's landed Spence in the Rule 5 Draft out of the New York Yankees system ahead of the 2024 campaign, and he ended up as the club's long-man to begin that season and joined the rotation in May, putting up a cumulative 4.58 ERA (4.21 FIP) in 151 1/3 innings. It was a solid first season in the big leagues.
Last spring he was in contention for the fifth starter spot, but ended up missing out on that role with the club, and was instead used as a jack-of-all-trades out of the bullpen, working in long relief, late innings, and even closed out a game. Then in July he made two starts and gave up 12 runs in 11 innings against the Rays and Braves, and was optioned to the minors on July 10.
He'd made eight appearances (seven starts) for Vegas, racking up a 6.21 ERA across 29 innings before getting called back up to Sacramento in mid-September. He'd make three more appearances and would give up another nine earned runs on 18 hits in 10 innings of work. He went from a 3.82 ERA at the end of June to a 5.10 in the span of five big-league outings to finish out the year.
It would seem as though Spence has shown that he can be a league average arm for a club, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him get traded in the coming days. Or at least that could be the hope for the A's. It all depends on how much interest he's garnering around the game. Regardless, there should be at least one other team that will make a waiver claim on him.
The reason that there is seemingly no path for him to the big leagues is that the A's have plenty of young up-and-coming pitching prospects that should be close to Sacramento, and his role as a long reliever will likely be taken over by Luis Medina, who is out of options, to begin the season.
As for Holman, the hope here is that with his injuries and poor performance in 2025, that he will be able to sneak through waivers and remain a relief option for the club while not taking up a spot on the 40-man roster. There is a chance that could happen, too.
For both, we'll have to wait a couple of days to see how everything settles.
Recommended Articles:
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
Follow byjasonb