A's Still Have One Trade Left to Make Before Opening Day, and Brewers Look Like a Fit
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In the A's latest round of cuts from their spring roster, they optioned Brett Harris, who was involved in the battle at third base with Max Muncy and Darell Hernaiz also looking to land that spot. Now, with Harris—the natural third baseman of the trio—back in the minors, it's tough to see his path back to the big leagues with the A's.
At third base the Athletics have the duo still in camp, plus Andy Ibàñez, who will mostly likely serve as a third base option that can smash against lefties. That is three players currently in the mix to man third base in the big leagues.
Down in the minors with Harris there will be top prospect Leo De Vries, who will start at either Double-A or Triple-A this season, but with how he's been performing in camp, he could rocket his way up to the big leagues in 2026 too. De Vries, a natural shortstop, is going to complicate the A's infield mix when he arrives, and that means another player (not sure who yet) also in the mix at third.
Finally, there is No. 9 prospect Tommy White, who has been showing growth in his time in the minors and is currently batting .444 in 18 spring at-bats. He's also notched three home runs, walked twice and struck out just once. He's not an immediate threat for big-league playing time, but he's progressing that way.
In other words, where does Brett Harris fit? One option is that he could be DFA'd when the team needs a roster spot, with the hope that he'd stick with the club and serve as non-roster depth.
The other scenario is that the A's could try to shop him around in the next two weeks to add a left-handed relief pitcher—something they could use more of. Here is the on final move the A's need to make before the start of the regular season.
It's za-STRIZ-knee
Harris has hit a combined .199 with a .306 OBP and a 77 wRC+ (100 is league average) in his brief time in the big leagues (207 plate appearances). Last season he ended up hitting .274 in 84 PA's, but he also held a .377 BABIP. That said, he does walk a decent bit and his strikeout rate has sat at 22.2%, which isn't awful.
His bat may be a bit of an unknown, but his glove has been stellar. Last year in just 183 innings at the hot corner, he racked up a +5 defensive runs saved, and a +2 outs above average. Right now, the Brewers have switch-hitting Luis Rengifo penciled in as their starting third baseman, and he's projected for a 90 wRC+ and well below league average defense.
Harris may not be able to wrangle that spot away from him immediately, but he could offer a bit more upside because of his glove.
In exchange, the A's would be happy to grab 33-year-old left-handed relief pitcher Rob Zastryzny, who is out of options. Turning 34 later this month, Zastryzny was a second round pick of the Cubs back in 2013, and has pitched in the big leagues in each of the last four seasons, totaling 54 1/3 innings of work and posting a 3.48 ERA.
The lefty has a great slider, held a 2.45 ERA in 26 games last season, and came in with a 87.7% left-on-base rate and a 41% ground ball rate. On top of that, he also had a whiff rate of 32.2% (thanks to that slider), a barrel rate of just 4.8% and a hard-hit% of just 24.2% in his small sample of 22 innings.
If he'd had enough innings, that barrel% would have ranked in the 93rd percentile, his whiff rate would have been in the 92nd percentile, and that hard-hit rate would have been the best in baseball. Caleb Ferguson was ranked in the 100th percentile, and his HH% was at 27.7%.
He's also not a sure thing at all. Neither is Harris. They could each easily end up on waivers in the coming weeks, which makes this a great trade to consider, as it would help out both sides in different areas of need on their rosters.
Last year, in his seventh season of playing in the big leagues, he notched a career-high 22 innings with a 2.45 ERA (3.31 xERA). Could the A's look to capitalize more in trading a solid glove-first third baseman? Perhaps. But Zastryzny is also a low cost, high reward guy that they could certainly use in the bullpen immediately.
A guy that can limit hard contact, keep the ball on the ground and also miss bats is precisely the type of pitcher the A's need in their minor-league home in Sacramento, where the ball tends to fly a bit. He would also provide the club with a lefty in relief aside from Hogan Harris, and open up the bullpen roles up and down the 'pen, giving Mark Kotsay plenty of tools to work with on a nightly basis.
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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.
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