Does Former San Francisco Giants Utility Player Make Sense for A's?

Sep 12, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Blake Sabol (2) rounds third base after hitting a home run during the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

The Athletics are fine-tuning their roster ahead of camp next month, with pretty much every position more or less figured out. While each spot on the roster is far from nailed down, the club seems to knows who will be in the running.

Yet, the San Francisco Giants may have added a bit of a wrinkle into their plans by signing Justin Verlander, at least indirectly. The Giants made the Verlander signing official on Saturday, and in a corresponding move, they designated C/OF Blake Sabol for assignment. Since the A's finished with the fifth-worst record in baseball, they'll be one of the first few teams to be able to make a claim, if they want to.

While the catcher position is locked down with Shea Langeliers, there is a chance that the A's could look to upgrade his backup. 26-year-old rookie Kyle McCann had the job in 2024 and finished the season with a 102 wRC+ (100 is league average), but his performance in the second half really declined and his playing time essentially vanished.

McCann hit well against right-handers, going 17-for-70 (.243) while collecting a lone hit against a southpaw, going 1-for-9 in limited opportunities. He hit .293 in the first half of the year, but went just 6-for-48 after the break. While a change isn't going to be top-of-list for the front office, if someone of interest became available, they could look to make a switch.

So does Blake Sabol make sense for the A's?

He has 121 games of big-league experience, which checks one box, and he's also a left-handed stick, which is certainly helpful. Overall, he has hit .243 with a .313 OBP and a 95 wRC+ in his time in the bigs while collecting 0.6 WAR. He's shown some pop, hitting 13 homers with San Francisco in 2023 in 344 plate appearances.

In looking at his advanced metrics from 2023 when he got into 110 games, the question is a little more murky. Defensively, he just wasn't great, ranking in the first percentile in blocks above average with -19. His pop time also ranked in the 18th percentile at a flat 2.00.

What makes him look slightly better is that his framing was slightly above average (59th percentile) and his caught stealing above average (58th) was decent. McCann's blocking ability was better, but everything else was right in line or worse than where Sabol was two years ago. McCann's pop time was the same, his framing was below average (26th percentile), and his caught stealing above average ranked in the 44th percentile.

The one difference, other than the bat, was that Sabol has been quite a bit faster, with a sprint speed of 27.4 feet per second (52nd percentile) while McCann's 25.3 ft/sec ranked in the eighth percentile.

If the A's are looking for a low-cost addition that will upgrade the roster just a touch, then Sabol could be a fit. Sabol has also roamed the outfield grass both in the big leagues and in the minors, and the A's love a bit of versatility.

We also looked into his stats from his time in Sacramento last season, and in 55 home games, he hit just .213, but had a solid OBP at .341. Even though he had fewer at-bats in Sacramento than on the road, he still hit eight of his 12 homers at Sutter Health Park, while also going a perfect 7-for-7 on steals.

His familiarity with Sacramento could be another reason to consider him, though the numbers he produced there last year weren't otherworldly. While a move wouldn't drastically improve the A's, Sabol's added speed on the bases could be useful for an A's offense that is hoping to make some big strides heading into the 2025 campaign.