Minnesota Twins Cast-Off Could Quietly Bolster A's Depth

He'd make a lot of sense for the A's on a couple of fronts

Sep 16, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald (53) celebrates hitting a two run home run against the New York Yankees in the sixth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins made a small trade on Friday, acquiring first baseman Eric Wagaman from the Miami Marlins in exchange for left-hander Kade Bragg. Wagaman was designated for assignment when the Marlins added former A's outfielder Esteury Ruiz right before the new year, and the infielder has subsequently been traded to Minnesota.

The A's may be ready to take advantage, too. With the Twins adding Wagaman, they also had to remove a player from their own 40-man roster to make this all work, and they decided to designate Ryan Fitzgerald for assignment. He could end up being the type of depth option the A's decide to take a swing on.

For starters, Fitzgerald shares a name with a slightly more famous sports figure, the Carolina Panthers kicker, Ryan Fitzgerald. They're not to be confused with the even more popular quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick. The A's have had a knack for acquiring players that share the same name as an already popularized person.

Last offseason, it was the addition Jason Alexander (Seinfeld). There is also another JP Sears, Kevin Smith is a famous director, Chad Smith (2023 A's pitcher) is the drummer from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and so on. It's noticeable enough that you have to type in "MLB" next to certain player's names to make sure that you get the right one in the writing process.

Anyway, back to Ryan Fitzgerald (the baseball one). He made his MLB debut with the Twins in May, spending two games with the club, but then earned a more regular role after the team's trade deadline fire sale.

Overall, he hit .197 (9-for-46), but he held a .302 on-base percentage, and four of his nine hits were home runs, landing him a 110 wRC+ across his first 24 big-league games.

He's also a bit of a utility player, but has spent a decent amount of time at third base, which could make him an intriguing depth option for the A's to consider. The one hangup here is that if he does clear waivers, then the Twins could decide to just outright him to Triple-A. So in order for the A's to land him, they'd either need to claim him, or trade for him.

Sep 20, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald (53) throws the ball to first base to get out Cleveland Guardians third base and infield coach Rouglas Odor (53) during the fifth inning of game one of a double header at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The trade route may be the better option here, given that the Twins could outright him (assuming he clears waivers) and then the A's could acquire him without having to make room on the 40-man for him.

In the minors last year, the lefty bat ended up hitting .277 with a .367 OBP in Triple-A, complete with seven home runs in 59 games. In his very small sample in the big leagues, he also pulled the ball in the air a good amount, with his 26.3% pull rate being one of the higher rates in the league.

If he were to be playing at Sutter Health Park, that could be a nice boost, since the right field fence is just 325 feet down the line.

The fit with the A's specifically is one reason that Fitzgerald would make sense here, but the other big reason is that he is set to enter his age 32 season in 2026. He's had an interesting journey in his career in the minors. He went undrafted out of Creighton in 2016, and signed with the Gary SouthShore RailCats in the American Association of Indy Ball.

From there, he was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 2018, and began working his way up through the minors. After five seasons in the Sox system, he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft back in 2023. He's gone from undrafted to a big leaguer in his career, meaning there is plenty of knowledge that he could bestow to the younger guys in Triple-A Las Vegas.

This feels like a no-brainer type of move for the A's to make. Not only could he serve as a depth option on the roster that can play a number of positions—including an area of need at third—but he can also serve as a type of player-coach. If he makes it to Sacramento, that's great. If he doesn't, he'd still be providing plenty of value to the A's prospects, which also helps the franchise.