The Athletics and first baseman/outfielder Seth Brown have prevented arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract for the 2025 season, per a membership announcement. The monetary parts of the deal haven’t but been publicly introduced.
Brown, 32, regarded as if he was now not within the A’s plans midseason when he was handed via waivers unclaimed. He accepted an outright project to Triple-A, in order to not forfeit the rest of final yr’s $2.6MM wage, however Brown caught hearth within the minors and hit his approach again as much as the massive leagues briefly order.
On the time of his elimination from the 40-man roster, Brown was hitting simply .189/.251/.306 via 195 plate appearances. He erupted with a .403/.416/.736 slash and 7 homers in 77 Triple-A plate appearances, nevertheless, and located himself again on the massive league roster lower than a month later. From the time he returned to the majors via season’s finish, Brown hit .271/.312/.448 in a pattern of 205 plate appearances that was practically an identical to his early-season struggles.
That proved sufficient to maintain Brown within the crew’s plans for at the very least one other yr, it appears. The lefty-swinging slugger figures to once more break up his time between first base and the outfield corners, whereas Brent Rooker takes nearly all of plate appearances at designated hitter. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a $3.8MM wage for Brown in free company, although offers hammered out previous to the non-tender deadline (referred to as “pre-tender” offers) typically include salaries south of projections. Groups have extra leverage previous to the non-tender deadline and thus will continuously current provides in what’s successfully “take it or go away it” vogue, with the “go away it” choice representing a non-tender.
Brown has now had consecutive disappointing seasons on the plate, however he popped 45 homers in 261 video games with the A’s from 2021-22. He’s a .225/.289/.426 hitter (102 wRC+) in 1640 plate appearances relationship again to the 2021 season.