A’s roster moves: Bowden selected, Harris optioned, Davidson DFA’d

Swapping out a pair of lefties

The A’s announce on Wednesday afternoon that left-handed reliever Ben Bowden’s contract had been selected from Triple-A, with fellow lefty Hogan Harris getting optioned to the minors and former 1st-round pick Logan Davidson getting DFA’d to make room on the 40-man roster:

Bowden will be joining the Athletics for the first time this season. The minor league veteran has only pitched in the major leagues in one season, way back in 2021 with the Colorado Rockies. His small stint in the majors didn’t go well as he allowed 26 runs in just 35 ²⁄₃ innings. He then bounced around the minor leagues for a few years with different organizations before landing with the Athletics this past offseason on a minors deal.

So far in 2025 the 30-year-old has been one of the Aviators’ better relief options. In 39 ²⁄₃ innings he’s sporting a pristine 1.35 ERA with strong strikeout numbers as well. With the state of the major league bullpen it can’t hurt to give Bowden a crack at the big league job. He’ll take Harris’ spot in the ‘pen as the long relief option while Harris returns to Triple-A and takes Bowden’s spot as a left-handed option for the Aviators.

To make room for Bowden on the 40-man roster the team made the decision to cut bait on a former 1st-round pick in Davidson. Drafted back in 2019, he never quite lived up to the draft spot, slashing .257/.350/.402 with just 57 home runs over six minor league seasons. Now 27, he only made his big league debut this year and predictably struggled, going 3-for-20 with 12 strikeouts. He’s demonstrated solid plate discipline throughout his rise up the minor league ladder but without much else he’s a low-ceiling player. Another team is likely to take a gamble on him though, which means his time with the A’s is probably coming to an end.