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Elephant Rumblings: Seth Brown Outrighted to Triple-A

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Good morning everyone! We at Athletics Nation hope each and everyone of you had a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend.

The Athletics made a major shakeup on their roster a few days ago when they recalled several notable prospects and said goodbye for now to other players. One of those moves was to designate outfielder/first baseman Seth Brown for assignment to create both 26-man and 40-man roster room for the new additions. With that designation meant that any and every team in the league would get the chance to claim the 32-year-old off waivers, which would also have meant taking on the remainder of his $2.7MM contract that Brown and the A’s agreed to this offseason to avoid arbitration. That always seemed unlikely with the combination of the way Brownie’s season has unfolded and that salary for below-average production.

Once considered a quality power-hitting prospect, Brown made it to the major leagues in 2019 for a quick 26-game cup of coffee, not looking overmatched at the plate for a rookie. Then the pandemic hit the next year, affording Brown the chance to make it into just seven big league games and stunting his development. Once baseball was back to normal the next year the lefty slugger finally got his first real chance in the big leagues, making it into 111 games and impressing with 20 home runs. He struggled in other parts of the game but that power was tempting and his flexibility to play both outfield corners and first base came in handy.

The next March saw the Athletics ship out All-Star first baseman Matt Olson to the Braves, clearing first base for Brown on a full-time basis. Playing in almost every game during the 2022 season Brownie slashed .230/.305/.444 with 25 long balls in 150 games played. That year-over-year improvement wasn’t huge but it was enough to give the team hope that maybe he would continue to gradually get better and be a decent enough replacement for Olson, at least in the power department.

Instead regression came hard for the lefty swinger in 2023. He backslid in every facet of his offense while getting shielded from tough left-handed pitching. The drop in production continued into last season and eventually the club outrighted him to Triple-A after being a consistent roster presence for the previous three-and-a-half seasons. Brownie went unclaimed and worked his way back to the club, finishing on a strong note by hitting .263/.304/.413 with seven home runs post-All-Star Break. That was more in line with what the team was hoping to get out of him and that was enough to tempt the A’s into tendering him a contract again this past offseason, leading to the $2.7MM salary mentioned above.

He’s reverted back to his 2023/first-half of 2024 self as he’s hit just .212 with one home run this year while playing sparingly. The club probably held onto him for longer than they should have but the coaching staff loves him and at 32 he was the oldest position player on the roster. Since he’s returning to Triple-A to keep his salary there remains a possibility the club brings him back at some point later this season, just like they did last year when they selected his contract back from the Aviators after less than a month in the minors. The Athletics may take a bit more time than that to get a look at new, younger options like Denzel Clarke but don’t count out a return from Brownie at some point this season. It’s more like see you later than it is goodbye.

Have an excellent Tuesday everyone!

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Well deserved, and maybe putting him on the fast track to the big league squad?

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