Yohel

Pozo

It’s a large batch of cuts, and there’s definitely some talent mixed in there, but no one who was truly expected to crack the team’s Opening Day roster. Jordan Diaz saw significant time with the A’s during the 2023 season and he’ll surely get another chance at some point in 2024. Estes is somewhat surprising, as he was absolutely dealing in Cactus League play — posting a 1.29 ERA, 0.43 WHIP and an 8/1 K/BB ratio across seven innings in his three outings.

Pozo is back in the fold with the Athletics as emergency organizational catching depth after slashing .206/.338/.523 with 18 homers across 391 plate appearances over 92 games this past season for Triple-A Las Vegas. The 26-year-old backstop hasn’t appeared in the majors since getting into 21 contests for the division-rival Rangers back in 2021 during their rebuilding phase.

With stalwart catcher Sean Murphy traded to the Braves earlier this week, there’s a legitimate opportunity this spring for Pozo to make the Athletics’ Opening Day roster as a backup catcher. The 25-year-old backstop got into 21 games for the Rangers during the 2021 campaign and spent all of last season at Triple-A Round Rock, batting .320/.352/.474 with six homers in 267 plate appearances.

The latest series of Rangers’ cuts leaves their major-league spring training roster at 43 players. Arihara, Tropeano and Workman will function as organizational pitching depth and Pozo provides some emergency catching depth moving forward.

Pozo was non-tendered by the Rangers earlier this week, but will remain with the organization on a new minor-league pact. The 24-year-old backstop hit .284/.312/.378 with one home run in 77 plate appearances at the major-league level last season. He’ll serve as organizational catching depth next season.

Pozo made his MLB debut this summer at age 24 and slashed .284/.312/.378 in 77 plate appearances. He’ll probably have to accept a minor league contract in free agency.

Pozo saw just 77 plate appearances during his time with the Rangers, slashing a respectable .284/.312/.378 with a homer, nine RBI and a 10/3 K/BB ratio. He’ll be an interesting name to keep an eye on in deep mixed leagues and AL-only formats heading into the 2022 season.

Pozo served as the DH last night, which says more about the Rangers than it does about his batting prowess. With the two knocks, the 24-year-old is hitting .264/.291/.340 in his 53 at-bats.

It will be Pozo’s first start at catcher in the majors. The 24-year-old has served exclusively as a DH since his call-up, hitting .205/.244/.308 with a homer over 41 plate appearances. DJ Peters will get the start out of the DH spot on Monday.