Sacramento A’s two way player Shotaro Morii (gold A’s jersey) is introduced at press conference in Sacramento. Morii signed a minor league contract for $1,520,500. (photo from the New York Post)

Athletics Loading-Up and Spending money in Sacramento

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

When a team relocates, it brings a lot of new challenges, aside from the city they’re moving to, marketing strategy, new players, who is gone and who is returning plus changing the team’s identity. For the Oakland A’s, who made Oakland their home from 1968 to 2024 are now starting a new phase of their history in Sacramento, California. Aside from the new players, more on that later.

For this first season in Sacramento, 2025, the Athletics have added a new sleeve patch to their uniform that features the Tower Bridge and the word Sacramento. No, it is not as famous as the Bay Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge, nevertheless is an emblem of Sacramento.

For this first year in Sacramento, the team also signed Dominican-born right-handed pitcher Luis Severino in December 2024. Severino (a veteran with the Yankees and Mets) got the largest contract in the history of the Athletics, a three-year, $67 million contract. Previously, Eric Chavez hsd signed the largest contract in athletics history twenty years ago, a six-year contract extension of $66 million in 2004.

The A’s went to Asia to find young talent. They recently signed 18-year-old Shotaro Morii, who made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed to a minor league contract with the Athletics, including a signing bonus of $1,520,500.

Morii is trying to become another two-way player from his country after the great Shohei Ohtani with the World Champions Los Angeles Dodgers. The minor league contract is the largest ever for a Japanese amateur outside of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)

The spending spree came after the team extended slugger Brent Rooker’s contract to five years and $60 million. The A’s DH was their MVP in 2024, with a .293 batting average, 39 home runs and 112 runs batted in. Since last season, many teams where interested in Rooker, but the A’s did well in retaining him.

The A’s signed a one-year contract with Dominican-born right-hander José Leclerc for 1 year and $10 million. The team expects José’s acquisition will bolster the back end of the bullpen, with their #1 star sensational closer Mason Miller, on his third season with the A’s.

The team also signed experienced third baseman Gio Urshela to a 1 year contract worth $2.15 million with up to $400,000 in incentives. Urshela, a native of Cartagena, Colombia, signed with Cleveland in July 2008 at age 16. He made his MLB debut for the Indians on June 9, 2015, and played two-plus seasons in Cleveland before being traded to the Blue Jays in May 2018. The team was looking for a guy with this experience to be part of their infield this year. Saludos and Adiós, for now.

Amaury Pi-González was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2010 for his work as a Spanish-language Major League Baseball. Amaury is the vice president of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame Museum catch Amaury’s podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com