The Athletics will select corner infielder Tommy White ahead of Friday’s second-half opener against the Nationals, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Wednesday night, putting the 2024 second-round pick in line for his major league debut.
White, who hit .355/.419/.704 across three seasons at LSU, has forced the issue at Triple-A Las Vegas. He is hitting .303/.345/.489 in 55 games there this year with a strikeout rate of just 14 percent, and he has punished left-handed pitching at a .376/.438/.576 clip. Baseball America ranks him the No. 11 prospect in the Athletics’ system; FanGraphs has him 17th.
The path onto the 40-man roster is already clear. Brent Rooker is headed for season-ending knee surgery, making him a candidate for the 60-day injured list, and the club spent Wednesday churning the margins of its roster: Aaron Civale was designated for assignment, reliever Yunior Tur was selected, Donovan Walton was activated, and Joey Meneses, Brian Serven and Mason Barnett were optioned to Triple-A, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com.
The timing tells the story. The Athletics carry a nine-game losing streak into the break, having dropped 13 of their last 14, and a season that began with wild-card hopes has tipped fully into evaluation mode. Rooker’s surgery and Civale’s exit cleared out a chunk of the present; White is the first real look at what comes next.
A corner infielder with White’s contact-and-power profile debuting against Washington on Friday gives the second half a reason to matter in West Sacramento. How much he plays — and where, between first and third — will say plenty about how aggressively the front office intends to run its audition phase before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
