Athletics outright Joey Meneses after DFA; he can elect free agency

What happened

The Athletics outrighted first baseman Joey Meneses following a weekend designation for assignment, per the MLB.com transaction log. Because Meneses has a previous career outright on his record, he is not obligated to accept the assignment to the minors — he can decline it in favor of free agency instead.

The move closes what turned out to be a brief stint with the club. Meneses had come aboard on an offseason minor league deal — the kind of contract that does not place a player on the 40-man roster at signing — and was selected onto the MLB roster in June. He then went up and down from Triple-A Las Vegas a couple of times before the organization designated him for assignment over the weekend and subsequently completed the outright.

Why it matters

The prior-outright clause is the operative detail here. Under general league mechanics, a player who has already been outrighted once can refuse a subsequent outright assignment and instead elect free agency — which means the Athletics cannot simply return Meneses to Las Vegas without his consent. He gets to decide what comes next, and that is not a trivial distinction.

That decision carries some weight, because Meneses is not a player whose Triple-A numbers suggest he has nothing left to offer. The question is whether he believes another organization will give him a look at the big league level, or whether he prefers to remain in a familiar system. Whatever he chooses, the Athletics will not be holding the pen.

The minor league deal structure is worth a brief note as well. The selection to the active roster in June was the moment Meneses joined the 40-man group. The designation for assignment and subsequent outright now remove him from it, tidying the Athletics' roster math as they work through the back half of a difficult season. Roster housekeeping is rarely dramatic, but it is rarely accidental either.

The numbers

Meneses appeared in nine big league games for the Athletics, going 3-for-20 with three walks across 25 plate appearances. That is a thin sample, and it represented his first MLB work since 2024 — he spent the prior season in Triple-A with the Mets organization without reaching the majors.

The broader arc is worth understanding. Meneses played parts of three big league campaigns with the Nationals from 2022 through 2024. The first of those was the kind of debut that makes scouts simultaneously thrilled and nervous: an out-of-nowhere huge half season as a 30-year-old rookie. The latter two seasons with Washington were a struggle, and he never quite recaptured that initial burst.

Now 34, his Triple-A line with Las Vegas this year reads .346/.396/.546 across 331 plate appearances, with 12 home runs. Those are not the numbers of a player who has forgotten how to hit a baseball. They are, however, the numbers of a player whose path back to a 26-man roster has proven narrower than the raw production might suggest — a gap that is not unusual for a corner bat at his stage, but is worth naming plainly. The minor league deal that brought him to the Athletics was itself a reflection of that market reality: real production, uncertain opportunity.

Where the club stands

The Athletics enter Tuesday sitting at 64-98 (.395), fourth in the AL West and 17 games back in the division. They have been eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, and they carry a two-game losing streak into a road series at Arizona.

Tuesday's game at Chase Field has Jack Perkins lined up against the Diamondbacks' Kohl Drake. Wednesday's matchup sends Gage Jump to the mound against Merrill Kelly. The club then travels to Minnesota for a Friday start featuring Jacob Lopez against Zebby Matthews at Target Field.

At 64-98, the Athletics are playing out a season that has long since shifted its focus from the standings to the development ledger. Roster decisions like this one — a veteran on a minor league deal, a brief MLB stint, a designation for assignment, an outright — are the texture of a rebuilding summer. They are not glamorous, but they are the work.

What we don't know yet

The central open question is what Meneses will do. He can accept the outright assignment and return to Triple-A Las Vegas, or he can decline it and enter free agency. MLB Trade Rumors has not reported which direction he is leaning, and no timetable for that decision has been noted.

If he elects free agency, it would set him loose on a market that, in late July, is populated by contenders looking for depth and rebuilding clubs looking for Triple-A insurance. His Las Vegas numbers would presumably generate some interest from someone. If he accepts the outright, he continues in the Athletics system — though the circumstances under which he would be recalled again are not clear given the current roster situation.

There is also the broader question of what the Athletics do with the roster space created by this move as they navigate the final months of the season. That is not a question this transaction answers on its own.

What to watch

The first thing to monitor is Meneses' decision on the outright. If he declines and hits free agency, watch for any reported interest from clubs in need of a right-handed bat with Triple-A depth. A .346/.396/.546 line is the kind of number that travels, even if the big league door has proven stubborn.

If he accepts, the more interesting watch becomes whether the Athletics' situation changes enough by September — when rosters expand to 28 under general league rules — to create another opportunity. The roster expansion window is a real mechanical consideration worth keeping in mind as the calendar turns, even if the material does not point in any particular direction on that front.

For the Athletics themselves, the road trip to Arizona and then Minnesota offers a look at how the younger pieces on the pitching staff handle late-July competition. Jack Perkins, Gage Jump, and Jacob Lopez are the names on the upcoming schedule. The Meneses chapter, brief as it was, is likely finished in an Athletics uniform either way — though the final word belongs to Meneses himself.