Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
If Coco Crisp lands on the disabled list this week, the Oakland Athletics will have an open spot on their roster. However, the A’s only have two position players on their 40-man roster down in Triple-A — Nate Freiman and Tyler Ladendorf — both of whom are on the seven-day disabled list. Fortunately for Oakland, they have enough outfielders to fill the void in Crisp’s absence. Unfortunately for the Athletics, there are other positions on the field that need more depth, which is why the A’s should put infielder Andy Parrino on the 40-man roster.
Even though Parrino has been on the 40-man roster in the past, he did not make the cut this year. But Parrino would add some much-needed depth to the middle infield and hopefully boost the defense at shortstop. This 29-year-old minor leaguer played a handful of major league games in 2013 and 2014, but his lack of offense kept him in limbo between the MLB level and the minors. He does have a strong glove and and could be a great fill in for Marcus Semien, however, who’s struggling defensively on his off days.
Parrino is a true infield utility player who can field at short, second and third. He has a strong arm and could provide Oakland with some much-needed defense. Even though he does not have a strong bat, Parrino has been doing quite well in Triple-A Nashville so far this season with a .275 BA, .435 SLG and .806 OPS. His numbers have not been this good since 2012, so perhaps it is time to reevaluate Parrino’s role in the Athletics organization.
Recently, Oakland hired ex-Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington to help with their defense. Washington, who was a major league shortstop for 10 seasons, is expected to work extensively with Semien. However, if this and Ben Zobrist’s return from the disabled list does not dramatically improve the defense, the Athletics should figure out a way to add Parrino to the 40-man roster.
