Elephant Rumblings: Brent Rooker undergoes shoulder surgery

MLB news roundup

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

The Divisional round of the MLB postseason is well underway. Both NLDS series are tied up at a game apiece and headed to San Diego and NYC to resume tomorrow. The lower seeds both won away games over the weekend to capture home field advantage, for what that is actually worth.

There was a break in ALDS action yesterday, so the series in New York and Cleveland continue today as the Yankees and Guardians both look to position themselves for series sweeps.

Meanwhile, a few offseason developments involving the A’s made the news. On Friday, general manager David Forst announced that Brent Rooker underwent shoulder surgery last week and revealed that the star slugger played through the 2024 season with a forearm extensor injury that locked him in the DH role all year.

Rooker is expected to be ready to play again when Spring Training 2025 rolls around. If he can sustain his elite batting performance and provide value in left field next year, he might be a legitimate MVP candidate.

Forst also told reporters that the A’s expect payroll to increase and to be “active in free agency” in 2025. The A’s seemed to have difficulty attracting free agents to the Coliseum, and next year’s move to Sutter Health Park certainly won’t bring a facility upgrade, so it’s hard to see the team making deals with much better talent than the likes of Ross Stripling and Alex Wood, but we’ll see what Forst is really getting at in the weeks and months ahead.

Have a terrific week, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• Barnum & Bailey Have Nothing On Kaval & Fisher
• Rooker injured all during spectacular season; he undergoes arm surgery
• A’s opening day tickets in Sacramento won’t come cheap
• GM Forst expects A’s payroll to go up in first Sacramento season
• A’s “not 100% certain” on turf in Sacramento
• Could A’s target this Chicago Cubs player in trade?
• A’s hope to send Nick Kurtz to Arizona Fall League for extra at-bats

MLB News & Interest:

• Instant classic! Castellanos’ walk-off turns jeers to cheers, evens NLDS
• Padres respond with record-setting 6 HRs in tying NLDS
• NL Postseason Notes: McNeil, Marte, Edman, Freeman
• Clayton Kershaw Won’t Return In 2024
• For Tarik Skubal and Matthew Boyd, ALDS Game 2 is more than just a meeting between rivals ($)
• How Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman went from ‘1 percent chance’ of playing in Game 1 to starring in it ($)
• NL Notes: Adames, Braves, Giants, Francona, Yamamoto
• AL East Notes: Bichette, Yoshida, Cortes
• The Surprise Ace Of Last Year’s Free Agent Class
• Rays Could Deal From Rotation Depth This Offseason
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Bill King would be 97.

Geddy Lee, a credit to the game (and bass guitar).

Lovely.

Profar pranks an excessively hostile Dodgers crowd.