A’s: Infielder Cliff Pennington is latest player to rejoin Oakland roster.
MESA, Ariz. — One of Cliff Pennington’s finest moments was creating the “one-man dogpile” when the A’s won Game 4 of the 2012 ALDS against Detroit — and now, like so many before him, the infielder is back with Oakland.
Pennington, part of that division-winning club seven years ago, signed a minorleague deal with the A’s on Friday. The 34-year-old is expected in camp Saturday for the team’s first full-squad workout.
A first-round pick in 2005, Pennington spent parts or all of five seasons with Oakland, and he was among the team leaders of 2012’s surprise AL West champs.
“He’s a guy we’ve had in the organization, he’s made himself a more versatile player, he’s a switch hitter and he knows what we’re all about here,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Kind of a favorite of mine, too, back in my early days here . ... He’s a nice resource to have on the field. He’s always watched the game the right way.”
Pennington has played every position at the big-league level except catcher, center and right. He’s made two pitching appearances, including one in the postseason with Toronto in 2015.
In the past week, the A’s have added former Oakland pitchers Jerry Blevins and Brett Anderson, along with Pennington, and they’ve had talks with starter Edwin Jackson.
The team appears to be fairly close to being done with signing players, however, so the current bunch in camp Saturday (along with Franklin Barreto, whose arrival from Venezuela has been slowed by visa issues) might be what Oakland is looking at the rest of the spring. Grossman arrives: The outfield appeared to be one of Oakland’s strengths even before the team welcomed Robbie Grossman on Friday; the switch hitter, who signed a one-year, $2 million deal with Oakland, had a productive season with the Twins last year.
As a reliable veteran with a good clubhouse reputation, he’ll provide the A’s with depth in a role likely similar to the one Matt Joyce played the previous two years, getting good playing time in left. That doesn’t necessarily mean Oakland is moving on from Nick Martini, who hit .373 for Oakland in September as the A’s were driving toward a playoff spot. The team will need depth throughout the season and Martini, Mark Canha and utility player Chad Pinder will get time in the outfield, though it’s likely that Dustin Fowler might be ticketed for more minor-league duty.
“We’ll see how it all plays out at the end of spring,” Melvin said. “I’m not going to discount Nick Martini and what he’s meant to this team. Canha and Pinder have been absolutely terrific. Typically during the spring, things don’t go swimmingly, you always want some additional depth.
“(Grossman) definitely gives us that, and based on his track record here recently, there’s a chance he gets quite a bit of playing time.” Briefly: Third baseman Matt Chapman (shoulder) took 20 swings of batting practice and said it went great . ... Daniel Gossett, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Grossman.