A’s agree to terms with all six remaining arbitration eligible players

January 15th, 2021

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland A’s agreed to terms with right-handed pitchers Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino, left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea, third baseman Matt Chapman and outfielder Mark Canha on one-year contracts for the 2021 season, the club announced today. The A’s have now signed or agreed to terms with all arbitration eligible players on the 40-man roster.

Bassitt spent the entire season on the active roster for the first time in his six-year career last year and went 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA in 11 starts. His ERA ranked second among pitchers in the West divisions, sixth in the majors and fifth lowest in Oakland history among pitchers with at least 10 starts. The 31-year-old right-hander also tied for fifth in the West divisions in winning percentage (.714), ranked seventh in opponents OPS (.659), batting average (.233) and slugging percentage (.371), tied for seventh in wins and eighth in on-base percentage (.288).

Canha batted .246 in 59 games in 2020 but walked 37 times and was hit by a pitch 10 times for a .387 on-base percentage. He tied for fourth in the majors in hit by pitches, tied for 12th in walks and ranked 15th in on-base percentage. The 31-year-old right-handed hitter now has a .393 on-base percentage over the last two years, which is eighth best in the majors.

Chapman was batting .232 with 10 home runs and 25 RBI in 37 games before going on the injured list Sept. 12 with a strained right hip. He underwent surgery that day and missed the remainder of the season. The 27-year-old right-handed hitter reached double figures in home runs for the fourth consecutive season and joins Bob Johnson (1933-36), Sam Chapman (1938-41) and Hector Lopez (1955-58) as the only players in Athletics history with at least 10 home runs in each of their first four seasons in the majors.

Manaea went 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 11 starts in 2020 but was 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA and .234 opponents batting average over his final six starts. He walked just eight batters in 54.0 innings, an average of 1.33 walks per nine innings, which was the lowest mark of his career and sixth lowest in the majors among pitchers with 50 or more innings pitched. The 28-year-old left-hander has walked just 47 batters in 244.1 innings over the last three years (1.73 per nine innings).

Montas was off to a strong start last year as he was 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA, .175 opponents batting average and no home runs over his first four starts. He was scratched from his scheduled start on Aug. 14 at San Francisco with upper back tightness and went 1-4 with an 8.70 ERA, .321 opponents average and 10 home runs over his final seven starts. The 27-year-old right-hander was 3-5 with a 5.60 ERA in 11 starts overall.

Trivino compiled a 3.86 ERA in 20 relief appearances and held the opposition to a career-low .193 batting average. He issued 10 walks in 23.1 innings for a career-low .280 on-base percentage. The 29-year-old right-hander struck out 26 for a career-best 10.03 strikeouts per nine innings.