The Athletics have been one of the more interesting teams to follow this offseason. Not because they are going to be the biggest spenders, but because they have some major unpredictability to them.
One of those moves could be seen by their acquisition of veteran infielder Jeff McNeil. It's a young infield, and McNeil will provide some veteran leadership to that young group. The A's aren't always active, but they could get more active this offseason.
Could the A's get active on Christmas Day and give fans a Christmas gift? According to Baseball Reference, the A's have never made a Christmas Day roster move. But on Christmas Eve, their history is nothing short of incredible.
Athletics have an unusually high hit-rate on Christmas roster moves
In Athletics history, while they've not made any roster moves on Christmas Day itself, they've been very active on Christmas Eve.
Their most recent roster move on Christmas Eve came back in 2018, when they signed Mike Fiers to a free agent deal. The year after this deal, Fiers put up 3.4 bWAR with a 3.90 ERA in 33 starts for the A's. Overall, this was a positive signing.
Three years prior, in 2015, the A's signed Matt McBride to a Christmas Eve deal, and he played in 20 games, hitting.209 with a.506 OPS with a -0.1 bWAR for the Athletics in 2016.
Back in 2009, the A's signed Justin Duchscherer to a free agent deal. The right-handed starter was coming off a strong stretch with the A's, but a missed 2009 season. He started just five games in 2010, posting a 2.89 ERA and 0.3 bWAR in his final MLB season.
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The Athletics made four other Christmas Eve roster moves, and all of them are, at worst, good, and at best, some of the best Christmas Eve/Day roster moves ever made.
The 1984 signing of Bruce Bochte, a first baseman/left fielder who posted a 2.7 bWAR season for the A's in 1985 with a.295 average and an.806 OPS, marks the worst signing of the four Christmas Eve roster moves during the 1900's.
On Christmas Eve, 1992, the A's signed a player that most baseball fans are familiar with: Mark McGwire. He signed a free agent deal on Christmas Eve in 1992 and played with the A's for the next 4.5 seasons. During that stint, he put up 18.0 bWAR and 143 home runs.
McGwire made three All-Star teams during this time and was one of the best hitters in baseball. This came right before his monstrous home run record chase, but he was still an elite player during his later A's years.
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Six years prior, on Christmas Eve 1986, another MLB legend, this time Reggie Jackson, signed a deal with the A's. While this was for the final season of his MLB career, Jackson still added 15 homers, 43 RBIs, and 74 hits to his career totals, and finished his MLB career with 74.0 bWAR after a -0.4 bWAR season in 1987.
While the A's have signed multiple baseball icons on Christmas Eve, those moves pale in comparison to the 1964 Athletics roster move to sign Rollie Fingers to a free agent deal.
The right-handed starter and Hall of Fame pitcher signed with the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent. He didn't make his MLB debut until 1968, but he turned his A's tenure into three World Series rings, four All-Star nods, and an impressive MLB career.
No team can compare to the incredible list of players the A's have signed on Christmas Eve. While they've not made any Christmas Day roster moves, the moves the day prior, including Reggie Jackson, Mark McGwire, and Rollie Fingers, more than make up for the lack of Christmas Day moves in the A's long history.
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