With the Tuesday deadline to select players to the 40-man roster and protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, the A’s elected to shield a pair of players, corner outfielder Lawrence Butler and left-handed pitcher Hogan Harris.
A 6th-round draft pick out of high school way back in 2018, Butler has climbed all the way up to 15th on Baseball America’s top prospects in the Oakland pipeline. After spending the previous year at Low-A, the 22-year old spent just about all of the 2022 season at High-A, slashing a respectable .270/.357/.468 on the season.