Athletics claim Nick Buss off waivers from Dodgers

Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

No, the Athletics did not reclaim Texas Rangers infielder Adam Rosales off waivers, again. This time, the Oakland Athletics claimed outfielder Nick Buss off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com. The Athletics will immediately assign Buss to their Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento. Buss was designated for assignment last week by the Dodgers when the team purchased the contract of pitcher Red Patterson and needed to make room on the 40-man roster. Patterson made his Major League debut when he started the second game of a double-header against the Minnesota Twins.

Nick Buss made a small appearance for the Dodgers in 2013 when he was apart of the September call ups. During that small appearance, Buss had only two hits in nineteen at bats (.105 batting average) with a -26 OPS+. He could not prove himself as a MLB-ready hitter and did not make the big league team out of spring training.

Nick Buss will join Shane Peterson, Kent Matthes, Jake Goebbert and Michael Taylor in the outfield mix for Sacramento. Buss has, however, proved that he is, indeed, a solid minor league hitter. He had not gotten off to a great start with Triple-A Albuquerque, this season, as he has struggled to find his stroke, only hitting .261/.330/.391 with one home run and sixteen runs batted in.

This is a decline from last season, where with the Triple-A team, Buss hit .303/.363/.525 with seventeen home runs and one-hundred runs batted in. Buss was selected by the Dodgers in the 2008 draft during the eighth round; he is a lifetime .284/.338/.438  hitter with 55 home runs and 358 runs batted in, all in parts of seven minor league seasons at five different levels.