The Athletics claimed outfielder Alex Hassan off waivers again, this time from the Baltimore Orioles. Hassan, 26, was previously claimed from the Boston Red Sox on November 17, and waived on November 20 to allow Renato Nunez to be protected from last December's Rule 5 draft.

The Orioles designated Hassan for assignment on February 25 after the team signed infielder Everth Cabrera. The A's placed A.J. Griffin on the 60-day disabled list to open a roster space as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

From Duncan Morrow's story in November:

Hassan, a former 20th round pick, is a Duke alumnus and has been in the Red Sox organization since 2009. He hits right-handed and mostly plays right field, and in 114 games in AAA this year he hit .287/.378/.426 with 8 HRs. Obviously not a ton of power there, but the OBP skills are very promising. Interestingly, he hit .328/.409/.492 off of lefties in AAA this year. The A's struggled with hitting left-handed pitching in 2014, so Hassan could find a niche as a platoon 1B/COF option at the major league level. He received a September callup this year for his MLB debut, and went 1-9 with a walk. For all you amateur scouts out there, here's a video of his first MLB hit this September:

Hassan should help the A's address a lack of organizational depth in the outfield. Josh Reddick, Coco Crisp, Sam Fuld, and Craig Gentry are the outfield-only members of the expected 25-man roster, with Ben Zobrist, Mark Canha, and Stephen Vogt able to move into the corners from time-to-time. Beyond them, Burns is the only other outfielder on the 40-man roster, and Jason Pridie the only non-roster invitee to major league camp.

Here's the new 40-man map (click to enlarge):