The Brewers, who selected Colin Walsh from the A's in this winter's Rule 5 draft, have designated him for assignment. Other teams will get a chance to claim him on waivers, but they'd have to keep him subject to the same Rule 5 ... uh, rules, i.e. they'd have to keep him on the 25-man roster or the disabled list or else waive him themselves. If he clears waivers, the Brewers will offer him back to the A's, who can take him back for half the price the Brewers paid for him (the A's got $50,000 for him and can buy him back for $25,000).

Walsh is 26 already, so he's more the "can he stick and help us in a reserve role" Rule 5 pick than the "hyper young guy who's not ready for the bigs who we'll try to stash on the bench or in the bullpen" type, the latter of which don't really exist in quite the way they used to. He came out of the Cardinals' system, but they released him after 2013. He signed with the A's and hit well, if very underpowered, in half a season's worth of plate appearances mostly at Double- and Triple-A. Then he broke out, in a way, in 2015, spending the whole year at Double-A and slashing .302/.447/.470. That on-base percentage is not a typo. He walked 124 times.

He was a 25-year-old second baseman in Double-A, though, so the A's didn't add him to the 40-man. The Brewers took him and used him mostly at third base, but he hit as you'd expect someone with his skill mix to hit: .085/.317/.106. Again, the OBP is not a typo. He walked or struck out 37 times in 63 plate appearances.

If the A's wind up getting him back, there's not really room for him at Triple-A, with Joey Wendle, Josh Rodriguez, Renato Nunez, and Ryon Healy all on the team at his positions, though perhaps he could play left field -- the Sounds only have three outfielders on the roster at the moment. Midland makes even less sense: there are already two pretty good prospects playing shortstop at the level, Yairo Munoz and Franklin Barreto, and Matt Chapman is the third baseman. The outfield isn't quite as impressive a group, so again perhaps he might fit there. Of course, if the A's really don't have a place for him, this might mean they'd rather work out a trade for him (probably for cash considerations) that would allow the Brewers to keep him and option him to the minors.

Then again, it would have to pain Billy Beane, of all people, to let a guy with Walsh's on-base skills go for practically nothing. He's like the non-catching Jeremy Brown!