A few days late to this, the A's picked up righty reliever Josh Lucas from the Cardinals in exchange for righty starter Casey Meisner. Lucas becomes the A's first 10th-generation player, tracing his lineage back to Ben Grieve, though some luminaries (Nick Swisher) and others you forgot the A's ever had on the roster (Yunel Escobar).

Lucas, who is not the one from The Mysteries of Laura, made a five-game debut last year in the St. Louis bullpen. It's not worth talking about his stats there. He kept his rookie status, but did not make Baseball America's top 30, ranking behind no. 27 prospect Derian Gonzalez on the right-handed reliever depth chart. The Cardinals' system is deep, and BA noted in this year's book particular depth in right-handed pitchers; Gonzalez is better than a lot of no. 27 prospects, a guy who's still starting in the minors (though his long-term home is likely the bullpen) and throwing 95 to 97. All of which is to say that Lucas isn't the organizational filler that you might sometimes find at the no. 31+ spot on a BA list.

BA had ranked Meisner as the A's no. 27 prospect, giving him an overall grade of 40 (a fill-in starter) with a "high" risk rating; in their eyes, in other words, not only is there substantial risk Meisner won't make it at all, but even if he does make it, he's not likely to make much impact. The stuff is fine, but BA picks out only the changeup as a plus pitch, and there's a hint in his writeup that he's a nibbler.

Lucas seems likely to pitch middle innings for the A's this year; they've got three other relievers on the 40-man in the minors (Montas, Bassitt, Trivino) plus Ryan Dull on the disabled list, but there's almost no chance they get through the season without having to dip into that depth, especially if they get into a situation where Chris Hatcher or Liam Hendriks has had a good enough season to bring something back in trade in July, or if Santiago Casilla has a bad enough season to get cut in June. Meisner, by contrast, was probably something like 12th on the list of guys who might start for the A's this year, behind the entire Nashville rotation, and in terms of the 2020 rotation, the A's hopes and dreams look something like Manaea, Puk, Shore, Kaprielian, Luzardo, with Daulton Jefferies, Dakota Chalmers, and maybe Grant Holmes factoring in as well. (Jason, what do you think of Daniel Gossett? Don't ask.) Meisner was depth, and if the A's think Lucas is a 7th-inning guy now-ish, that's probably a touch better than depth.