A's select contract of veteran IF, former first-round pick Pete Kozma

The Athletics have placed infielder Vimael Machin on the injured list and selected the contract of veteran infielder Pete Kozma from Triple-A Las Vegas, per a club announcement. Oakland didn’t provide an injury designation for Machin, which suggests he’s been placed on the COVID-19-related injured list. He won’t count against the 40-man roster while on that list.

Kozma, 33, will be returning to the big leagues for the first time since 2018. He’s logged 113 games with the A’s top affiliate in 2021 and posted a .244/.307/.337 batting line in 500 trips to the plate.

Offense has never been a strong point for Kozma, a defensive standout with the Cardinals from 2011-15. Kozma was the everyday shortstop in St. Louis in 2013, when the Cardinals made it to Game 6 of the World Series before falling to the Red Sox. Outside of that season, however, Kozma has been primarily used as a bench piece or an up-and-down depth option. He’s only topped 100 plate appearances twice in his career: 2013 (448 plate appearances) and 2015 (111).

It’ll likely be a short stay on Oakland’s 40-man roster for the veteran Kozma, but the A’s are in need of some infield help with Machin on the injured list and with primary shortstop Elvis Andrus sustaining a fractured fibula that required surgery. He can handle any of shortstop, second base or third base over the final weekend’s worth of games. Kozma technically remains arbitration-eligible now that he’s on the roster, but it’s quite possible he’ll simply be outrighted and become a free agent at season’s end.