MESA, Ariz. — His advice would go like this: Always be willing to learn and make adjustments. Try new things fundamentally. Keep searching until you find what works. Don’t get stuck in your approach.
There might always be a better way.
It’s what designated hitter Brent Rooker would say to those baseball players following a similar journey as his, hardly a smooth trek to the majors.
Hardly the easy way.
Rooker, through all the struggles, has come out on top.
He is the face of the A’s, the slugger who in January signed a five-year, $60 million contract extension. It was the next shoe to drop of some atypical offseason spending by an organization hardly known for opening its checkbook.
It was simply too difficult — even for the A’s — to deny Rooker’s production over the past few seasons.
He’s 30 and elite.
You’re also looking at the first potential star in Las Vegas for the team’s proposed 2028 relocation to Southern Nevada.
Rooker was an All-Star in 2023 and last year broke out in a massive way, hitting .293 with 39 home runs and 112 RBIs. Won the Silver Slugger Award, a first for the organization since Eric Chavez in 2002.
“I mean, I don’t think the (contract) was anything for motivation,” Rooker said. “I always want to be good and reach my ceiling and find out how good a player I can be. I always want to be a leader in this clubhouse and do what I can to teach these guys what I know and have learned and make everyone around me better.
“I don’t think I needed a (contract) for that. I don’t think there has been much change. I’ve always had that drive to reach a certain level individually and as a teammate as well.”
And to think: He almost chose going overseas to play instead of continuing his dream of making it in the majors. It was a very real possibility. Anything for the hope that it might work out one day back home.
Slow start
A star at Mississippi State, Rooker was a first-round draft pick of the Twins. But — and this is a story told over and over throughout baseball — his potential never materialized early on.
He would bounce around with the Twins, Padres and Royals before being claimed off waivers by the A’s in 2022. Bounce around the minors looking for a home, for that potential to finally show itself.
And it has. In the grandest of ways.
And he proved himself to be more than a one-year star, something that doesn’t always occur with players his age. It’s hard to remain consistent. Only the best ones do.
“He has become one of the scariest hitters in all of baseball,” A’s leadoff hitter Lawrence Butler said. “He’s super intelligent, which is what makes him so scary. He can have a plan he has developed since waking up and then go out and execute it, and there’s nothing you can do about it. He does his research. I take a lot of that from him and try to apply it to my own game.”
It’s something when a veteran is this respected in a clubhouse, and Rooker is. Someone for younger players on the A’s to follow and emulate. Someone who leads by example.
He is also an entertaining presence on social media, many tweets offered in a self-effacing manner. He’s not afraid to make fun of himself.
The best part: He isn’t satisfied as a player. Far from it. It’s much like the advice he would give those also following a similar journey. Always be willing to adjust.
“If I stop learning and stop getting better, I won’t be around very long,” Rooker said. “I have to keep improving and keep gaining more knowledge, more experience through various situations and applying it to my game for future at-bats and whatever is needed as a player.
“There’s nothing I would change about my (journey). Every step of the way led me to where I need to be. Everything I experienced and went through and overcame brought me to this place where things culminated and started to work in my favor.”
Its first star
Las Vegas is going to need a face of the A’s. A player to get things rolling.
Someone fans can get behind from the beginning.
You figure Rooker has every chance to be that guy should 2028 indeed be the team’s first season in Las Vegas.
He has different ideas.
“I think you’re looking at Lawrence Butler for that,” Rooker said of the outfielder. “Of how good he is and how rapidly he is improving. I’m going to pass that title to him three years in advance. He’s not only pushing to be one of the faces of this team, but of the entire league. I’m excited to watch him.”
Folks should be excited to continue watching Brent Rooker as well. What a journey.
He could be your first A’s star, Las Vegas.
Contact Ed Graney at [email protected]. Follow @edgraney on X.
Up next
What: Big League Weekend
Who: A’s vs. Diamondbacks
When: 1:05 p.m. Saturday and March 9
Where: Las Vegas Ballpark
