Season In Review continues on this fine Tuesday and today’s player we reminisce on will be backup catcher Willie MacIver. The backstop was finally able to make his big league debut this past season, serving as primary starter Shea Langeliers’ backup
How was he acquired?
The former 9th-round pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2018 had spent the entirety of his pro career in their farm system, slowly rising the ranks from Low-A all the way to Triple-A in 2024. After six years in the minor leagues though
he was finally granted the ability to hit free agency. And instead of sticking around the only organization he’d ever known, MacIver decided to hit the road, inking a minor league pact with the A’s on December 17th of last year, almost exactly one year ago from today. Funny.
What were the expectations?
When the team inked MacIver to that deal he instantly became a legitimate option to be the primary backup catcher to Langeliers. The right-handed hitter had generally hit well in the minors with a bit of pop in his bat. His primary competition was Jhonny Pereda, another 28-year-0ld rookie with just a few major league games under his belt from the previous season with Miami. A strong spring training and MacIver could break camp with the club.
2025 Results
Spring Training was not kind on MacIver. He went just 2-for-15 en route to losing the backup job to Pereda, at least to begin the season. He’d instead start back in Triple-A for the second straight year.
His time with the Aviators went swimmingly. He began the year in a time share with former top prospect Daniel Susac and took full advantage of his at-bats. Through the first two months of the year MacIver was thriving in Vegas, hitting .389/.469/.548 with a pair of long balls to boot. And with Pereda struggling up in the big leagues it didn’t take long for the rookie to get The Call for the very first time. The team purchased his contract on May 23rd, setting in motion him getting to make his big league debut.
The minor league veteran finally made his debut in Sacramento later that week, just a few miles north of where he grew up in Pleasant Hill. And his first game was one to remember as he collected his first hit, a go-ahead RBI single to put the A’s ahead, and then threw out a would-be base stealer to end the game and secure the win for the Athletics. He’ll always remember that hot sunny day at Sutter Health Park.
That first game would ultimately be an outlier. A quick start was soon followed over the next month by massive struggles against big league pitching. He made it into just 16 games before getting demoted back to Triple-A, spending the entirety of July and the beginning of August back with the Aviators. He’d get one more promotion before the season was out, returning to the team on August 5th and sticking with the big league squad the rest of the year as the primary backup once more. He’d go just 7-for-53 over his final two months with the A’s and ultimately finished his rookie season with a .186/.252/.324 slash line with three long balls to boot.
2026 Outlook
MacIver was claimed off waivers by the division-rival Texas Rangers soon after the end of the season. As things stand it looks like he’ll be the backup yet again next year, only this time for presumptive starter Kyle Higashioka. The veteran Higashioka will be 36 next year though and is coming off a down season so there’s more of an avenue to at-bats with Texas than the A’s for MacIver. We’ll see if he’s able to take advantage of his next opportunity. The A’s will be seeing him again soon enough.
