The Athletics announced (on Twitter) that they’ve acquired lefty Justin Marks from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento. As the Bay Area News Group’s John Hickey tweets, Oakland’s 40-man roster is full, meaning they’ll have to make a move to accommodate Marks.
For Marks, this is a return to the organization that selected him out of Louisville in the third round of the 2009 draft. Oakland shipped him to Kansas City along with Vin Mazzaro (who accepted an outright with the Pirates earlier today) in exchange for David DeJesus back in 2009.
Marks was designated for assignment earlier this week to clear a 40-man spot for right-hander Wilking Rodriguez. He was solid in his time at Class-A Advanced and Double-A in the minors, but he’s struggled to a 5.23 ERA in 161 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Marks averaged 8.6 strikeouts and 3.7 walks per nine innings in his minor league career and held opposing lefties to a .568 OPS in 2013.
