A’s, Joel Kuhnel Agree To Minor League Deal

The Athletics have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Joel Kuhnel, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Octagon client will compete for a bullpen spot during spring training.

Kuhnel has appeared in parts of four major league seasons. He’ll turn 31 in February. In 93 2/3 big league frames, he’s pitched to a 5.86 earned run average. That’s not an appealing mark, of course, but Kuhnel has averaged 95.6 mph on his four-seamer and 95.7 mph on his sinker in his career while regularly posting quality walk and ground-ball rates. His 18.7% strikeout rate is below-average, but he’s also walked only 5.9% of his career opponents and kept 52% of batted balls against him on the ground.

In 2025, Kuhnel split the season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees and Phillies, pitching quite well in both spots. He combined for a 3.53 ERA in 63 2/3 innings of work with a 21.6% strikeout rate, 4.2% walk rate and massive 65.4% ground-ball rate.

Kuhnel has typically used his four-seamer and sinker at nearly even rates in the past but far more heavily favored his sinker in ’25, tossing it at a 37% clip to just an 18% usage rate on the four-seamer. That’s far and away the highest rate at which he’s ever used his sinker, and the corresponding ground-ball rate is a career-high as well. Keeping the ball on the ground should be paramount for any A’s pitcher, given the manner in which Sutter Health Park played like a launching pad this past season.

Kuhnel is out of minor league options, so if he’s selected to the big league roster at any point, he’ll need to stick or else be exposed to waivers before he can be sent back down. He’d have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency even if he went unclaimed on waivers, too. The A’s should have plenty of innings up for grabs in the 2026 bullpen. Recent free agent acquisition Mark Leiter Jr. is the only reliever on the roster with even two years of major league service time.