Athletics Claim Donovan Walton
The Athletics claimed infielder Donovan Walton off waivers from the Angels, as announced by both teams. The A’s already had an open 40-man roster spot, so no further transaction was required.
Walton has hit .319/.354/.505 over 97 plate appearances for Los Angeles this season, while seeing time in the field as part of the Angels’ revolving doors at second and third base. Despite this success, the Angels still chose to designate the veteran for assignment on Wednesday, and Walton has now quickly landed in West Sacramento.
While the Halos’ decision seems curious on paper, Walton entered this season with a career .172/.223/.298 slash line over 214 PA with the Phillies, Mariners, and Giants from 2019-25. Between this lack of a track record and Walton’s current .371 BABIP, the Angels can be forgiven for thinking Walton wasn’t going to keep things up at the plate, yet it also isn’t like the club was exactly teeming with other infield options.
From the Athletics’ perspective, there’s no risk in seeing if Walton can keep the magic going, especially since the A’s are short-handed in the infield. Nick Kurtz and Zack Gelof are both on the injured list, and Gelof’s absence in particular can open up some playing time for Walton at third base. The left-handed hitting Walton can platoon with rookie Joshua Kuroda-Grauer at the hot corner, and Walton adds some balance in general to an A’s lineup that is fairly heavy in right-handed bats.
Athletics Place Nick Kurtz, Zack Gelof On Injured List
TODAY: The A’s officially placed Kurtz on the 10-day IL today (retroactive to July 10) due to the right thumb capsule sprain. Catcher Brian Serven was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
JULY 10: The Athletics are expected to put first baseman Nick Kurtz on the injured list with a right thumb strain, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. Kurtz left Wednesday’s game against the Tigers with an illness, but was back in the lineup yesterday. It’s unclear when he suffered the thumb injury.
Kurtz is in the middle of a strong follow-up to his unanimous AL Rookie of the Year campaign. He’s posted a .902 OPS with 20 home runs through 92 games. The first baseman is tied for fifth in the AL in wRC+. Kurtz was expected to draw the start in next week’s All-Star game, with Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. declining the invitation. His status for the exhibition is now in doubt.
Infielder/outfielder Zack Gelof is also headed to the injured list with a knee laceration. That move has been confirmed by the team. Gelof was removed from Thursday’s matchup against the Tigers after sliding into the left field wall to secure a fly ball off the bat of Zach McKinstry. The A’s recalled first baseman Joey Meneses to take his spot on the roster.
Gelof just got off the injured list over the weekend. He required a minimum stint on the IL while nursing a hand injury. The 26-year-old utilityman will now be sidelined for at least the final series before the break and the week to follow. Gelof had struggled in his brief return, but his overall numbers remain strong. He’s put together a 120 wRC+ in 67 games bouncing around the diamond. It’s an impressive turnaround after mounting strikeout issues threatened to derail Gelof following a promising rookie season.
Meneses joined the organization on a minor league pact over the winter. This will be his second big-league stint this year. The 34-year-old is 2-for-14 in limited opportunities with the A’s. Meneses had a couple of decent seasons with the Nationals, but didn’t play in the majors last year. He spent the 2025 season at Triple-A with the Mets.
The A’s got shortstop Jacob Wilson and outfielder Tyler Soderstrom back in the lineup earlier this week. Soderstrom could chip in at first base with Kurtz out. Meneses is drawing the start at the cold corner tonight. Gelof was spending his time in the outfield lately, with Joshua Kuroda-Grauer earning regular opportunities in the infield. Lawrence Butler now has a clearer path to consistent playing time. Jeff McNeil replaced Kurtz on Wednesday and could also see additional at-bats.
Photo courtesy of Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images
A’s Notes: Muncy, Soderstrom, McNeil
The Athletics optioned Opening Day third baseman Max Muncy to Triple-A Las Vegas this afternoon. That was the corresponding move to activate Tyler Soderstrom from his minimal stint on the injured list. That follows recent returns from Jacob Wilson and Zack Gelof, putting the A’s lineup pretty close to full strength — aside from the season-ending absence for Brent Rooker.
It’s the first optional assignment of the season for Muncy. The former first-round pick spent some time in Triple-A on a rehab assignment working back from a broken finger. He has otherwise been up since June 2025. Muncy is hitting .227/.303/.396 across 175 plate appearances. He’s striking out too often and has ugly defensive grades in a little over 350 innings at the hot corner.
Manager Mark Kotsay told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com that the A’s could get Muncy some outfield work in Triple-A. That would be his first professional outfield action. Muncy was drafted as a shortstop and has moved mostly to second or third base over the last couple seasons. He hasn’t graded well defensively anywhere on the dirt. Muncy is an above-average runner, so he might end up being a better fit in the outfield.
Gelof was at third base today. He has bounced around defensively this year while hitting well enough to force his way into an everyday lineup spot. Gelof has dramatically reduced his formerly untenable strikeout rate and is hitting .274/.328/.478 with 11 homers in 66 games.
Rookie infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer has collected 15 hits in his first eight MLB games. He’ll remain in the lineup for as long as he’s hitting. Kuroda-Grauer has started games at each of second, third and shortstop within his first week-plus as a big leaguer. There’s not going to be much shortstop work available now that Wilson is back. If Gelof settles in mostly at third base, that’d leave the keystone primarily for Kuroda-Grauer.
That seemingly sets up a reduction in playing time for Jeff McNeil. The former batting champion was out of the starting lineup tonight for the third consecutive game — two of which have been started by right-handed pitchers. McNeil came off the bench when Nick Kurtz was forced out by illness but appears to be dropping into a backup role.
Acquired from the Mets last offseason, McNeil is hitting just .228/.293/.305 across 288 trips to the plate. He was a league average hitter in April but has a .194/.250/.261 line since the beginning of May. Among hitters with at least 150 plate appearances in that time, only Daniel Schneemann and Ildemaro Vargas have been less productive offensively (by measure of wRC+). The A’s took on $10MM of McNeil’s $15.75MM salary this season. New York will pay the $2MM buyout on a $15.75MM club option that the A’s will surely decline at the end of the year.
Trade Deadline Outlook: Athletics
Three weeks ago, the A’s were within a half game in the AL West. The front office looked positioned to add pitching help in an effort to break their five-year playoff drought. Late June brought a handful of injuries that have decimated the lineup and led to a plummet down the standings. The A’s have lost three straight, six of seven, and 11 of their last 14. They’re a season-worst eight games below .500 at 41-49 and would need a huge July to get back into contention by the August 3 deadline.
The A’s don’t have a ton to peddle on the trade market. If their free fall continues, this will probably be a quiet deadline season. Their impending free agents aren’t performing, but they’re unlikely to deal from their high-end position player group. While there’s an argument for them to listen on their All-Star catcher, his two remaining seasons of arbitration control give them the ability to hold and hope for better health and pitching development next season.
Record: 41-49 (10% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)
Sell Mode
Likely impending free agents: Jeffrey Springs (club option), Jeff McNeil (club option), Mark Leiter Jr., Jonah Heim, Aaron Civale
Springs and McNeil are two of the team’s three highest-paid players. They’re each in the final guaranteed seasons of their contracts. The A’s technically control both for 2027 via club options, but neither is likely to be picked up. Retaining Springs would cost them $15MM. McNeil’s deal comes with a $15.75MM option that is guaranteed to be declined.
That’d leave the A’s with five impending free agents, all of whom are role players at best for a contender. Springs is probably the best of the group, as he’s only a year removed from pitching at a league average level. Opposing lineups have pounded him for a 5.79 ERA over 18 starts this year. His strikeout and walk profile is the same as he had in 2025, when he allowed 4.11 earned runs per nine over 171 innings. He’s throwing a tick harder than he did a year ago.
Springs is a fly-ball pitcher who sits in the low-90s, though, so he has always been prone to home runs. Playing in Sacramento’s hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park never suited him. Springs has an ERA close to 7.00 while allowing 16 longballs in 54 1/3 innings at home. He has a 4.38 ERA across 39 frames on the road. The A’s could probably find a team looking for a bland fifth starter who’s willing to give up a middling prospect and take a few million dollars of Springs’ $10.5MM salary off the books — as the Cubs did with David Peterson a couple weeks ago.
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A’s Release Michael Kelly
The Athletics released reliever Michael Kelly over the weekend, according to the MLB.com transaction log. He was designated for assignment a week earlier when the A’s needed a 40-man roster spot to promote rookie infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer.
Kelly had just landed on the Triple-A injured list at the time of his DFA. That made a release basically inevitable once the A’s designated him for assignment. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers and there wasn’t going to be any trade interest. The A’s can look to bring him back on a minor league contract, but the 33-year-old righty is free to explore other opportunities.
This was Kelly’s third season in the A’s organization. He had decent numbers over his first two years after being claimed off waivers from the Guardians during the 2023-24 offseason. Kelly combined for a 2.92 earned run average in 70 appearances between 2024-25. However, he served a one-year suspension in between after MLB determined that he’d placed bets on Major League Baseball games while he was in Triple-A back in 2021.
Kelly has spent most of this season on optional assignment to Triple-A Las Vegas. He gave up nine runs on 12 hits and six walks in five big league innings. Kelly had much better results in the minors, pitching to a 3.20 ERA while fanning 27% of opponents across 25 1/3 frames for the Aviators.
Athletics Outright Geoff Hartlieb
The Athletics have sent right-hander Geoff Hartlieb outright to Triple-A Las Vegas, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates that Hartlieb cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on Friday. As someone who has been outrighted before, he has the option to elect free agency rather than accept the assignment to Triple-A.
Hartlieb has done well at Triple-A this year, pitching to a 3.48 ERA in 33 2/3 innings for Las Vegas. In that time, he has struck out 28.9% of hitters while showing better-than-average control and inducing ground balls at a 50.0% clip. Since the start of 2025, Hartlieb has a 4.03 ERA in 87 Triple-A innings between four organizations, fitting the mold of a fringe, Quad-A reliever.
As one might expect from that description, Hartlieb hasn’t shown much in the Majors. His best sample came in 2020 with the Pirates, when he posted 3.63 ERA in 22 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. Even that production came with red flags. Hartlieb struck out and walked hitters at equal 18.8% rates, which caused his xERA and FIP values to finish just above 5.00. He has a relatively clean injury history but simply hasn’t shown enough to warrant an extended look in the Majors since then. Dating back to 2021, Hartlieb has thrown just 34 innings in the big leagues with a 9.00 ERA. That includes a 5.19 ERA in four appearances with the Athletics at the end of last month.
Hartlieb averages in the mid-90s with his four-seamer and has combined to throw that pitch, along with his mid-80s slider, over 80% of the time at Triple-A this year. He also mixes in a cutter, sinker, and in rare cases a changeup. Between that pitch mix and Hartlieb’s serviceable (if underwhelming) recent track record at Triple-A, there may be some fringe interest from around the league, though he could ultimately end up sticking in the Athletics organization. Hartlieb has been outrighted five times since the start of 2024, including today. He stayed with his current organization on three of those occasions, once by accepting the outright and twice by signing new minor league deals.
Photo courtesy of Scott Marshall, Imagn Images
Athletics Select Brian Serven
The Athletics announced multiple roster moves before Saturday’s matchup against the Marlins. The club selected the contract of catcher Brian Serven and reinstated utilityman Zack Gelof from the 10-day IL. Infielders Darell Hernaiz and Joey Meneses are headed back to Triple-A. The A’s had a couple of openings on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was needed for Serven.
Shea Langeliers was pulled from last night’s game with a thumb injury, so the A’s added some catching depth for the weekend. Jonah Heim will draw the start behind the plate tonight against Sandy Alcantara. Serven will presumably be the backup until Langeliers is ready to reclaim his starting role.
The 31-year-old Serven is making his return to the big leagues after spending all of 2025 with Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate. He’s played in parts of three seasons in the majors, mostly with the Rockies. Serven last suited up with the Blue Jays in 2024.
Serven is a career .187 hitter as a big leaguer, but he was having a nice season with Las Vegas. The veteran slashed .295/.392/.505 in 53 games before his call-up. As we saw when the A’s played there, Las Vegas Ballpark is an extremely hitter-friendly environment, so it’s unlikely that Serven has taken a step forward with the bat. His main contributions should continue to come behind the plate. Serven has racked up 7 Defensive Runs Saved across 730 innings with the Rockies and Blue Jays.
Gelof required a minimum stint on the injured list with a bruised hand. He’s back in the lineup tonight, batting second and playing left field. Gelof has mostly played third base this year, but injuries to Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom have made outfield a clearer need.
The hand injury paused what has been a massive bounce-back campaign for Gelof. After struggling to stick on the roster last year, he’s posted a 129 wRC+ through 62 games this season. Gelof has trimmed his troublesome strikeout rate to a manageable 24.1%. He’s popped 11 home runs and stolen eight bases as a near-everyday player bouncing between second base, third base, and the outfield.
Hernaiz has been up and down with the A’s since his debut in 2024. He broke camp with the club this season, but has already been squeezed off the roster once. His most recent stint in the majors is over after less than a week. Hernaiz had an underwhelming .606 OPS through 134 plate appearances. He saw playing time at every infield spot except first base. The 24-year-old also made his first MLB appearance in the outfield. Hernaiz is in his final minor league option year.
Meneses made it back to the big leagues after a year in Triple-A with the Mets. He inked a minor league deal with the A’s in November and earned a promotion after delivering a 124 wRC+ with Las Vegas. The 34-year-old appeared in 7 games with the club, going 2-for-14 with a couple of RBI. Meneses put together a year and a half of solid production when he first debuted with the Nationals, but he struggled mightily in 2024.
Image courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Nationals Claim Matt Krook, Designate Andre Granillo
The Nationals announced that left-hander Matt Krook has been claimed off waivers from the Athletics. To create roster space for Krook, the Nats designated right-hander Andre Granillo for assignment and optioned righty Zak Kent to Triple-A Rochester.
The A’s designated Krook for assignment just yesterday, and Krook joins Tom Cosgrove and Konnor Pilkington as left-handed bullpen adds for the Nats just within the last few days. Mitchell Parker is set for Tommy John surgery and Richard Lovelady is also on the 15-day injured list, depleting the relief corps of two prominent left-handed options. Krook will step right into the active roster in Kent’s place, giving Washington three southpaws (Krook, Carson Palmquist, PJ Poulin) in its current relief mix.
More substantive bullpen additions might be coming before the trade deadline, since the Nationals need a lot of relief help in general and the team has remained a surprise contender in the wild card race. The front office’s approach for now could be to just patch holes, and wait a few more weeks to see if the Nats can keep it up and remain in position for the club to be deadline buyers of some measure.
Krook has gotten cups of coffee in each of the last four MLB seasons, with 12 innings pitched over his 13 career games. The small sample size has been ugly, as Krook has a 16.50 ERA during his brief time as a big leaguer that includes a 17.18 ERA over 3 2/3 frames with the Athletics this year. Krook has 12 walks against only 13 strikeouts in the majors, as the control problems that plagued the lefty in the minors have only grown more severe in the Show.
Since becoming a full-time reliever in 2023 when pitching in the Yankees’ farm system, Krook’s numbers have improved, and he posted a 3.72 ERA, 30.9% strikeout rate, and 11.8% walk rate across 29 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas this season. Most impressively in that hitter-friendly environment, Krook hasn’t allowed a home run, as he has continued his career-long trend of keeping the ball in the park and generating grounder rates of well over 60% (61.4% this year).
Between this extreme groundball ability and the strikeout rates he has generated in the minors, it is easy to see why teams keep taking fliers on Krook. At age 31, it remains to be seen if Krook can translate any of his success in the minors to even moderate production in the big leagues, as MLB hitters have thus far had no trouble figuring him out.
Granillo is another of the many pitchers in Washington’s bullpen churn this season, and the righty posted only a 9.64 ERA over 9 1/3 innings, with eight walks and two homers allowed across eight appearances. A career reliever, Granillo’s excellent work with Triple-A Memphis in 2025 earned him his first big league promotion with the Cardinals, but a February trade to Washington hasn’t worked out at all for the right-hander. In addition to Granillo’s struggles in the majors, he also has a 6.82 ERA in 31 2/3 frames with Rochester.
It was enough for the Nationals to send Granillo to DFA limbo. He hasn’t been outrighted in his career, so Granillo will have to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A in the probable event that he clears waivers.
Athletics Designate Matt Krook, Geoff Hartlieb For Assignment
The Athletics announced that left-hander José Suarez has been reinstated from the paternity list and righty Mark Leiter Jr. from the 15-day injured list. In corresponding moves, lefty Matt Krook and righty Geoff Hartlieb have been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.
Krook, 31, signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason. He started the campaign in Triple-A and put up some good numbers. He tossed 29 relief innings, allowing 3.72 earned runs per nine in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 11.8% walk rate was high but he struck out 30.9% of batters faced and induced grounders on 61.4% of balls in play.
The A’s called him up to the big league roster on June 21st. Since then, he has made five appearances, logging 3 2/3 innings, allowing seven earned runs. There was some bad luck in that tiny sample of work but Krook didn’t do himself any favors by walking four of the 21 opponents he faced, a 19% clip. He also hit one batter, so he actually gave 23.8% of hitters a free trip to first.
That wildness was apparently enough to get him squeezed off the roster. Since he’s out of options, that means he’s been pushed off the 40-man and into DFA limbo. The A’s can now take as long as five days to explore trade interest, but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that if they so choose. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so Krook will know his fate within a week, one way or another.
Krook’s big league track record isn’t much to go on. This is his fourth big league season but he hasn’t topped four innings in any of those and only has 12 total big league innings under his belt. A former starter, he has generally put up good Triple-A numbers since converting to relief, though with notable control concerns.
He doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging under 90 miles per hour with his sinker, while also throwing a slider, changeup and cutter. Despite the lack of velo, he can get guys out. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has thrown 154 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.08 ERA. He has fanned 31.7% of batters in that time and gotten heaps of ground balls but walked opponents at a massive 15.7% pace. He has been outrighted in his career before, so he would have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers again in the coming days.
Hartlieb, 32, has had a similar trajectory this year. He also signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason and began the year with good Triple-A numbers. He logged 33 2/3 innings at that level with a 3.48 ERA, 28.9% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate.
He was added to the big league roster on June 20th, one day before Krook. Hartlieb also struggled to replicate his minor league success in the majors, though not to such an extreme degree. Hartlieb tossed 8 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs. He only struck out three of the 39 batters he faced, a paltry 7.7% clip, while giving out three walks and throwing two wild pitches.
He, too, now heads into DFA limbo. His major league track record is a bit longer than Krook’s but isn’t necessarily better. He has thrown 91 1/3 innings over seven seasons with a 7.69 ERA, 18.9% strikeout rate, 14.4% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has thrown 273 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.48 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate. His four-seamer and sinker average in the mid-90s as he also features a cutter, slider and rarely-used changeup. Like Krook, he has been previously outrighted in his career and would have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of Scott Marshall, Imagn Images
Brent Rooker To Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery
A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker will undergo surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left knee, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He’ll miss the remainder of the season.
It concludes a frustrating year for the two-time All-Star. Rooker was an ironman last season, appearing in all 162 games — all but one as a starter. He rarely seemed completely healthy this season and will wind up playing in just 42 contests. Rooker went down in mid-April with a right oblique strain. He came back fairly quickly but didn’t play at his usual level. The knee him sent back to the injured list a month ago, with the team initially calling it a bone contusion.
Rooker’s bat speed was intact, but his swing and miss rate climbed significantly. He had a particularly tough time adjusting to any kind of offspeed stuff and did almost all his damage against fastballs. Whether because of the injuries or a timing issue, he was far below his capabilities. Rooker batted .200/.281/.389 with 10 home runs across 203 plate appearances. He’d been a well above-average offensive player in the prior three seasons, one of only eight hitters to hit at least 30 homers every year from 2023-25.
The A’s have used backup catcher Jonah Heim as their main designated hitter since the injury. That’s also an avenue for Shea Langeliers to stay in the lineup while getting a day off defensively with Heim behind the dish. They’re also down Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom and Zack Gelof at the moment — losing all three in quick succession last week. That places a lot of emphasis on Langeliers and Nick Kurtz, each of whom has gone cold over the past couple weeks.
There’s little doubt those two sluggers will pick things back up. It’ll need to happen quickly to stop a slide in the standings. The A’s have dropped four straight and eight of their last 10, falling a season-worst six games under .500. They’re still just 3.5 games back in a wide open AL West but are at 40-46 with the second-worst run differential in the American League.
Rooker is signed through 2029 with a club/vesting option for the ’30 season. He’ll respectively earn $12MM, $13MM and $17MM over the final three years of the $60MM extension he signed two winters ago. The team hasn’t provided many specifics on the operation, but there’s no indication it’ll impact his availability for the start of next season.