Angels, Austin Wynns Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels and free agent catcher Austin Wynns are in agreement on a minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. The Klutch Sports client opened the season with the division-rival A’s but was designated for assignment a week ago. The A’s asked to assign him to Triple-A Las Vegas, but as a player with five-plus years of service, Wynns had the right to refuse, which he did. The A’s then placed him on release waivers, and he subsequently became a free agent.
Wynns spent nearly one calendar year with the A’s after they acquired him in a cash swap with the Reds last June. He’d taken 63 plate appearances with Cincinnati and turned in a mammoth .390/.429/.661 slash (three homers, seven doubles), but that sort of production was never going to be sustainable; Wynns had a modest track record prior to that outburst, and while the short uptick in power was impressive, his overall batting line was also buoyed by a sky-high .513 average on balls in play.
Now 35 years old, Wynns wound up taking 110 plate appearances with the A’s and slashing .167/.204/.304 in that time. The well-traveled backstop’s career marks are somewhere between the extremes of those Cincinnati highs and West Sacramento lows. He’s suited up for the Reds, A’s, Orioles, Giants, Dodgers and Rockies, compiling a lifetime .231/.276/.347 slash line in 826 big league plate appearances (293 games).
Wynns doesn’t draw premium framing grades, but Statcast thinks he’s solid when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt. More impressively, Wynns has shut down 30.2% of attempted base thieves in the majors — right in line with his career 31% mark in the minors. He’s quite strong when it comes to controlling the run game, and clubs clearly value his experience, defensive acumen and work with pitchers, as evidenced by his five-plus years of service despite sub-par work in the batter’s box.
Because Wynns has five-plus years of service, he was able to elect free agency and still retain the remainder of this year’s $1.1MM salary. The A’s are on the hook for the vast majority of that sum. The Angels will owe Wynns only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. That would be subtracted from what the A’s have left to pay out.
The Angels’ catching depth has taken a major hit in recent weeks. Logan O’Hoppe suffered a broken wrist in late April. That injury pushed Travis d’Arnaud into the starter’s role, but he went on the injured list last week due to plantar fasciitis.
That pair of injuries left the Halos with Sebastián Rivero and rookie Omar Martínez as the catching tandem at present. Both signed minor league deals over the winter. Rivero entered the season with only 162 days of big league service. He’s a .169/.220/.202 hitter in 134 big league plate appearances and a .248/.296/.369 hitter in 785 Triple-A plate appearances spread across six seasons.
Martinez, 25, had never played in the majors before being called up earlier this week. He’s 1-for-3 in his fledgling MLB career. The Venezuelan-born backstop posted decent numbers in the lower minors with the Yankees but slashed .208/.297/.358 with a 34.4% strikeout rate in 259 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A dating back to last season. Given that tandem’s minimal track record, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if Wynns found himself catching games at Angel Stadium in the near future.
Athletics Announce Several Roster Moves
The A’s announced a broad slate of roster moves Tuesday. In addition to their previously reported selection of Henry Bolte‘s contract from Triple-A, they’ve also selected Michael Stefanic‘s contract and placed shortstop Jacob Wilson on the 10-day injured list due to a left shoulder subluxation. Infielder Brett Harris was optioned to Triple-A as well, while minor league righty Eduarniel Núñez was designated for assignment. Additionally, the A’s noted that catcher Austin Wynns, whom they’d previously designated for assignment, cleared waivers and was released.
As covered this week, Bolte has been the hottest-hitting prospect in the minors. He’s a plus runner with developing pop who recently rattled off hits in an astonishing 12 consecutive plate appearances to boost his batting line to a mammoth .348/.418/.658. He’s popped a dozen homers, swiped 17 bags and should get plenty of run in center field with Denzel Clarke still on the shelf. Zack Gelof has been seeing a good bit of action in center, but the former second baseman will probably head back to the infield with both Wilson — whose known shoulder injury now has a formal designation — and Max Muncy on the injured list.
With two infielders shelved, the A’s will turn to Stefanic, who’ll be making his team debut. The longtime Angels farmhand has seen prior action in parts of four major league seasons. He’s mustered only a .227/.314/.267 slash in 289 big league plate appearances, but the 30-year-old Stefanic is a prolific Triple-A hitter. He’s played parts of six seasons at the top minor league level and touts a .326/.422/.447 batting line with a tiny 9.5% strikeout rate. Stefanic has marginal power, bottom-of-the-scale sprint speed and below-average defensive skills, but scouting reports from Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com have placed 70 and 80 grades (on the 20-80 scale) on his pure hit tool over the years.
Núñez, 26, was one of four players the A’s acquired in last year’s blockbuster sending Mason Miller and JP Sears to the Padres. That package was headlined by top prospect Leo De Vries and also included a pair of quality rotation prospects in Braden Nett and Henry Baez. Núñez was the clear “fourth” prospect in the deal. The hope was that he could quickly reach the majors and give the A’s a power arm to plug into their bullpen, given that he’d already had a brief MLB call-up in San Diego and was enjoying success in Triple-A at the time of the swap.
In a way, that proved true. Núñez made his A’s debut just two days after the trade deadline last summer, but he struggled out of the gate. He pitched eight innings with the Athletics and was tagged for eight runs on nine hits, seven walks and a pair of hit batters. Núñez did fan nine batters, but when accounting for all the walks and the pair of batters he plunked, those nine punchouts only represented 23% of the opponents he faced.
Lackluster debut notwithstanding, the A’s surely had some hope that Núñez could turn things around in 2026. That hasn’t happened. Núñez has a respectable 4.61 ERA through 13 2/3 innings (2 1/3 in Double-A, 11 1/3 in Triple-A), but he’s walked 11 of his 67 opponents (16.4%) and plunked another two batters (3%). Since coming to the A’s organization last summer, Núñez has faced 155 batters between the majors and minors. A whopping 19.3% of them have reached base without putting a ball in play, whether by walk or hit-by-pitch. He’s also tossed six wild pitches in a total of 33 1/3 innings.
As concerning as the poor command — if not more concerning — is the precipitous velocity drop Núñez has experienced this season. He sat 98.1 mph on his four-seamer last year but is at an even 95 mph so far in 2026. Last year’s slider sat 88.5 mph. This year, it’s at 87 mph.
There’s no known injury for Núñez. He hasn’t been on the injured list and most recently pitched only two days ago. However, between the velocity drop and the poor command, the A’s probably feel there’s a chance they can pass him through waivers and hang onto him as non-roster depth. That may well be the case, but Núñez is a 26-year-old with a decent track record in the upper minors and a pair of minor league option years remaining. If he’s healthy and another club feels the velocity drop and/or command are fixable with some mechanical adjustments, it’s at least possible he’ll be claimed or flipped to another club in a small trade.
The A’s will have five days to trade Núñez or place him on outright waivers. The waiver process would take another 48 hours, so his DFA will be resolved within a maximum of one week.
A’s Designate Austin Wynns For Assignment
1:30pm: The Athletics have now formally announced these moves.
12:58pm: The A’s will designate catcher Austin Wynns for assignment today when Shea Langeliers returns from the paternity list, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. Langeliers and the recently reacquired Jonah Heim will split catching duties for the time being.
Wynns has been with the Athletics since last June, when they picked him up in a cash swap following a DFA by the Reds. The 35-year-old has appeared in 36 games with the A’s and taken 110 plate appearances while slashing .167/.204/.304. It’s a far cry from the outlier .400/.442/.700 line he delivered in 43 plate appearances with Cincinnati, though Wynns was never going to sustain the .520 average on balls in play that propped up his Reds output.
In parts of eight major league seasons between the Orioles, Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Reds and A’s, Wynns has come to the plate 826 times and recorded a .231/.276/.347 batting line with 19 home runs. The journeyman backup doesn’t have particularly strong framing grades in his career, but Statcast considers his blocking skills average and he’s nabbed an excellent 30.2% of runners who’ve attempted to steal on him in his career.
Wynns’ poor performance at the plate will send him to the waiver wire in all likelihood, though it’s possible another club swings a cash swap to plug him in as a short-term backup. Wynns has more than five years of big league service time, so even if he clears waivers, he can reject an outright assignment, elect free agency and retain the remainder of this year’s $1.1MM guarantee. Even when Wynns has cleared waivers in the past, he’s found another big league opportunity fairly quickly. Clubs clearly value his experience, his defensive chops and his work with pitchers — hence his five-plus years of major league service between six clubs despite perennially subpar offensive output.
Athletics, Austin Wynns Avoid Arbitration
The Athletics have agreed to a one-year, $1.1MM deal with catcher Austin Wynns, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The team has yet to officially announce the move. Wynns is represented by Klutch Sports.
Matt Swartz’s arbitration projections had Wynns receiving $1.8MM. While he fell short of that mark, his deal includes some incentives, notes Murray.
The Athletics acquired Wynns in June after the Reds designated him for assignment. They were in need of catching depth after Shea Langeliers went down with an oblique injury. Wynns hit .222 in 22 games with the team. An abdominal strain in early August cost him the rest of the season.
Wynns was drafted by Baltimore in 2013. He debuted with the Orioles in 2018. After a few seasons as a part-time player, Wynns elected free agency. He latched on with the Phillies in March 2022. Wynns was dealt to San Francisco in June of that season. The Giants gave him his longest opportunity to date, running him out there for 66 games. Wynns passed through multiple organizations over the next couple of years, finally landing in Cincinnati in 2024.
Wynns had several productive offensive seasons in the minors, but it never translated to major-league success. That changed when he got to the Reds. Wynns went 7-for-19 with four extra-base hits in his first year in Cincinnati, though a shoulder injury cut his season short. He posted a 35.7% hard-hit rate in that brief sample, which was more than 8% better than his previous career-best mark. Wynns maintained those gains in 2025, slashing .400/.442/.700 in 18 games with the Reds. He wasn’t as productive with the Athletics, but in 40 games between the two teams, he notched a hefty 46.6% hard-hit rate. Wynns’ barrel rate was an excellent 9.6% over 110 plate appearances.
Langeliers is coming off a breakout campaign and will handle the majority of the catching reps. If Wynns can keep up the improvement he’s shown at the plate, he’ll be a serviceable backup option. The Athletics may need to add a bit more depth at the position after losing Willie MacIver to the Rangers via waiver claim.
A’s Move Austin Wynns To 60-Day IL, Reinstate Brady Basso From 60-Day IL
The Athletics announced that left-hander Brady Basso was optioned to Triple-A after being reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To create 40-man roster space, Austin Wynns was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL, which means that the catcher’s 2025 season is officially over.
Wynns was acquired in a trade with the Reds in June, as the A’s needed some catching help when Shea Langeliers was sidelined by an oblique strain. Wynns appeared in 22 games for the Athletics before an abdominal strain sent him to the 15-day IL earlier this week, and the injury has already been deemed serious enough to close the book on his seventh Major League season.
The backstop will finish with a .291/.321/.544 slash line over 110 plate appearances, with the big majority of that production coming over a scorching-hot stretch with Cincinnati. Wynns hit .400/.442/.700 over 43 PA with the Reds, as opposed to a .222/.242/.444 slash in 67 PA with the A’s that bears a much closer resemblance to his overall career numbers.
While we’re dealing with small sample sizes here, the fact that Wynns has an .883 OPS over his last 130 trips to the plate at the MLB level should help him land another minor league contract this offseason. The Athletics have arbitration control over Wynns for 2026 so it is possible the team might consider keeping him aboard as a veteran catching option behind Langeliers. If he is non-tendered, Wynns will be on the move again after already suiting up for six different teams during his seven years in the bigs. Wynns has hit .239/.282/.362 with 19 homers over 783 career plate appearances, with the bulk of that playing time coming as a backup with the Orioles from 2018-21.
A 16th-round pick for the A’s in the 2019 draft, Basso made his Major League debut last season and posted a 4.03 ERA over 22 1/3 innings, starting the last four of his seven total appearances. Basso hasn’t been able to follow up due to a shoulder strain that arose during Spring Training, and then resurfaced in June to interrupt a minor league rehab assignment. Basso has logged two appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas since restarting his rehab work earlier this week. If healthy, the southpaw will likely get another look on the Athletics’ roster before the 2025 season is through.
Athletics Acquire Austin Wynns
The A’s announced that they have picked up catcher Austin Wynns in a trade with the Reds, with cash considerations heading back to Cincinnati in return. To clear roster space for Wynns, the Athletics designated right-hander Carlos Duran for assignment.
Wynns was designated for assignment two days ago, as he had become the odd man out of the Reds’ catching mix when Tyler Stephenson returned from a season-opening stint on the injured list. Wynns signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati during the offseason, and that contract was selected on Opening Day as Wynns and Jose Trevino went on to handle the catching duties for the next five weeks while Stephenson recovered from an oblique strain.
Ironically, another oblique strain has now opened the door to Wynns’ latest opportunity. Shea Langeliers was placed on the Athletics’ 10-day IL with a strained left oblique on Friday, leaving the West Sacramento team with just Jhonny Pereda (36 career MLB games) and Willie MacIver (seven career games) as the top catching options. Tyler Soderstrom has some catching experience but has suited up behind the plate just once in the last two seasons, so it makes sense that the A’s preferred to just bring in a veteran backstop rather than disrupt Soderstrom’s routine as a first baseman/left fielder.
The Athletics will be the seventh different organization Wynns has been part of during his career, and he has seen action with five of those clubs at the MLB level over his seven seasons in the bigs. A .241/.287/.354 hitter over 716 career plate appearances, Wynns has quietly been extremely productive over his limited action with the Reds, as he posted an eye-opening .390/.429/.661 slash line in 63 PA since Opening Day 2024. This gives Wynns a unique distinction, as he has the best wRC+ (198) of any Reds player in the entire 156-year history of the franchise, minimum 60 plate appearances in a Cincinnati uniform.
It is probably safe to assume that the 34-year-old Wynns won’t continue this kind of production with the A’s, even notwithstanding Sutter Health Park’s hitter-friendly nature. Still, Wynns will provide the Athletics with some help behind the plate for however long Langeliers will be on the IL. Manager Mark Kotsay didn’t give reporters (including MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos) a specific timeline for Langeliers’ recovery, citing the “tricky” nature of oblique injuries.
Reds Designate Austin Wynns For Assignment
The Reds have designated catcher Austin Wynns for assignment, the team announced Friday. His spot on the roster will go to first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who is being reinstated from the injured list.
Wynns, 34, has hit brilliantly in limited time with Cincinnati, slashing .390/.429/.661 in 63 plate appearances dating back to last season. That includes a .400/.442/.700 line in 43 plate appearances in 2025. That outrageous output is propped up by a .513 average on balls in play, however, and it belies a career slash line of .241/.287/.354 for the journeyman Wynns.
Because Wynns is out of options, the Reds couldn’t simply send him to the minors. He’d first need to pass through waivers, which may well be where he’s headed now that he’s been designated for assignment. He’s a career .274/.363/.401 hitter in parts of seven Triple-A seasons — solid Triple-A production for any catcher, particularly a third one on a team’s depth chart.
Third catcher has indeed been Wynns’ role since Tyler Stephenson returned from an oblique strain. Stephenson and Jose Trevino have logged nearly all the time at catcher since Stephenson made his season debut. Wynns hasn’t logged a single plate appearance in June and tallied only seven trips to the plate in May, despite being healthy and on the active roster that entire time.
The Reds will have five days to trade Wynns before he has to be placed on outright waivers, though they could start the waiver process (which takes 48 hours) at any point between now and then. If Wynns does pass through waivers unclaimed — which he’s done eight prior times in his career — he’ll have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency.
Encarnacion-Strand, 25, has been out since mid-April with a back injury. The Reds acquired him alongside Spencer Steer three years ago in the trade that sent Tyler Mahle to Minnesota. At the time, Encarnacion-Strand’s stock was on the rise. The former fourth-round pick was ripping through Triple-A pitching and looked poised to make the jump to the big leagues. He did just that in 2023 and hit well as a rookie: .270/.327/.477, 13 homers in 241 plate appearances.
Since that time, wrist and back injuries have tanked Encarnacion-Strand’s output at the plate. He’s never been one to take many walks and has always been too much of a free swinger, and both of those flaws have been magnified as his power has dissipated amid health troubles. Over the past two seasons, “CES” has only 183 plate appearances in the majors, during which he’s batted .179/.208/.295.
In the absence of Encarnacion-Strand, Steer has been playing first base regularly. It’s possible the Reds will slide the versatile Steer across the diamond to make room for Encarnacion-Strand at first base. Neither player is a good defender at the hot corner, however, and Santiago Espinal is also in the mix at third base. The Reds could begin to move Steer all over the diamond again, as they’ve done in the past, if the goal is everyday at-bats for Encarnacion-Strand at first base. If not, Encarnacion-Strand could slide into a more limited role as a righty-swinging power bat off the bench.
Reds Select Austin Wynns
The Reds announced that they have selected catcher Austin Wynns to their roster. To open a spot on the 40-man, they transferred left-hander Brandon Williamson to the 60-day injured list. Williamson underwent Tommy John surgery in September and will likely miss the entire 2025 season.
Adding Wynns has seemed likely for a while now. The Reds previously only had two catchers on their 40-man roster in Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino. Stephenson got an MRI on his back a couple of weeks ago which revealed a low-grade oblique strain. That made it inevitable that the Reds would have to add another backstop to pair with Trevino to start the season.
Wynns, 34, was in this role with Cincinnati in 2024 as well. The club selected his contract three times last year, whenever they needed a fresh body. In the first two cases, he was designated for assignment and outrighted back to Louisville a few days later. In the third case, he himself landed on the IL due to a right teres major tear and finished the season there. At season’s end, he was outrighted off the roster again and elected free agency but returned on a fresh minor league pact.
His .230/.277/.332 career batting line isn’t strong but he’s a veteran backstop who has appeared in parts of six big league seasons now. He’s considered a competent defender and the Reds are clearly comfortable with him.
Tyler Stephenson To Begin Season On Injured List
Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson has been diagnosed with a low-grade oblique strain and will open the 2025 season on the injured list, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He underwent an MRI yesterday after experiencing discomfort in his back and side, and the imaging has revealed a strain. The team has not yet provided an expected timetable for Stephenson’s return, though it’s not uncommon for players to require around a month to recover from even Grade 1 oblique strains.
It’s a tough blow for the Reds to start the season. After a down season in 2023, Stephenson delivered a nice rebound effort in 2024, slashing .258/.338/.444 while popping a career-best 19 home runs. That marks four times in parts of five MLB seasons that the now-28-year-old former first-round pick has been comfortably above average at the plate. He’s a career .267/.343/.427 hitter, which is solid production for any position but especially for a catcher, where the majority of his peers are below-average bats with a more defensive-minded approach to the game.
With Stephenson headed to the injured list, the door will open for offseason trade acquisition Jose Trevino to begin the season as Cincinnati’s starting catcher. The Reds picked up Trevino in a trade sending reliever Fernando Cruz to the Yankees.
While the 32-year-old Trevino isn’t much of a threat at the plate — career .236/.275/.362 batting line — he’s a premium defender who won a Platinum Glove as recently as 2022. The veteran’s throwing was uncharacteristically below-average in 2024, as he thwarted just 18.6% of stolen base attempts after sitting at 25.6% and 33.3% in the two prior seasons, respectively. However, Trevino is a plus framer who draws consistently excellent marks for his ability to block pitches in the dirt. He’ll probably hit at the bottom of the Reds’ order while Stephenson is on the mend.
Stephenson and Trevino are currently the only catchers on the Reds’ 40-man roster, so they’ll have to make a move to add a backstop before the season begins. Veteran Austin Wynns, who appeared in seven games for Cincinnati last year, is in camp as a non-roster invitee and stands as the favorite to come up to the roster. Catchers Will Banfield and Michael Trautwein have been in big league camp as well. It’s also possible that the Reds will scoop up a veteran backup option who opts out of a minor league deal elsewhere or grab a catcher off waivers, should anyone hit the wire as teams set their rosters in the latter stages of camp.
Reds Sign Austin Wynns, Levi Jordan To Minor League Deals
The Reds have signed catcher Austin Wynns and infielder/outfielder Levi Jordan to minor league deals, per the MLB.com transaction tracker for each player. Both have been assigned to Triple-A Louisville but could receive invites to big league camp. Wynns is represented by Klutch Sports.
Wynns, 34, is a journeyman catcher who was on and off the Reds’ roster last year. He had previously spent time with the Orioles, Giants, Dodgers and Rockies before signing a split deal with the Reds last offseason. The deal would pay him a $950K salary for time spent in the majors and a $300K rate for time in the minors. That second number was far higher than the typical salary for a minor league player, which was by design for a couple of reasons. It would decrease the likelihood of another team claiming him off waivers and increase the chances of Wynns accepting an outright assignment.
That quickly came to pass, as Wynns was off the roster by January, just a couple of weeks after signing his deal in mid-December. He accepted the assignment and gave the Reds some non-roster depth. This sequence played out throughout the season, with Wynns frequently added to the roster and then bumped off again shortly after when no longer needed. He finished the season on the injured list due to a right teres major tear. He was outrighted off the roster at the end of the year and elected free agency.
Wynns only got into seven games for the Reds last year but they clearly like him as a depth catcher. His .230/.277/.332 career batting line across six different seasons isn’t much to look at but his work behind the plate has generally been considered solid. Cincinnati currently has just two catchers on the 40-man roster in Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino. Wynns provides them with an experienced veteran who could be the first up in the event of an injury to one of those two, without taking up a roster spot. If he gets added back to the roster at any point, he is out of options.
Jordan, 29, just made his major league debut with the Reds in 2024. It was a very limited debut, as he received just 11 plate appearances in seven games, getting just one hit. He was outrighted off the roster in the summer and elected free agency at season’s end.
He has generally produced solid numbers in the minors. Over the past four years, he has slashed .268/.353/.424 for a 108 wRC+ in 1,382 minor league plate appearances. He has done that while bouncing between various defensive positions, lining up at all three outfield spots and the three infield positions to the left of first base.
The Reds have plenty of uncertainty in their position player mix, as guys like Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley, Jeimer Candelario and others missed time due to injuries in 2024. Jordan provides them with a bit of depth all over the diamond. If he gets added back to the roster at any point, he still has a full slate of options.