The A’s are designating veteran starter Aaron Civale for assignment, according to the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Righty reliever Yunior Tur is being selected onto the major league roster in his place.
The log also indicates that the A’s will recall southpaw Brady Basso from Triple-A Las Vegas and activate recently claimed utilityman Donovan Walton. First baseman Joey Meneses, catcher Brian Serven and lefty Mason Barnett are being optioned to Triple-A.
That leaves one opening on the active roster for another position player. Darell Hernaiz is the only position player on optional assignment who could be recalled for Friday’s series opener against the Nationals; Max Muncy needs to stay down until at least Saturday unless he’s being brought up to replace someone on going on the injured list. They could add a hitter who’s not currently on the 40-man roster and transfer Brent Rooker to the 60-day injured list if they want to keep Hernaiz and Muncy in the minors.
Civale’s DFA makes for a disappointing end to his $6MM free agent deal. The righty took the ball 16 times and turned in a 5.42 earned run average across 74 2/3 innings. He also missed a couple weeks with shoulder tendinitis that sidelined him between mid-May and June 17. Civale has taken the loss in all five of his appearances since coming back, allowing 19 earned runs in as many innings.
More to come.
