by Bill Moriarity / A’s Farm Editor
December 12, 2022
On Monday, the A’s acquired five players in return for catcher Sean Murphy and right-handed reliever Joel Payamps as part of a three-team, nine-player trade with the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Oakland acquired left-handed pitcher Kyle Muller, right-handed pitcher Freddy Tarnok, right-handed pitcher Royber Salinas and catcher Manny Pina from the Braves and outfielder Esteury Ruiz from the Brewers, with Sean Murphy going to Atlanta, Joel Payamps going to Milwaukee, and catcher William Contreras and right-handed pitcher Justin Yeager going from the Braves to the Brewers. To clear space on the 40-man roster, the A’s designated infielder Vimael Machin for assignment.
Muller was ranked as Atlanta’s #1 prospect by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, while Tarnok was ranked #6 by MLB Pipeline. Salinas was ranked #7 by Baseball America, and Ruiz was ranked as Milwaukee’s #8 prospect by MLB Pipeline. Meanwhile, Pina is a veteran receiver who should serve as an experienced backup to starting catcher Shea Langeliers next season. Muller has appeared in 12 games for Atlanta over the past two seasons, while Tarnok made his big league debut with the Braves in 2022. Salinas spent most of last season pitching at High-A, and Ruiz made it into 17 big league games with the Brewers and Padres last season.
The 25-year-old Muller is a former 2nd-round pick for the Braves who posted a 3.41 ERA and struck out 159 in 134 2/3 innings for Triple-A Gwinnett and allowed 11 runs and struck out 12 in 12 1/3 innings for the Braves in 2022. The 24-year-old Tarnok is a former 3rd-round pick for the Braves who struck out 124 in 106 2/3 innings while compiling a 4.05 ERA between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett and made one appearance for the Braves last season. The 21-year-old Salinas notched a whopping 175 strikeouts in 109 innings while posting a 3.55 ERA for High-A Rome and Single-A Augusta in 2022.
The 23-year-old Ruiz put up an impressive slash line of .332/.447/.526 with 33 doubles, 16 home runs and 85 stolen bases in 437 at-bats between Triple-A and Double-A and went 6 for 35 in 17 games for the Padres and Brewers last season. The 35-year-old Pina had his 2022 season cut short by wrist surgery but has a career slash line of .243/.313/.409 over parts of nine big league seasons with the Brewers, Braves and Royals.
As far as Oakland’s starting pitching picture goes, in the last five months, the A’s have now acquired five pitchers to add to their starting pitching depth at the upper levels of the system – LHP Kyle Muller, RHP Freddy Tarnok (who were acquired on Monday), along with LHP JP Sears, LHP Ken Waldichuk and RHP Luis Medina (who were acquired last summer from the Yankees in the Frankie Montas trade).
The A’s now have 13 starting pitchers on their 40-man roster who are likely to make up their big league and Triple-A starting rotations in 2023 – LHP Cole Irvin, RHP Paul Blackburn, RHP James Kaprielian, LHP A.J. Puk, LHP Kyle Muller, LHP JP Sears, LHP Ken Waldichuk, RHP Freddy Tarnok, RHP Adrian Martinez, RHP Adam Oller, LHP Zach Logue, LHP Hogan Harris and RHP Luis Medina.
Oakland currently has just seven relief pitchers on the 40-man roster – righties Domingo Acevedo, Dany Jimenez, Zach Jackson, Tyler Cyr and the recently-acquired Chad Smith to go along with lefties Sam Moll and Kirby Snead. And the team is expected to make more bullpen additions before the offseason is through.
The A’s expect Ruiz, who played all three outfield positions last season, to make the big league roster in 2023 and see him as their potential starting center fielder of the future. His 85 stolen bases led all minor leaguers last season, and his .447 on-base percentage was best among all full-season minor leaguers. And adding Ruiz to the acquisitions of Aledmys Diaz and Jace Peterson and Rule-5 pickup Ryan Noda should give the A’s a few more productive options to plug into their lineup next season.
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