Athletics acquire Cory Gearrin from Rangers

The Athletics have acquired sidearming right-handed reliever Cory Gearrin from the Rangers for right-handed pitching prospects Abdiel Mendoza and Teodoro Ortega, as the team announced Friday afternoon:

Gearrin, 32, who is a year removed from posting a 1.99 ERA with a .208 opponent batting average over 68 appearances with the Giants, struggled at the beginning of this season — enough that San Francisco, in a bid to stay under the luxury tax, packaged Gearrin and veteran outfielder Austin Jackson with rising pitching prospect Jason Bahr in a trade for cash or a player to be named later on July 8. After throwing for a 4.20 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over 35 appearances with the Giants, Gearrin has excelled with the Rangers, posting a 2.53 ERA and 0.89 WHIP with a .176 opponent average, 20 strikeouts, and six walks in 21.1 innings.

The A’s, who have an extremely deep bullpen but will need all the pitching depth they can get in September with starters Sean Manaea and Brett Anderson on the shelf, will hope that Gearrin can continue his success with his second AL West club of the year.

Neither Mendoza or Ortega was ranked among the Athletics’ top 30 prospects by MLB Pipeline. Mendoza, a 19-year-old righty, has a 3.32 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 13 games (10 starts) with the short-season Vermont Lake Monsters this year. Ortega, an 18-year-old right-hander, had a 2.11 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 14 appearances (six starts) with the Athletics’ Dominican Summer League club.