MLB Trade Rumors: Athletics acquire Fernando Rodney from the Twins

No one will be able to accuse Oakland of not going for it.

The Athletics have been very active this trade season in trying to beef up their rosters. They acquired Jeurys Familia from the Mets to beef up their bullpen and were linked to a number of other players. They have also been active in managing their roster to try and get their ideal roster composition in place as they find themselves just 5 games back in the AL West and with the Astros and Mariners having varying degrees of struggles.

It looks like they are continuing to build strength in their bullpen.

This is another savvy move for the Athletics that are well-known for utilizing a small budget to continue to put a good product on the field. The Twins are not going anywhere this year and have been selling off players since well before the trade deadline. Oakland put a claim on waivers for Fernando Rodney and were able to hammer out a deal. While the terms of the deal are not yet known, it stands to reason that the Athletics did not give up any significant assets given their M.O.

Rodney has put together a nice season for the Twins as he has posted a 3.09 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 43.2 innings in 2018. He isn’t a headliner type, but should be a solid veteran reliever it now what looks like a very strong bullpen in Oakland.

Given the pace of the early parts of August, it looks like it could be a busy waiver wire trade season as there are a number of teams within shouting distance of a playoff birth and just enough teams that are already looking towards 2019.