Yankees lose 5-year veteran arm to rising AL West club
The New York Yankees had a major bullpen problem for most of the season, but they never thought to give Joel Kuhnel a call to the majors.
Kuhnel has played parts of five major league seasons, and the Yankees signed him to a minor-league contract in July after he was released by the Philadelphia Phillies. But he languished in Triple-A, putting up a respectable 3.45 ERA in 31 1/3 innings for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Unsurprisingly, Kuhnel elected minor league free agency on Nov. 6, enabling him to seek opportunities with clubs that had even more desperate bullpen needs than New York’s. And after more than a month of searching, he landed a new gig with one of the worst bullpen teams in the sport this season.
According to the transactions log on his official roster page, Kuhnel signed a minor-league deal with the Athletics on Tuesday. He was assigned to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators, but he’ll have his shot to compete for a major league roster spot if he shows out in spring training.
Kuhnel hasn’t had much major league success by age 30, as his 5.86 ERA in 82 career outings would indicate. He made 53 outings for the Cincinnati Reds in 2022, somehow managing a 6.36 ERA, but a 3.96 FIP. He’s never been much of a strikeout guy, with 76 of them in his 93 2/3 big-league innings.
Athletics relievers ranked 24th in both ERA and WHIP this season, but the young team managed a 76-86 record, a seven-win improvement from a year ago. If they can prevent more runs this season, their dynamic and rapidly improving offense should be able to secure even more victories.
The question now is whether Kuhnel will play any sort of role in their quest for a playoff bid.
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