A's Claim Right-Hander From Pittsburgh Pirates

Just last week, right-hander Anthony Maldonado was excited to get to spring training with the A's, and A's on SI was able to get to know him a bit ahead of his first camp with the club. Today he was designated for assignment to clear a spot for a new waiver claim--Elvis Alvarado from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 25-year-old righty has spent time in a number of franchises in his pro career, originally signing with the Washington Nationals, then was part of a trade with the Seattle Mariners. In 2021 he was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers, and would stay in their system through the 2023 campaign. He elected free agency for the first time last winter, and signed on with the Miami Marlins, who he stuck with in the minors for all of 2024.

This offseason he signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates, who designated him themselves a month later. Now he figures to be a part of the A's bullpen depth.

He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2024, and racked up 48.1 innings with a 2.79 ERA (3.84 FIP) and a 37.4% ground ball rate. He struck out an impressive 33.2% of the batters he faced, but also walked 17.8%. Opponents hit just .193 off him in Triple-A, and that was with an above average .316 BABIP against.

The upside here is that he has swing-and-miss stuff, much like Michel Otañez, whom the A's signed last offseason with a similar profile, and he turned into a reliable late-inning option for the club down the stretch, holding a 3.44 ERA (2.73 FIP) in 34 innings with Oakland.

The A's like to bring guys in that may have some control issues that also tend to collect high strikeout rates, because if they can tweak the command just enough, then they'll become solid bullpen pieces for the team.

While Otańez is the most recent shining example of this type of player working out for them, they've also tried it with players like Shintaro Fujinami and Joe Boyle and had less success. Soemetimes it clicks, and when it does, you end up with a pretty solid pitcher. If it doesn't work out, then the cost wasn't terribly high to begin with.

Maldonado, 26, was claimed off waivers by the A's earlier this winter after making his MLB debut in 2024 and having a down year for himself, holding a 4.66 ERA (5.08 FIP) in 46.1 innings. He spent roughly the same amount of time in Triple-A last season as he did the previous year, but his hit total doubled as he tinkered with his pitch mix.

On the plus side, Maldonado is able to command the baseball a bit better than Alvarado, but he also averaged 93 miles per hour on his sinker. Alvarado can touch triple digits, averaging 98.7 mph in his final appearance of last season, while also mixing in a high-80s slider. In that game, the new A's righty threw 26 pitches, and 23 of them were classified as four-seam fastballs.