A’s To Designate Geoff Hartlieb For Assignment

The Athletics are designating right-hander Geoff Hartlieb for assignment. The team has to formally announce the move, but it’s listed on the transaction log at MLB.com. The A’s needed to open a 40-man roster spot after acquiring righty Scott Blewett in a cash swap with the Cardinals last night. Presumably, the Hartlieb DFA paves the way for Blewett’s addition.

Hartlieb, 32, pitched 13 1/3 innings with the A’s this season, yielding nine runs in that time (6.08 ERA). He yielded 17 hits, walked more batters (nine) than he struck out (six) and also was charged for four wild pitches. He’s now pitched in parts of seven major league seasons but has only 96 total innings and a 7.69 earned run average in that time.

Though Hartlieb doesn’t have a strong big league track record, he’s been a solid bullpen arm in the upper minors. The former 29th-round pick has spent parts of seven seasons in Triple-A and tallied 316 innings with a 4.22 ERA, a 25.8% strikeout rate and a 9.3% walk rate. That includes 36 1/3 frames of 3.44 ERA ball with the Athletics’ extremely hitter-friendly Summerlin affiliate this season, where he’s fanned 29.2% of opponents against a 7.1% walk rate.

The Athletics will have five days to trade Hartlieb, place him on outright waivers or release him. Waivers would take another 48 hours, meaning his DFA will be resolved within a week. He’s been outrighted in the past, so if he clears waivers, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment to a minor league affiliate and instead opt for free agency.