Athletics designate Jhonny Pereda for assignment

The Athletics have designated catcher Jhonny Pereda for assignment, per Jason Burke of A’s on SI. That’s the corresponding 40-man roster move for left-hander Ken Waldichuk’s reinstatement from the 60-day injured list. MLBTR covered Waldichuk earlier today.

Pereda, 29, was acquired from the Marlins in an offseason DFA trade. He opened the season as the backup catcher behind Shea Langeliers. As the season has gone along, the A’s have added Willie MacIver and Austin Wynns to the roster, which bumped Pereda down into a depth role.

In the big leagues this year, Pereda has a batting line of .175/.283/.225. That’s in a small sample size of 46 plate appearances but that subpar performance presumably prompted the A’s to make some changes behind the plate. With Pereda having been knocked down the depth chart, it seems his grip on a 40-man spot became tenuous. Pereda now has a career line of .203/.267/.228 when factoring in his time with the Marlins last year.

He is now in DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the A’s could take as long as five days to talk trades. Though his major league work hasn’t been great so far, that’s in just 86 plate appearances. His minor league work has continued to impress, even this year, which could perhaps lead to some interest.

Dating back to the start of 2022, he has stepped to the plate 811 times at the Triple-A level with a 13.3% walk rate, 19.1% strikeout rate, .302/.394/.427 batting line and 118 wRC+. That includes a .319/.400/.440 line in 105 plate appearances this year. He can still be optioned to the minors for the rest of this year and another season.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Sun, Imagn Images