A’s roster moves: Noah Murdock DFA’d, Elvis Alvarado recalled

Moving on from their Rule 5 draft pick

The A’s announced a roster move a few hours before kicking off their weekend series with the Yankees, making a change in the bullpen by designating right-hander Noah Murdock for assignment and promoting righty Elvis Alvarado to the majors:

The move finally puts an end to the Murdock experiment. Drafted fourth overall in the Rule 5 Draft back in December, the Athletics plucked the right-hander from the Kansas City Royals’ system with the hope of finding a hidden gem. While he began his pro career as a starting pitcher he made the move to full-time relief in 2023. After taking a year to acclimate to his new role Murdock earned himself a promotion to Triple-A and even made a couple appearances for the Royals, putting himself on the radar of other teams around the league as a potential Rule 5 pick.

The Athletics were the team to pull the trigger as they were on the lookout for bullpen reinforcements. Things started out well enough as Murdock had a solid Spring Training that earned him an Opening Day roster spot. He made his A’s debut in the Athletics’ third game of the year with a 1 ²⁄₃ scoreless outing to begin the season but it was mostly downhill from there. Overall on the year Murdock has made 14 relief appearances and allowed 25 runs, which comes out to a 13.24 ERA that is currently one of the worst in the major leagues.

The team just couldn’t afford to have Murdock on the roster any longer, especially with the team in contention this far into the season. If the rookie had been pitching even a little better the club may have waited longer to pull the trigger on this move but his previous appearance when he allowed two late-inning runs to lose the game was the last straw. He’ll now go through waivers and any team that claims him would have to keep him on the major league roster for the rest of the year as his Rule 5 status remains unchanged. If Murdock goes unclaimed then the A’s would then have to offer him back to Kansas City and they can either accept him or reject him. There remains a small chance he sticks around the system and we should be finding that out before the weekend is through.

Replacing Murdock in the bullpen will be right-hander Elvis Alvarado. The 29=year-old joined the team this winter when he was claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 26-year-old has spent the last seven seasons in the minor leagues in various organizations but will now join a major league bullpen for the first time. He deserves his first opportunity in the majors with his impressive performance in Triple-A this season. Acting as the Aviators’ closer Alvarado has gone a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities and has a 3.45 ERA for Las Vegas. More encouragingly he’s racked up 22 strikeouts in just 15 ²⁄₃ frames with just four walks allowed. He’ll slide into the middle of the bullpen and should get a chance to make his major league debut at some point this weekend against the Yankees. Welcome aboard, Elvis!