A’s roster moves: McFarland activated, Kelly reinstated

Sterner & Alvarado optioned; Alexander DFA’d

The Athletics announced a series of roster moves just a couple hours before their final game against the Twins, adding a couple reinforcements to the beleaguered bullpen:

The returns of the right-handed Kelly and left-handed McFarland should give a boost to a bullpen that has the worst ERA as a unit in the league. Things have been bad but these two arms could help turn things around quickly.

Kelly as you may remember joined the organization last year and pitched well in the first half of the 2024 season, making 28 appearances and posting a 2.79 ERA over 31 ¹⁄₃ innings. His season was put to a halt on June 4th when a major league investigation revealed Kelly bet on baseball games as a minor league player a couple years prior. He received a one-year suspension that he’s now completed and will rejoin the team immediately. It’s hard to know what the 32-year-old will provide but it can’t be any worse than the production the ‘pen had provided in recent weeks.

McFarland rejoins the team after a just under a month on the shelf with a left adductor strain. The veteran journeyman was having a solid season when he was placed on the injured list, tossing 10 ¹⁄₃ innings while allowing six runs in 18 relief appearances. Half of those runs came in one disaster outing and he’s had scoreless appearances in 14 outings this season. It might not be a coincidence that the relief unit looked a lot worse without him in the mix. He’ll reclaim his spot as manager Mark Kotsay’s top left-handed option out of the bullpen.

It’s a disappointing development for Sterner. After starting the season with 18 scoreless relief appearances, the 28-year-old right-hander has since allowed runs in four straight outings. This isn’t the last time we will see Sterner with the big league club this year but when he comes back his spot on the roster won’t be as solid as it was during the first month and a half of the season. The team would love for him to get back on track in a lower-pressure environment like Triple-A.

Alvarado will return to the Aviators for the second time this season. In his latest stint with the club he made it into two games, allowing single runs in both outings. He’ll return to the Aviators and likely slide back into a high-leverage role for them until the Athletics need another arm in the bullpen. He’ll likely be doing this all season long so hope he gets used to it.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Kelly the Athletics designated rookie infielder CJ Alexander for assignment. He was only just optioned to the minor leagues after a brief and unsuccessful stint as the A’s third baseman. He’ll now pass through waivers and seems like a fair bet to get claimed by another team after slashing .252/.348/.509 with 10 home runs for the Aviators.

And in a little extra nugget of news, left-hander Brady Basso is set to begin a rehab assignment:

With the state of the Athletics’ pitching it won’t take much for Basso to show to get back to the majors. It might take him around a month or maybe even less after missing all season but he should provide a boost whenever he returns.