As first reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle and later confirmed via team announcement, the Oakland Athletics have non-tendered former All-Star reliever, right-hander Blake Treinen.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last week that Oakland was attempting to trade Treinen. Clearly, the other shoe has dropped.
Treinen, 31, had a down year for the A’s in 2019, posting a 4.91 ERA (5.14 FIP) with 59 strikeouts and 37 walks — a career-high — over 57 appearances (58.2 innings; 16 saves).
Following a mid-season trade from Washington to Oakland in 2017, Treinen put up a 2.13 ERA over 35 appearances, turning heads in the process.
In 2018, the South Dakota product had a banner year, pitching to a 0.78 ERA with 100 strikeouts and 21 walks over 68 appearances (80.1 innings), earning his first and only All-Star selection and finishing sixth in American League Cy Young voting.
Treinen uses his slider to its full potential, holding hitters to a .154 batting average against and .297 slugging percentage against over his career (per Brooks Baseball)
In other news out of the Bay Area, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that the San Francisco Giants have non-tendered outfielder Kevin Pillar.
Pillar, 30, spent the first six-plus seasons of his career in Toronto (.260/.297/.396, 87 wRC+) before being traded to the Giants on April 2 this season (.259/.287/.432, 21 HR, 88 RBIs, 85 wRC+).
The California native’s defensive metrics in center field have taken a hit in recent years (50 defensive runs saved in CF from 2015 to 2017; -7 DRS since; FanGraphs), though Pillar remains an above-average fielder (two outs above average in 2019, per Baseball Savant).
We’ll keep you posted with new information as it becomes available.
