Athletics designate Fernando Rodney for assignment
The Oakland Athletics designated reliever Fernando Rodney for assignment Saturday, the club announced.
Rodney has been roughed up this season, surrendering 15 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings pitched for a bloated 9.42 ERA. He's only made four appearances for Oakland this month, two of which came in lower-leverage situations and another during a 13-inning loss.
"Obviously, some performance comes into play," manager Bob Melvin said, according to Ben Ross of NBC Sports Bay Area. "I will say he's not used to pitching in a role like that. He's used to getting regular work and we weren't giving that to him, for some obvious reasons, but at some point in time, you have a guy like that who's basically a one-inning guy that's used to working late in games and he's not getting consistent work.
"It just makes sense to try something different."
The right-hander spent parts of two seasons in Oakland. He was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Twins last year and authored a respectable 3.92 ERA in 22 games to help the Athletics reach the playoffs.
He's been jarringly inconsistent throughout his career. The 42-year-old has pitched for 10 different teams over 17 seasons, racking up 325 saves. His 913 appearances lead all active pitchers.
Rodney, whose resume contains three All-Star selections, is on the books for $5.25 million this year.
In a corresponding move, the A's promoted left-hander Wei-Chung Wang from Triple-A Las Vegas. Wang, who last pitched in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017, put up a 3.75 ERA with 22 strikeouts and one save in 16 appearances for Las Vegas.