A's Outright Left-Hander to Triple-A

The Oakland A's cleared a roster spot on Saturday by outrighting Kirby Snead

According to the transactions page on MLB, Kirby Snead was outrighted from the 40-man roster and sent to Triple-A Las Vegas. There is potential that Snead elects minor league free agency following the move.

Snead was one of the players that came to Oakland in the Matt Chapman trade ahead of the 2022 season. If the left-hander were to elect free agency and not return to the A's, he would join Zach Logue as members of the Chapman trade that are already no longer with the organization. The two remaining pieces would be Kevin Smith, who has absolutely raked in the minor leagues but hasn't quite put it together with Oakland, and #17 prospect, righty Gunnar Hoglund. 

Snead spent the first three months of the season on the IL with a left shoulder strain, and joined the A's at the beginning of August. He got into 15 games total, racking up 11 2/3 innings and a 4.63 ERA. His strikeout rate dropped from 16.7% to 16.1%, and his walk rate went up slightly from 10.5% to 10.7%. While his ERA was better in 2023, his expected ERA, or xERA, was two runs higher than it was in 2022. 

Snead's big pitch is his changeup, which ranks in the top ten in vertical movement. If he were able to unlock that offering, then he could see his results go from where they have been to a fairly effective big league reliever. 

Obviously, he'd also need to have more command of his other offerings and play them off of each other to reach that success, but the path is likely through that change. 

If this is the end of Snead's time in Oakland, then he could be an interesting buy-low candidate for a team that pumps out pitchers and works with them to create their arsenals like the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, or Cleveland Guardians. 

The A's 40-man roster currently has 36 players on it.