A's Sign Former Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals Minor Leaguer

The Oakland A's latest addition could be in the mix for a bullpen role on Opening Day

According to his player page on MiLB.com, Gerson Moreno has signed a minor-league deal with the Oakland A's. He was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Detroit Tigers in 2012 and stayed with the franchise through the 2022 season, at which point he elected free agency and signed with the Washington Nationals.

In his ten minor league seasons, Moreno has a cumulative 3.80 ERA with a 1.349 WHIP to go along with a 10.8 strikeouts per nine rate, and 5.1 walks per nine. 

The right-hander has been assigned to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators.

This past season with Rochester, Moreno made 59 appearances out of the bullpen and totaled a career-high 71 2/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.298 WHIP. He struck out 91 in those 71 plus innings and allowed just 43 hits. He also walked 50 batters, which is how his WHIP ended up so high.

If the A's can get him to command the baseball a little more in 2024, they could have another nice weapon coming out of the bullpen with a group that includes Lucas Erceg, Mason Miller, Dany Jiménez, Zach Jackson, and recent addition Trevor Gott. None of them are quite established just yet, but they all have the potential for good things in the Oakland bullpen. 

When September began, he held a 2.33 ERA, but Moreno allowed eight runs in seven innings which left him with a 10.29 ERA in the final month and a 3.14 ERA on the year. 

In his final outing of 2023 he was sitting 95-96 with his sinker and 83-86 with his slider, which accounted for 94% of his pitch mix. Of the eight swings he got on those two pitches, five resulted in whiffs. He also threw one changeup at 86.5 miles per hour. 

Moreno is certainly a player that should be in the mix to rack up some innings in Oakland at some point if they end up going through pitchers at the same rate as they did in 2023. He could also find himself on the A's Opening Day roster if he has a solid spring and the A's decide to use Mitch Spence as a starter. That could open the door for Osvaldo Bido to be optioned if he's not considered a long relief option, and that would create a pathway for Moreno to the big leagues to begin the season.

He'd be in competition with a few other arms, primarily Angel Felipe or Michael Kelly, if the A's decided on going with a traditional reliever instead of a long reliever. Moreno is an interesting addition to this bullpen mix. If things break right, Oakland could have a sneakily good relief corps in 2024.