The A’s have already traded one of their marquee free agent signings from this past offseason.
Oakland announced that it has Japanese pitcher Shintaro Fujinami has been dealt to the Orioles for minor league left-handed pitcher Easton Lucas.
Fujinami, 29, signed with the A’s on a one-year, $3.25 million deal last offseason to much fanfare locally after leaving the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The A’s hoped the right-hander could be a veteran presence in their bullpen, but he lost each of his first four starts, allowing 24 runs in 15 innings.
He was moved to the bullpen and struggled initially, but save for three appearances as an opener, he’s found a groove since June began. During that stretch, Fujinami has thrown 16 2/3 innings coming into games as a reliever and only allowed 10 hits, six walks and three runs while striking out 18. He’s only allowed runs in two of those relief appearances, too.
Lucas, 26, was born in Thousand Oaks and went to Pepperdine University. A 2019 14th round pick of the Marlins, Lucas was traded to Baltimore in December 2019 and has pitched well this season between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolks, with a 2.93 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 30.2 innings.
Fujinami’s departure could be the first of a few trades the A’s could make before MLB’s trade deadline on Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. Reliever Trevor May and utility player Tony Kemp are both free agents after this season, while outfielder Ramon Laureano has one more arbitration year remaining and infielders Aledmys Diaz and Jace Pederson are both signed through 2024 on relatively cheap deals.
Just before announcing the trade, the A’s announced they had claimed right-handed pitcher Tayler Scott off of waivers from the Boston Red Sox.
