Elephant Rumblings: Noah Murdock returned to Royals

MLB news roundup

Good morning everyone! Rise and shine!

The A’s designated right-handed rookie Noah Murdock for assignment a couple of days ago and as a Rule 5 Draft pick the Athletics needed to offer him back to the team they selected him from, the Kansas City Royals. The team selected him fourth overall in that draft and the A’s have in the past rostered a player all season long in order to get his contract rights. It’s an easy and cheap way to add talent if you can hit on a player, with the most famous and successful example being former outfielder Mark Canha.

That wasn’t to be the case this time around. The right-handed pitcher was overmatched consistently and got knocked around hard a few times. He’s blown a few leads this year and cost the team wins as they try to make an under-the-radar push for a postseason spot. He just wasn’t ready for the major leagues yet.

After getting shelled for 25 runs in just 17 innings the team couldn’t afford to save a roster spot for Murdock all season but there was a small hope that he would remain in the organization. Kansas City could have been keeping an eye on Murdock and not liked what they saw and just let the A’s keep the righty reliever in their farm system. Hoarding pitching is always a good idea so the A’s would have loved to keep him around.

That won’t be the case as the Royals have reportedly accepted Murdock back into their organization. He’ll likely head back to Triple-A and into an environment with a lot less pressure where he can hopefully fix whatever was going wrong for him in his first taste of the majors. There’s still lots of potential in the 6’8” right-hander but he won’t be reaching that with the Athletics.

Have a great day everyone!

A’s Coverage:

• A’s ambushed by Yankees in 12-2 loss
• Athletics ride offense to 11-7 victory over Yankees
• A’s crushed by Yankees 10-2
• In Sacramento, A’s players don’t exactly feel like they’re at home ($)
• A’s return Noah Murdock to Kansas City Royals

MLB News & Interest:

• Yankees’ Oswaldo Cabrera taken off on ambulance
• Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. to begin rehab assignment
• Evan Longoria signs 1-day contract, retires with Rays
• Brandon Bielak to undergo season-ending surgery
• Brandon Woodruff hits snag in recovery
• Today in Baseball History

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