Oakland A's acquire Felix Doubront from Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations

Cash considerations are on the move again, as the Oakland Athletics have acquired left-handed pitcher Felix Doubront from the Toronto Blue Jays. The acquisition was announced with about 30 minutes before Friday's 1:00 PM Pacific Time non-waiver trade deadline. Doubront is out of options, and will need to be added to the 25-man roster prior to his reporting to the Athletics. As a player with over three years of MLB service time, Doubront would have the right to elect free agency if he instead cleared outright waivers.

The Blue Jays designated Doubront for assignment after that club obtained shortstop Troy Tulowitzki from the Colorado Rockies. Doubront made four starts for the Blue Jays and one relief appearance, throwing 13 strikeouts and walking five (one intentionally) in 22⅔ innings with a 4.76 ERA. With Toronto' s Triple-A team, Doubront struck out 43 and walked 18 in 48 innings, with a 2.44 ERA.

It's not clear what role Doubront will play with the Athletics, with both the starting rotation and bullpen struggling in recent games after trading away Scott Kazmir and Tyler Clippard. Jesse Chavez has struggled since the start of June. Kendall Graveman is starting tonight riding three straight non-quality starts, and recorded only four outs in his last start. Recent acquisition Aaron Brooks is slated to start Saturday, but that could change.

The bullpen also has been in need of a long reliever for quite some time, with Dan Otero serving in that role recently simply because he is a pitch-to-contact pitcher and doesn't usuall need a lot of pitches to either get out of an inning or get knocked out of an inning.

Friday evening's contest against the Cleveland Indians begins at 6:35 Pacific Time.