A’s claim reliever Anthony Kay off waivers

The Oakland Athletics claimed left-handed reliever Anthony Kay off waivers from the New York Mets today.

The former first-rounder spent most of this past season in the minor leagues, pitching to a 3.76 ERA with a whopping 58 strikeouts over 40 2/3 innings for the Mets’ and Chicago Cubs’ AAA affiliates. Once known for his strike-throwing ability as a starter – even being labeled “a poor man’s Mark Buehrle” by scouts, according to MLB Pipeline – the southpaw began to lose that command after the Mets traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays as a part of a package for Marcus Stroman.

There aren’t a lot of expectations for him – this is his third time being designated for assignment in the past season – but the A’s hope that he’ll figure out how to translate his newfound strikeout ability to the major league level. Kay’s out of options so he’ll have to make the Opening Day roster next season in order to avoid going on waivers again. He’ll have a lot of competition with southpaws Francisco Perez, Easton Lucas, and Kirby Snead all vying for a spot in the bullpen, in addition to potential starters Ken Waldichuk, Kyle Muller, and Hogan Harris who all may get squeezed out of the rotation.