Story by
A's Flip Struggling Civale to Cubs for Hard-Throwing Prospect Aiden Moffett
- Story by
- A's Flip Struggling Civale to Cubs for Hard-Throwing Prospect Aiden Moffett
(USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
After designating Aaron Civale for assignment during the All-Star break, the A's ended up trading him to the Chicago Cubs for a low-level right-handed pitching prospect in Aiden Moffett.
Civale started the season off strong, posting a 2.70 ERA as late as May 15. His next two starts didn't go as well, giving up 12 earned runs in nine total innings against the Angels and Mariners, and following that second outing he landed on the IL with right shoulder tendinitis.
Advertisement
After his return on June 17, the results just weren't much better. The righty went 0-5 in five starts and held a 9.00 ERA in 19 innings. The final straw was in his final start before the break, when the A's used Jacob Lopez as an opener for 1 ⅔ scoreless innings, but Civale lasted just 2 ⅓, failing to get the A's through at least five frames.
A's starters haven't been hitting that five-inning mark often of late, and removing Civale from the mix was one change the club could make. The Cubs, who are also desperate for pitching, are bringing in a familiar face, as he tossed 13 innings for them in 2025.
Ben Brown , Edward Cabrera , Jameson Taillon , Justin Steele , and Cade Horton are all starters on the IL for Chicago, providing an opportunity for Civale.
According to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic , the A's also sent over "a cash consideration" in the deal.
Advertisement
More on Moffett
This weekend in Sacramento is turning into an LSU theme, with Tommy White's debut, plus Gage Jump starting on Friday and Dylan Crews in the lineup for the Washington Nationals for the first two games.
That trend continued on Saturday with the addition of Moffett to the organization. The right-hander spent his first two college campaigns at LSU.
In his freshman season he made one appearance, hitting a batter and walking another three, leaving him with an INF for an ERA after failing to record an out. He also added a wild pitch.
He was an undrafted free agent last season and ended up signing with the Cubs. He started this season in Myrtle Beach, Chicago's A-Ball affiliate, and held a 7.71 ERA in 15 appearances out of the bullpen, spanning 21 innings. In that time he had a pair of confounding stats: both a .155 batting average against, which is excellent, and a 2.29 WHIP, which is awful.
Advertisement
That's because in his 21 innings, he's walked 37 batters while giving up just 11 hits. He's also hit four batters and thrown 11 wild pitches while adding 24 strikeouts.
It would appear that the struggle here is just getting him in the zone a bit more. His strike percentage is sitting at just 46%, and with even a 10% increase he could be a somewhat effective pitcher.
Coming out of high school, Moffett was ranked as the No. 495 prospect in the 2022 MLB Draft by Baseball America , and he was already hitting 97 mph at that time.
Given that Civale was DFA'd and could have passed through waivers for no return, the A's getting a hard-throwing prospect with an issue throwing strikes is exactly the right lottery ticket kind of return one could expect.
