Athletics send Geoff Hartlieb outright to Triple-A Las Vegas after clearing waivers

The Oakland Athletics have sent right-hander Geoff Hartlieb outright to Triple-A Las Vegas after he cleared waivers, a move reported from MLB’s transaction tracking. The designation for assignment that preceded the outright came on Friday, and the outright indicates the Athletics no longer needed him on their active roster.

For Hartlieb, an outright is not the end of the decision tree. Because he has been outrighted previously, he has the option to elect free agency rather than accept the assignment to Las Vegas. That distinction matters in MLB’s roster-management ecosystem, where players with prior outrights can choose between continuing their path within the organization that designated them or testing the market elsewhere.

Hartlieb’s recent performance has been more notable in Triple-A than in Oakland. According to MLB Trade Rumors, he has worked to a 3.48 ERA across 33 2/3 innings for Las Vegas this season, with a strikeout rate of 28.9% and ground-ball production at a 50.0% clip. The same reporting also characterizes him as a “fringe, Quad-A” style reliever profile, meaning the ceiling is often there in the minors even if major-league consistency has been harder to sustain.

In the majors, Hartlieb’s opportunities have been limited. MLB Trade Rumors notes that since the start of 2021 he has thrown just 34 innings in the big leagues, including a 9.00 ERA across four appearances with the Athletics at the end of June. That major-league sample size has shaped the Athletics’ view of his immediate value, even while his command and swing-and-miss tendencies have translated better at the Triple-A level.

The transaction also connects to the Athletics’ bullpen churn around the time of Hartlieb’s DFA. NBC Sports’ transaction news package indicated that Mark Leiter Jr. returned from the injured list on Friday, leaving Oakland needing to clear space from the bullpen picture. In practical terms, that kind of timing often produces a short list of fringe relievers whose roster spots are vulnerable when another pitcher becomes available.

Roster moves like an outright can also reveal where a team’s leverage is coming from. Oakland is keeping the door open to Hartlieb’s bullpen depth by sending him to Triple-A, but the outright also indicates that he was not viewed as a must-carry piece on the major-league roster in the moment after the roster cleared.

What to watch next is whether Hartlieb elects free agency. If he stays in the Athletics system, he would likely continue building toward another major-league look from Las Vegas. If he tests free agency, other clubs seeking experienced bullpen depth at a lower cost could add him, particularly if they value his swing-and-miss and ground-ball tendencies shown in Triple-A this year.