Oakland A’s trade starter Cole Irvin to Baltimore Orioles

© Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 24: Oakland Athletic's starting pitcher Cole Irvin faces the Miami Marlins, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, in Oakland, Calif.

As the A’s get closer and closer to Spring Training, the reshaping of their roster continued – and another big part of their last two years has been shipped out.

Left-handed starter Cole Irvin was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, the team announced on Thursday. Oakland also sent minor league pitcher Kyle Virbitsky to Baltimore in the deal, acquiring minor league infielder Darell Hernaiz, who was No. 16 in MLB.com’s rankings of Orioles prospects entering Thursday.

The A’s acquired Irvin from the Phillies before the 2021 season for cash considerations after the Anaheim native pitched in parts of two seasons in Philadelphia. Given a chance to be a part of Oakland’s rotation, Irvin had a decent 2021 — 10-15 with a 4.24 ERA in 2021 and 125 strikeouts in 32 starts — and a strong 2022, finishing 9-13 with a 3.98 ERA in 30 starts.

Irvin’s numbers got better across the board from 2021 to 2022 — ERA, WHIP (1.33 in 2021, 1.16 in 2022), WAR (1.3 in 2021, 2.1 in 2022) and batting average against (.275 in 2021, .251 in 2022). There was hope that he could improve even more in his age-29 season, too.

Related Articles

• Oakland Athletics | Confidential settlement agreement reached in case over Ernie Banks’ estate
• Oakland Athletics | MLB Hall of Fame: Rolen gets the call; SF Giants’ Kent, Cain fall off ballot
• Oakland Athletics | Oakland A’s add former All-Star Aguilar as potential power in the middle of lineup, according to report
• Oakland Athletics | Sal Bando, former Oakland A’s captain, anchor to 1970s World Series winners, dies at 78
• Oakland Athletics | Why Japanese star Shintaro Fujinami and the Oakland A’s are a perfect match

Now, that hope for further improvement will be what fans in the black and orange of Baltimore, who will get Irvin at the major league minimum for 2023 before he reaches his arbitration eligibility after this season.

Irvin was expected to be one of Oakland’s top starters in their 2023 rotation, along with 2022 All-Star right-hander Paul Blackburn and top signee Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami. Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears, both acquired from the Yankees in the Frankie Montas trade, could also make the rotation. A.J. Puk is expected to move from reliever to starter, and the A’s took a free-agency flyer on former MLB pitcher Drew Rucinski, who spent the last four seasons in Korea.

Kyle Muller, the left-hander acquired from the Braves in the Sean Murphy trade, could be another option. Much like the Murphy trade, the key pickup for the A’s was a very young middle infielder in the 21-year-old Hernaiz.

Hernaiz was a fifth-round pick by the Orioles in 2019 out of an El Paso, Texas high school and signed at 17 years old instead of playing collegiately at Texas Tech. The Puerto Rican had a strong 2022, batting .273 in 105 games between Single-A, High-A and Double-A with 12 home runs, 62 RBI and stealing 32-of-36 bases.

MLB.com’s scouting report says Hernaiz’s athleticism is his main trait, and his 6-foot-1, 190-pound frame leaves room for him to grow into a power-and-speed type of shortstop, in the mold of Carlos Correa. After ranking No. 16 in Baltimore’s top-of-MLB farm system, he may be considered a top-10 prospect for the A’s.

Virbitsky was selected in the 17th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Penn State. In his two professional seasons split between Single-A Stockton and High-A Lansing, the 24-year-old right-hander went 8-9 with a 4.49 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 142.1 innings.

©2023 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at mercurynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.