From Koenig to Payamps to now Kuhnel — the A's keep feeding the Brewers' pitching lab, and Milwaukee keeps making it work.
Heading into Thursday's game against the Chicago Cubs, A's reliever Joel Kuhnel held a 2.88 ERA, and his four saves were the second-most on a team that has been operating with a closer-by-committee.
Then he gave up five hits in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday, giving away the A's 6-3 lead and ultimately being charged with the four runs that cost the team the game. With a roster spot needed for the addition of Kade Morris to the 40-man, someone had to be removed, and in a somewhat surprising move, it was Kuhnel who was designated for assignment.
On Saturday, the A's announced that Kuhnel has been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations.
That is the one organization where if they call asking about a pitcher, you have to ask yourself what you're missing with that arm that they're about to unlock. We've seen it numerous times in recent years, with former A's arms Chad Patrick, Jared Koenig and Joel Payamps all having success with the Crew in recent seasons.
Koenig had a 5.72 ERA in 10 games with the A's in 2022, and has a 2.62 ERA with Milwaukee since 2024, spanning 130 1/3 innings. Patrick was a deadline addition by the A's in exchange for Jace Peterson in 2023, and was traded to the Brewers just a couple of months later for Abraham Toro. He has a 3.18 ERA across 169 innings the past two seasons.
Payamps was a throw-in as part of the Sean Murphy trade with Atlanta, and ended up landing the two best pieces of the deal in Milwaukee, along with William Contreras. The righty held a 2.78 ERA over nearly 130 innings in 2023-24 before struggling to a 7.23 ERA in 2025.
Somewhat ironically, he is now with the Atlanta Braves on a minor-league deal. The A's part of that trade have all left the organization, making it one of the worst deals in recent seasons. Esteury Ruiz, the key piece back for the A's, is now in Miami, while Manny Piña has retired, Kyle Muller and Freddy Tarnok are pitching in Japan and Royber Salinas is back in the minors with the Braves.
When the A's made the move to DFA Kuhnel, it was a little surprising, so Athletics Roundtable did a little digging and landed on an explanation, in that the club was likely trying to get ahead of any regression that was forthcoming due to his lackluster stuff+ grades.
With the veteran right-hander headed to a pitching factory like Milwaukee, the question is now what they're seeing that the A's aren't.
