Former mainstay of Guardians rotation signs prove-it deal with Athletics 

Earlier this week former Guardians reliever Scott Barlow signed a one-year contract with the Athletics that will help provide them with some relief help as they navigate their tenure in Sacramento. 

The Athletics added a former Guardian to their rotation on Tuesday as well, as former Cleveland starter Aaron Civale signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the Athletics, per the New York Post’s John Heyman. 

It’s the perfect prove-it deal for Civale, who had a disastrous 2025 campaign that spread out across three different franchises. 

Former Guardians starter Aaron Civale signs one-year deal with Athletics

Civale started the 2025 season with the Milwaukee Brewers, but he only made five starts with the Brewers before requesting a trade and being dealt to the lowly White Sox. 

He was even worse there (5.37 ERA in 67 innings) and was cut loose at the end of August. He latched on with the Cubs and allowed just three runs in 13 innings before being designated for assignment after the season. 

But he still has a solid track record, which is why the Athletics ended up paying him $6 million. 

Civale burst onto the scene with Cleveland in 2019 thanks to a dominant 2.34 ERA in 57 2/3 innings, but everything went downhill from there. He struggled immensely in the 2020 season, was a bit better in ‘21 and struggled again in 2022, which led to him being expendable in Cleveland. 

The Guardians’ front office elected to trade Civale to the Rays in exchange for Kyle Manzardo. While Manzardo’s production has made the move a clear win for the Guardians, the trade impacted the Guardians’ clubhouse so much that Framber Valdez no-hit them the next day on just 93 pitches. 

Civale had a 3.97 ERA in 54 starts between the Guardians, Rays and Brewers in 2023 and ‘24 while posting an above-average walk rate of 7.1%. 

His fastball sits at around 91 miles per hour, but he can throw up to six pitches and is at his best when he’s using that arsenal to keep hitters off balance. But that wasn’t the case last season, as he finished 25th percentile or worse in chase rate, barrel rate and whiff rate. 

While he’s never been the “ace” of any rotation he’s in, he’s going to be near the top of the Athletics' good-but-not-great rotation. 

Luis Severino is their top starter on paper, but he posted a 6.01 ERA in 15 home starts. Springs is a solid No. 2 starter, but boasts the same kind of profile as Civale. 

Jacob Lopez and Luis Morales are the next two men up behind them, but it’s fair to assume that Civale will be ahead of both of them in the rotation. 

That said, the A’s do have a plethora of MLB-ready pitching prospects waiting in the minors, so it seems like there’s a chance they could look to flip Civale at the trade deadline so long as he’s pitching well.