Pirates trade lefty reliever Nik Turley to Oakland A's for cash considerations
The Pittsburgh Pirates traded left-handed reliever Nik Turley to the Oakland A’s on Thursday for cash considerations.
Turley, 31, was 0-3 with a 4.98 ERA and 1.108 WHIP with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks in 21 2/3 innings over 25 appearances last season. Turley is 0-5, with a 7.78 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in 39 1/3 innings over 35 games in his career.
Turley had been designated for assignment Tuesday to clear room on the 40-man roster when the Pirates claimed outfielder Troy Stokes Jr. off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder was a great comeback story, as the 2008 50th-round draft pick recovered from a suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs and Tommy John surgery to pitch in the majors for the first time since 2017.
Turley earned his first major-league save in a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 27, pitching a scoreless seventh inning in the second game of a doubleheader. But he finished with more blown leads and blown saves, as the Pirates’ bullpen struggled to protect late-inning leads.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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