Oakland signs Wood, acquires Stripling from Giants

The A’s signed veteran left-hander Alex Wood to a one-year contract on Friday and acquired right-hander Ross Stripling and cash from the Giants in exchange for minor league outfielder Jonah Cox. To make room on the 40-man roster, Oakland sent left-hander Francisco Pérez to Triple-A Las Vegas and designated infielder Jonah Bride for assignment.

In his first season with San Francisco last year, Stripling went 0-5 with a 5.35 ERA and .818 OPS in 22 games, including 11 starts. He dismissed 70 batsmen in 89 innings and scored only 16 runs, an average of 1.62 per nine innings. The 34-year-old right-hander has a 38-43 record with a 3.96 ERA in 226 games in eight Major League seasons with the Dodgers (2016-2020), Blue Jays (2020-2022), including 115 starts . ) and Giants (2023). Stripling was called to the All-Star Game in 2018, has four years of postseason experience and has averaged 2.07 walks per nine innings in his career.

Wood has spent the past three seasons in the Bay with the Giants, and has posted a 4.41 earned run average in 81 appearances (64 starts) for San Francisco over that span. The 33-year-old left-hander will be entering his 12th season in the major leagues. He made his major league debut with the Braves in 2013 and was traded to the Dodgers in 2015.

In four seasons with the Dodgers, Wood pitched well and earned his only All-Star selection in 2017, a season in which he finished with a 2.72 ERA in 152.1 innings. He was traded to the Reds after the 2018 season, but made only seven starts the following season for Cincinnati.

Wood returned to the Dodgers on a one-year deal in 2020, but injuries limited him to nine appearances during the regular season. However, he helped the team by pitching four scoreless innings in two World Series games, including two scoreless innings in Game 6 against the Rays.

Oakland set a major league record by using 24 different starting pitchers in 2023. Wood could help stabilize a rotation that appears to have only two safe spots, occupied by Paul Blackburn and JP Sears.