OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics have traded right-hander Trystan Magnuson to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash.

The A’s also announced Friday they agreed to minor-league deals with right-hander Edgar Gonzalez and infielder Wes Timmons and will invite them to spring training.

Magnuson made his major-league debut with Oakland last season and had no decisions and a 6.14 ERA in nine relief appearances. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 18 with right shoulder tendinitis and missed the remainder of the season.

Gonzalez is 14-25 with a 5.90 ERA in 107 career appearances for Arizona, Oakland and Colorado. He pitched mostly in the minors last season.

Timmons batted .341 with eight homers and 62 RBI at Triple-A and Double-A for Oakland last season.

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics have traded right-hander Trystan Magnuson to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash.

The A’s also announced Friday they agreed to minor league deals with right-hander Edgar Gonzalez and infielder Wes Timmons and will invite them to spring training.

Magnuson made his major league debut with Oakland last season and had no decisions and a 6.14 ERA in nine relief appearances. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 18 with right shoulder tendinitis and missed the remainder of the season.

Gonzalez is 14-25 with a 5.90 ERA in 107 career appearances for Arizona, Oakland and Colorado. He pitched mostly in the minors last season.

Timmons batted .341 with eight homers and 62 RBIs at Triple-A and Double-A for Oakland last season.

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Oakland, CA (Sports Network) – The Oakland Athletics released reliever
Michael Wuertz on Tuesday.

Wuertz had no decisions and a 6.68 earned run average in 39 appearances with
the A’s last season.

The 32-year-old right-hander went 8-4 with 10 saves and a 3.19 ERA in his
previous two seasons in Oakland. He spent the first five seasons of his major
league career (2004-2008) with the Chicago Cubs, and has posted a 21-11 record
a 3.71 ERA in 426 career appearances.

In other team news, the A’s claimed right-handed pitcher Evan Scribner and
outfielder Cedric Hunter off waivers from the San Diego Padres.

Scribner began the season with Triple-A Tucson and made his major league debut
on April 26, pitching two innings in an 8-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

He spent the majority of his season with Tucson, posting a 2-3 record with 10
saves and a 4.71 ERA .

Hunter made the Padres Opening Day roster and went 1-for-4 with a walk in six
games before being returned to Tucson. He spent the remainder of the season in
Triple-A and batted .255 with two home runs and 33 RBI in 81 games.

The Sports Network

When the Red Sox hired Terry Francona, he was a 44-year-old former major-league player with experience both as a major-league manager and as a major-league bench coach. He’d managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997-2000 — a tenure that ended disastrously — and he’d worked as a bench coach for the Texas Rangers in 2002 and the Oakland Athletics in 2003. He’d also had a unique experience in a pressure-cooker setting when he managed Michael Jordan with the Double-A Birmingham Barons in 1994.

No matter how it ends, there is no denying that the Terry Francona era was wildly successful for the Red Sox. The team won two World Series titles and won 86 or more games in each of his eight seasons.

Might a similar candidate land the job? Previous success at managerial stops, in that case, would not be a prerequisite; Francona did not have success in Philadelphia at all.

“He admitted he made mistakes,” Epstein said when he introduced his new manager in 2003. “It was his first time around as a manager, and he’s learned from what he did. We talked quite a bit about philosophies of pitching, and we’re comfortable with what Terry believes.”

What candidates out there look like Francona looked back then?

Here’s a list of possible successors:

Trey Hillman, Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach. An intriguing early possible front-runner, the 48-year-old Hillman was fired after three seasons at the helm of the Kansas City Royals.

John Farrell, Toronto manager. The Red Sox pitching coach for four seasons under Francona, Farrell looked like the manager-in-waiting until he took the job at the helm of the Blue Jays.

Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay manager. It seems like a longshot, but why not make a run at the all-but-certain American League Manager of the Year?

John Russell, Baltimore third-base coach. The 50-year-old Russell was fired after failing to win as a manager in Pittsburgh, but he’s not the only one to befall that fate — meaning he has something in common with Hillman. He was popular with his players, less so with fans.

Joel Skinner, Oakland bench coach. The interim manager of the Indians in 2002, Skinner worked for seven seasons on the Indians’ coaching staff under Eric Wedge before moving to the Athletics this season.

Alan Trammell, Arizona bench coach. A bench coach under Lou Pinella in Chicago for four seasons, the former All-Star shortstop managed the Detroit Tigers to disastrous results — including a 119-loss season — from 2003-05.

Don Wakamatsu, Toronto bench coach. For two years the manager of the Seattle Mariners, the 48-year-old Wakamatsu worked with John Farrell this season and has worked as bench coach of the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics — just like Francona did.

Here are some long-shot candidates:

Dave Clark, Houston third-base coach.

Dino Ebel, Los Angeles Angels third-base coach.

Chip Hale, New York Mets third-base coach.

DeMarlo Hale, Red Sox bench coach.

Glenn Hoffman, San Diego third-base coach.

Torey Lovullo, Toronto first-base coach and former manager of the PawSox.

Dave Martinez, Tampa Bay bench coach.

Bo Porter, Nationals bench coach.

Juan Samuel, Philadelphia third-base coach.

Rob Thomson, New York Yankees third-base coach.

Robby Thompson, Seattle bench coach.

bmacpherson@providencejournal.com

Blake Beavan is rapidly establishing himself as a fixture in the back end of Seattle’s starting rotation. If the season began next week, he’d be in the rotation. Let’s see how well he mixes in his pitches tonight because he’s become more than just a pinpoint fastball guy lately.

Kyle Seager gets the start at second base tonight while Dustin Ackley moves to DH.

Seattle looked headed for a 1-2-3 sixth inning until Dustin Ackley singled with two out, Mike Carp singled as well and Justin Smoak hammered a pitch over the wall in right field to give the M’s their first lead of the night.

Jason Vargas now leads 4-1 heading to the seventh.

8:24 p.m.: Jason Vargas kicks off the final series of the season by ending his own 2011 campaign. His last game in a Seattle uniform? Quite possibly.

Don’t forget. He’s set to earn about $5 million in arbitration this winter and the M’s will have to believe he’s a mid-rotation arm if paying him that much. Otherwise, they’ve got their share of back-end candidates lining up at a six-figure wage apiece.

Not much going on so far, with the teams tied 1-1 midway through the fifth. Miguel Olivo just tied the score by lining his 19th homer of the season over the left field wall.

Only the second hit of the night for the Mariners, but that blast gives Olivo the most homers by a catcher in club history, surpassing Kenji Johjima’s 18 from 2006 and Dan Wilson’s 18 from 1996.

We had some action in the top of the inning when Chris Carter fouled a ball off the roof truss, third base side. It’s the third time this year — and in Safeco Field history — that’s happened.

Otherwise, Vargas gave up a first inning run when Jemile Weeks doubled to start the game and scored on a single by Hideki Matsui.

Since then, Vargas has looked pretty good. He’s struck out eight guys already.

Mariners (66-93)
——————————-
51 Ichiro Suzuki (L) RF
1 Luis Rodriguez (S) SS
13 Dustin Ackley (L) 2B
20 Mike Carp (L) DH
17 Justin Smoak (S) 1B
30 Miguel Olivo C
12 Trayvon Robinson (S) LF
16 Alex Liddi 3B
55 Michael Saunders (L) CF
——————————-
38 Jason Vargas LHP

Athletics (72-87)
——————————-
19 Jemile Weeks (S) 2B
4 Coco Crisp (S) CF
55 Hideki Matsui (L) DH
16 Josh Willingham LF
29 Scott Sizemore 3B
8 Kurt Suzuki C
22 Chris Carter 1B
23 Michael Taylor RF
7 Adam Rosales SS
——————————-
32 Brandon McCarthy RHP