The Chicago Cubs acquired veteran right-hander Aaron Civale from the Athletics on Saturday for minor league right-hander Aiden Moffett.
Civale, who ended last season with the Cubs, was designated for assignment by the Athletics on Wednesday.
In other moves on Saturday, the Athletics placed right-hander Justin Sterner on the 15-day injured list with right knee chondromalacia, selected the contract of righty Geoff Hartlieb from Triple-A Las Vegas and designated first baseman/outfielder Joey Meneses for assignment.
Civale, 31, signed as a free agent with the Athletics in February on a one-year, $6 million contract. His season started well with a 5-1 record and 2.70 ERA over his first nine starts. But he had an 8.25 ERA in three June starts and a 10.29 ERA through two July starts and has lost his last six starts.
He went 5-7 with a 5.42 ERA in 74 2/3 innings over 16 games (15 starts) for the Athletics. He missed about three weeks due to right shoulder tendinitis.
“Civale had a great April for us,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “But he wasn’t able to turn things around.”
Civale has a 48-51 record and 4.26 ERA with 723 strikeouts and 226 walks over 156 appearances (150 starts) for the Cleveland Guardians (2019-23), Tampa Bay Rays (2023-24), Milwaukee Brewers (2024-25), Chicago White Sox (2025), Chicago Cubs (2025) and Athletics. He was 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA over 13 innings in five relief appearances with the Cubs after playing in his first 135 major league games as a starter.
Moffett, 22, is a combined 1-2 with a 10.07 ERA, 42 walks and 25 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings over 17 relief appearances split between the Cubs’ Class-A Myrtle Beach affiliate and Rookie League teams.
Sterner, 29, is 2-4 with one save, a 6.12 ERA, 13 walks and 40 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings over 46 relief appearances this season.
Hartlieb, 32, is 1-1 with a 5.19 ERA, three walks and three strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings over four relief appearances this season with the Athletics.
He is a career 2-2 with a 7.69 ERA, 64 walks and 84 strikeouts in 91 1/3 innings over 72 relief appearances with seven different teams since 2019.
Meneses, 34, was 3-for-20 (.150) with two RBIs in nine games for the Athletics this season. He spent parts of three seasons from 2022-24 with the Washington Nationals and batted .274 with 29 home runs and 165 RBIs in 286 games.
