The Braves announced that they have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Athletics and fellow righty Anthony Molina off waivers from the Rockies. There wasn’t any previous indication the players were on the wire but it seems the A’s and Rockies wanted to open roster spots, perhaps for the Rule 5 draft next week, and put these guys out there. Atlanta had one 40-man spot available and opened another by designating left-hander Josh Walker for assignment.
Bido, 30, has shown some promise in the big leagues but is coming off a challenging season. In 2024, he tossed 63 1/3 innings for the A’s over nine starts and seven relief appearances, allowing 3.41 earned runs per nine. His 10% walk rate was a bit high and he seemed to benefit from a .250 batting average on balls in play and 3.8% home run per flyball ratio, but his 24.3% strikeout rate was a solid figure.
For the 2025 season, the A’s moved to a Triple-A park in West Sacramento. The hitter-friendly environment seemed to impact Bido. His BABIP jumped to .315 and 14.7% of his fly balls left the yard. Also, his strikeout rate dropped to 18.7%. Put it all together and his ERA climbed to 5.87. The A’s optioned him to the minors a few times and he had a 5.71 ERA in Triple-A. He exhausted his final option year in the process, which was going to make it harder for him to stay on the roster going forward.
Atlanta will take a flier on him today. If he stays on the roster through the winter, he could compete for a job on the staff in spring training. It’s also possible they put him back on waivers later in the offseason. If he were to clear at some future date, they could keep him in the system as non-roster depth.
Molina, 24 in January, was a Rule 5 pick out of the Rays’ system in November of 2023. He has managed to stick on Colorado’s roster since then but has a ghastly 6.96 ERA in 94 1/3 major league innings. The Rockies have made a number of front office changes in recent months and it appears the new regime is less enamored of Molina, so he has been bumped to the waiver wire.
Atlanta seems to have a fondness for getting pitchers away from Coors Field. They have acquired Rockies pitchers such as Pierce Johnson, Brad Hand and Tyler Kinley in recent years. They also acquired Ryan Rolison from Colorado just last month.
Molina hasn’t had much major league success and doesn’t strike guys out, even in the minors, but he has generally avoided walks and gotten ground balls. He has only given a free pass to 6.3% of batters faced in his minor league career and just 6.6% of major league opponents. He still has a couple of options and can therefore be shuttled between Triple-A and the majors for the foreseeable future.
Walker, 31, was just claimed off waivers last month. He hasn’t yet found major league success, with a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, but has intriguing minor league numbers. He tossed 131 2/3 innings on the farm from 2022 to 2025 with a 3.90 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and grounders on about half the balls in play he allowed. His 11.6%walk rate in that time wasn’t amazing but there’s been enough good stuff to entice teams.
Walker signed with the Blue Jays a year ago, then was acquired by the Phillies and the Orioles during the 2025 season. He exhausted his final option season this year, meaning he’ll now be out of options going forward. The O’s signed him to a guaranteed deal and tried to pass him through waivers but Atlanta claimed him. Atlanta will now have a week to try to trade him or pass him through waivers themselves. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images