Athletics Optioned Reliever Eduarniel Núñez to Triple-A Las Vegas Amid Roster Trimming

The Athletics optioned right-handed pitcher Eduarniel Núñez to Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday, March 1, a roster move that sends the right-hander back to the Las Vegas Aviators after he allowed three earned runs in 2.2 spring innings and finished with a 10.13 ERA. MiLB’s transaction log records the March 1 option, and Yardbarker and Si carried the club announcement listing Núñez among the players sent to the minors.

The same round of cuts included an option for right-hander Henry Baez to Double-A Midland and reassignments of several pitchers, a catcher and an infielder to minor-league camp. Yardbarker and Si reported that Wei-En Lin, Domingo Robles, A.J. Causey, JJ Goss, Kenya Huggins, Yunior Tur, catcher Shane McGuire and infielder Joey Meneses were reassigned, and Yardbarker noted the club had 61 players in camp: 38 on the 40-man roster and 23 non-roster invitees, with a camp breakdown of 32 pitchers, five catchers, 13 infielders and 11 outfielders.

Núñez’s spring log was three outings across February and late February. Heavy and CBS game logs list his appearances as 1.0 inning on Feb. 21 vs Chicago White Sox (two strikeouts, scoreless), 1.0 inning on Feb. 24 vs Milwaukee (one hit, one walk, one earned run) and 0.2 inning on Feb. 28 vs San Francisco (two hits, one walk, two earned runs), for preseason totals of 2.2 IP, three strikeouts, three walks, two hits and three earned runs. Yardbarker summarized that “he'd appeared in three games this spring, and after a scoreless first outing, proceeded to give up three earned across his next 1 2/3 innings, leading to a cumulative 10.13 ERA.”

Yardbarker documented velocity fluctuations across spring appearances. “Nuñez's velocity has been down all spring, initially sitting down 2.7 miles per hour on his fastball and 2.1 mph on the slider, but he's picked up some of that velo, sitting at 96.1 mph in his final outing, which was down two miles per hour on the four-seamer. He closed the gap on his slider a good bit though, sitting at 87.5 mph, down 0.7 mph,” the report states. The sources do not provide an injury explanation for the early dip in velocity.

Baez’s single spring appearance was specifically noted by Yardbarker. On Feb. 22 against Cleveland, Baez worked a scoreless inning, hit a batter and struck out two while sitting 94.4 mph on both his four-seamer and sinker and 85.3 mph on his slider, per Yardbarker’s account.

MiLB’s timeline places Núñez inside the club’s recent churn: he landed in Oakland as part of the July 31, 2025 trade that sent Mason Miller and JP Sears to San Diego in exchange for Henry Baez, Eduarniel Núñez, Leo De Vries and Braden Nett. MiLB’s transaction log also records multiple call-ups and options for Núñez during 2025, and notes a winter assignment to Estrellas Orientales on Nov. 21, 2025.

Observers framed the moves as depth management. Si called the reassignments “not necessarily surprising, as everyone is seen as depth options or prospects on their way up.” Heavy/CBS added that Núñez “will open the 2026 campaign at the Triple-A level … He'll look to impress with Las Vegas in order to potentially get another shot with the big-league roster in 2026.”

MiLB’s transaction log, Yardbarker and the Original Report list March 1 as the option date; Heavy’s copy included an inconsistent reference to “Monday” in one item but did not alter the transaction dates in MiLB’s official timeline. Núñez will begin the 2026 season with the Las Vegas Aviators and carry 2025 MiLB credentials into the assignment, including a 2025 Triple-A line of 39 games, a 5-1 record and a 2.51 ERA over 46.2 innings recorded in MiLB’s stat table.