OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics acquired catcher Kurt Suzuki from the Washington Nationals on Friday to boost their injury situation at the position, bringing back a former fan favorite just more than a year after trading him away.
The A’s are sending Class-A starter Dakota Bacus to the Nationals in the swap, while Washington is paying $995,000 to Oakland as its portion remaining on Suzuki’s 2013 salary. He left Chicago where the Nationals were playing and was set to join Oakland in Baltimore for a weekend series with the Orioles.
The defending AL West champion A’s began the day 2½ games behind Texas in the division race.
Suzuki, selected by the A’s in the second round of the 2004 amateur draft, spent parts of the past two seasons with Washington after six in Oakland. He’s batting .222 with three homers and 25 RBI in 79 games.
Suzuki, originally traded to the Nationals on Aug. 3, 2012, fills a huge need for the pennant race. John Jaso has a concussion and Derek Norris broke a left toe Tuesday.
The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the deal.
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