Elephant Rumblings: Noah Murdock returned to Royals

Good morning everyone! Rise and shine!

The A’s designated right-handed rookie Noah Murdock for assignment a couple of days ago and as a Rule 5 Draft pick the Athletics needed to offer him back to the team they selected him from, the Kansas City Royals. The team selected him fourth overall in that draft and the A’s have in the past rostered a player all season long in order to get his contract rights. It’s an easy and cheap way to add talent if you can hit on a player, with the most famous and successful example being former outfielder Mark Canha.

That wasn’t to be the case this time around. The right-handed pitcher was overmatched consistently and got knocked around hard a few times. He’s…