Chad Gaudin will be moving clear across the country. After being released by the New York Yankees on Thursday, the right-handed pitcher reached an agreement with Oakland worth $700K. Gaudin, who was primarily a starter with the Yankees in 2009 will likely end up as part of the A’s bullpen as many of their current hurlers are sidelined with various injuries. This is a good pickup for the A’s as Gaudin can be used as both a starter and reliever, based on where he’s needed most.

After turning 27 years old last week, Gaudin was given a release for his birthday and returned his pinstripes in favor of green and yellow. As a spot starter, Gaudin will anchor a sore bullpen in Oakland’s attempt to once again become the team they were a decade ago. With the improvements in the competition around them, adding somebody like Gaudin will only serve to help the cause. At $700K, there’s no gamble here. Gaudin will be worth every penny.

Gaudin has served as both a starter and bullpen pitcher throughout his career since 2003, spending time with Tampa Bay, Toronto, Oakland, the Cubs, San Diego, Yankees and Oakland again. He is 34-35 with a 4.50 ERA and 465 strikeouts and a 1.516 WHIP. Arguably his best season was 2006 with the A’s when he went 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA in the bullpen, finishing 13 of the 55 games he appeared in, giving up 51 hits in 64.0 innings of work.

He has struggled with control over the years, walking on average 4.3 batters per nine innings throughout his career. At 27, Gaudin is entering the prime of his career. If he can find a way to limit the free passes, he can become a higher-end hurler. Not necessarily a top of the rotation kind of guy, but definitely a number-three starter that any team could be proud to keep on the roster for more than two seasons. To date, nobody has given Gaudin that much of a chance.