OAKLAND -- The A's reinstated catcher Bruce Maxwell from the restricted list and optioned catcher Josh Phegley to Triple-A Nashville, the club announced on Monday. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the A's designated catcher Dustin Garneau for assignment.
Maxwell was on the A's Opening Day roster but appeared in just 13 of the A's 43 games before going on the restricted list on Thursday. He is batting .211 with four doubles and three RBIs but has hit safely in each of his last four games (4-for-11, .364). Maxwell has made 11 starts at catcher and is 1-for-2 in two pinch-hitting appearances. 
Phegley was recalled from Nashville on Thursday and appeared in two games in Toronto in his 2018 debut. He went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI and made one start at catcher. Phegley began the season on the disabled list with Oakland after fracturing the fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand and is batting a combined .217 with three home runs and 15 RBIs in 27 games the Sounds and Class A Advanced Stockton.
Garneau has spent the entire season at Nashville, where he is batting .208 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 22 games. He was claimed off waivers from Colorado last August and hit .159 with a home run and three RBIs in 19 games with Oakland last year.
When a player's contract is designated for assignment -- often abbreviated "DFA" -- that player is immediately removed from his club's 40-man roster, and 25-man roster if he was on that as well. Within seven days of the transaction (it was previously 10 days), the player must either be traded, released or placed on irrevocable outright waivers.