#oakland-athletics

#oakland-athletics

For reasons discussed only a little bit ago, a guy like Aaron Civale became a relatively poor fit for the Chicago Cubs over the last couple months. The rotation really filled up, the bullpen really filled up, and the reclamation group of pitchers became so robust that the competition to win innings will be fierce. If you're the Cubs, bringing Aaron Civale back on a guaranteed deal might not make a lot of sense, because who is he bouncing?

The extensions serve a couple purposes for the A's. They lock in what could be an elite lineup with less concern among the fanbase about them tearing the roster down the way they did after the 2021 season. They're largely backloaded deals, which raises the team's competitive balance payroll (based on annual value) to avoid a revenue sharing grievance without costing as much in salary while they're playing in Sacramento.

The A's have the thing every team is looking for: pitching depth. Jump, Arnold and Lin are all potential No. 2 to No. 4 starters who throw from the left side. Nett and Morris are either No. 4 starters or eighth-inning relievers depending on how their command develops. Behind them on the team prospect list are upper-level arms including Henry Baez, Mason Barnett, Gunnar Hoglund and Eduarniel Nunez.

Wallach, 34, has spent most of the past four years in the Angels' organization. He has been the third or fourth catcher on the depth chart. The Halos called him up last September while they were navigating injuries to Travis d'Arnaud and Logan O'Hoppe. Wallach played in one game and caught two innings in a loss in Seattle. The Angels outrighted him off the roster when O'Hoppe returned.

The Athletics are hiring Barry Enright as pitching coordinator and director of pitching in their player development department, reports Sam Blum of The Athletic. Enright has spent the past couple seasons as pitching coach of the Angels. A former reliever who pitched parts of four seasons in the big leagues, Enright moved into coaching in 2019. He began as a minor league coach in the Arizona system before getting an MLB job as assistant pitching coach going into 2022.

According to FanGraphs' starting pitcher depth chart rankings, the Cardinals have the second-worst rotation in baseball, ahead of only the lowly Colorado Rockies (who just got a boost with Michael Lorenzen). Currently, their starting five consists of Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, Dustin May, Michael McGreevy, and Kyle Leahy. All of those pitchers had an ERA of four-plus last season, and none averaged a strikeout per inning.

"The idea of taking this group of young players and locking them up into a new ballpark has been something we've talked about for a long time," Forst said (link via Mark Anderson of The Associated Press). "We were able to get Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler signed last year, Tyler now, and there are ongoing conversations with others. So this is kind of the blueprint for how we want to do this and how we want to open the ballpark in '28."

Fisher took a step toward that promise on Christmas Day, when the club locked up Tyler Soderstrom on a seven-year, $86MM extension. The 24-year-old outfielder will now be under team control through his age-31 season. With Shea Langeliers just entering arbitration, and Jacob Wilson and still in the pre-arbitration phase, the Athletics have their hitting core in place for the foreseeable future.

Kurtz, 22, earned 30 first-place votes after hitting .290 with 36 home runs and 86 RBIs. His 1.002 OPS ranked third in MLB behind Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, though he fell short of qualifying for the batting title due to being called up in late April.

Manager Terry Francona was Ken Macha's bench coach in 2003, and his first base coach is former Oakland outfielder Collin Cowgill. As for players, the Reds had utilityman Miguel Andujar (acquired in mid-season from the Sacramento A's, so he'll go down as the first Oakland/Sacramento Athletic to appear in a playoff game) and reliever Emilio Pagan, appeared in 55 games with the A's in 2018 after being acquired from the Mariners for Ryon Healy.

They made arguably the biggest sell-side trade at the deadline, sending Mason Miller to San Diego for a prospect package headlined by potential franchise shortstop Leo De Vries. The A's have quietly been one of the best teams in the American League for the final two months of the season. They're in for a second straight offseason focused primarily on pitching. It's not an easy task while they're in a Triple-A home ballpark that plays as one of the most hitter-friendly venues in the game.

The A's will place Gelof on the 10-day injured list tomorrow, and needless to say, Gelof's 2025 season is now officially over. The dislocated shoulder is a rough ending to a season already marked by notable injuries for the 25-year-old infielder, as hamate bone surgery and then a stress reaction in his ribcage prevented Gelof from making his 2025 debut until July 4.

BOSTON (AP) - Pinch-hitter Nick Sogard's 10th-inning infield grounder off Michael Kelly drove home Nate Eaton with the winning run, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Athletics 5-4 on Wednesday night for their American League-leading 11th walk-off win of the season. Eaton started the inning as the designated runner at second base, took third on Carlos Narvaez's sacrifice bunt, and scored with a head-first slide to avoid the tag by catcher Shea Langeliers.

Cortes has turned in a terrific .321/.418/.603 slash in 299 plate appearances in Triple-A, with 16 home runs and a 13.7% strikeout rate.

The A's have major issues with their pitching, giving up 10+ runs in over 20% of their games, which severely hampers their potential for victory.

Diego Mirazo, manager at La Terraza, reported a 25% increase in business due to a promotion for A's game ticket holders, pointing to the need for excitement around the team.

McGough, a right-handed pitcher, signed a minor league contract with the Athletics after being outrighted by the D-backs, aiming to revive his career.

"With the Oakland A's decision to move to Las Vegas, Stockton Ports have seen a surge in attendance as loyal fans seek a community-centered baseball experience."

Ryan Noda, a first baseman traded to the Red Sox for cash, has potential but has struggled recently in the minors after a mediocre 2023 with Oakland.

The Angels swept the Dodgers, but still find themselves in last place, showing the turbulent nature of baseball standings this season.