An SB Nation blog for Oakland Athletics fans
Tucked quietly into a Rob Manfred presser about “we’ve talked about some things internally, nothing imminent though…” are notions of an in-season tournament a la NBA and a split season a la MLB 1981. The in-season tournament is a terribad idea that will probably never gain traction anyway, but a split season format? I’ve been […]
about 13 hours ago | 0 reads
Left-hander T.J. McFarland is up next in our continuing series. The veteran spent How Was He Acquired? The veteran left-hander was signed to a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024 but the Athletics executed a trade for him just before the start of the regular season, acquiring him for his second […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
Morning A’s fans and happy Friday! Yesterday was the arbitration deadline for teams across the league. That meant every club and player had to exchange their preferred salary for the upcoming season. Most players don’t want to go into Spring Training with their salary still unsettled meaning that tons of contracts are worked out today. […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
According to MLBTR, the A’s and Shea Langeliers are in agreement on a contract for 2026 that will pay the catcher $5.25M and avoid the dreaded arbitration hearing. Langeliers was the last arbitration eligible player on the A’s, who previously have come to agreements with Austin Wynns ($1.1M), Ken Waldichuk ($825M, claimed by the Braves […]
3 days ago | 1 read
Season In Review continues and this morning’s subject is another reliever. Right-hander Scott McGough didn’t start the year with the A’s but he did finish the year as a member of the Athletics’ bullpen. How Was He Acquired? The 36-year-old began the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks but didn’t last long with them. After getting […]
3 days ago | 0 reads
Spring Training is less than two months away now, which means pitchers and catchers had better start getting some workouts in now before reporting. Don’t want to be the slob that let winter put on a few pounds on you, right? But before we get there we have just a few more players to recap […]
4 days ago | 0 reads
Morning all! A bit of a late update as these signings happened a couple of days ago. The Athletics have continued to beef up their depth, this time on the position-player side of things. After spending lots of the offseason adding relief depth to the upper minors (and hopefully a hidden gem or two), the […]
4 days ago | 0 reads
There are some fundamental differences between the A’s and the Blue Jays, beginning with vastly contrasting commitments to payroll. Money can hide flaws a lot better than even a player’s makeup (did you see what I did there?). But today’s thesis is to look at the rather impressive ascent Toronto made from 2024 to 2025 […]
4 days ago | 0 reads
Sticking with the backstops, our victim for today’s Season In Review is Jhonny Pereda. The 29-year-old catcher got a decent look in the big leagues with the A’s but he just couldn’t hit enough to hold down a roster spot all year and he ultimately finished the season with a different team. How Was He […]
5 days ago | 2 reads
On Sunday, Jared Greenspan of MLB.com ranked the Top 25 rookies performance for last year. The A’s had three sophomores make that list. The first two should be no surprise and Greenspan has them again listed as one and two on the list just as the baseball writers did for the Rookie of the Year […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
We might have ourselves a candidate for “most polarizing player on the big league roster”. Shea Langeliers comes with warts and yet he put up a pretty sensational 2025 season ranking as one of the AL’s best catchers. How Was He Acquired? A 1st round pick of the Atlanta Braves, Langeliers was a center piece […]
6 days ago | 0 reads
Like most teams, the A’s had a winter shopping list. It included improving themselves at 2B, adding to their bullpen, and working out extensions for their young core players. The good news is the A’s have addressed all 3 areas with the additions of Jeff McNeil, Mark Leiter Jr., and the recent 7 year extension […]
7 days ago | 0 reads
Happy Saturday all! We’re heading behind the dish to take a look back at our backstops this past season, starting with the veteran Austin Wynns. A vet of seven big league seasons, Wynns came aboard midway through the season and acted as the backup to starter Shea Langeliers from there on. He’s set to repeat […]
7 days ago | 1 read
Two in one day? Only for you guys! Season In Review sticks with the pitchers but shifts to the starting side of things. Right-hander Joey Estes was once one of the top pitching prospects in the Athletics’ farm system and has shown flashes here and there, but he’s fallen behind in the pecking order behind […]
8 days ago | 1 read
We’re slowly approaching the end of our Season In Review series, which means Spring Training isn’t far away. Right-handed reliever Anthony Maldonado made it back to the big leagues for the second consecutive year but only made it into six games for the Athletics. Now he’s set to pitch for a division rival next year […]
9 days ago | 0 reads
Good morning everyone and welcome to the first Friday of the year! The A’s have made no secret that they intend to have young defensive whiz Denzel Clarke begin the season as the starter in center field. His first action in the big leagues was a clinic in outfield defense as the 25-year-old made near-daily […]
9 days ago | 0 reads
The Baseball world is quiet today. So instead of “creating” some news, I’m just going to say that I’m optimistic about the 2026 Athletics season. While management has not brought in many fresh faces, Jeff McNeil, Mark Leiter Jr., and the few minor league contract signings give me hope. The starting rotation, as it appears […]
10 days ago | 0 reads
The A’s are desperate for starting pitching right now and they have plenty of arms that at one point were considered top prospects. None of them have panned out as hoped so far but there’s still plenty of time for most of them. In today’s Season In Review we take a look at one of […]
10 days ago | 0 reads
Next up in our look back at the A’s players in 2025, we turn back to the bullpen, remembering our time with Michael Kelly. What role will he play in the A’s pen in 2026? How was he acquired? The San Diego Padres selected Michael Kelly in the first round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft with […]
11 days ago | 0 reads
Morning everyone and happy last day of 2025! The A’s have certainly been at work behind the scenes in the first couple months of the offseason. We haven’t heard of the team in any direct links to any rumors, which isn’t itself surprising but is also how the A’s like to operate. A’s fans were […]
11 days ago | 0 reads
As the A’s head into Spring Training 2026, one of the areas for the greatest growth potential is the starting rotation. At this point, and without any further trades or free agent signings, there are likely only two absolute locks for the starting five. Barring injury, we can count on righty Luis Severino, who came […]
12 days ago | 0 reads
We’ve almost run out of 2025, but we haven’t run out of A’s players to recap. Next up is Brett Harris, whose main achievement so far in life is that he shares a birthday with me (and Lionel Messi, and pretty no one else you’ve ever heard of). In Harris’ case, his last birthday was […]
12 days ago | 0 reads
The A’s have always tried to find easy or cheap ways to add talent to the organization, whether or not the team is expecting to contend or is going through a rebuild. The Rule 5 Draft has been an excellent way to take advantage of other teams’ blocked prospects and the Athletics almost always use […]
12 days ago | 0 reads
Morning everyone and welcome to a brand new week! We got a Christmas present this year when the Athletics announced that they’d locked up left fielder Tyler Soderstrom for the foreseeable future with a contract extension. That should hopefully be the first of several that the front office issues out to the younger core guys. […]
13 days ago | 1 read
It takes two to tango, so further contract extensions won’t take place unless there is desire amongst the remaining players the A’s might wish to extend. And unless there is further willingness on the part of A’s ownership to commit ‘real money’ beyond what is already committed. This dance is an intricate one: searching for […]
14 days ago | 0 reads