The Athletics will be sellers at this year’s trade deadline, with an eye toward getting a return on anyone over the age of 26 to stock the farm system with inexpensive talent in hopes of putting together a nucleus to avoid a fourth straight season of 100 or more losses.
The biggest return would come from rookie closer Mason Miller, a likely All-Star selection with 14 saves in 16 chances, a fastball that routinely breaks 100 miles per hour and a slider in the high 80s that has been mostly unhittable.
There are only two reasons the A’s would part with Miller. The first would be an impressive haul of blue-chip prospects. The second will go unspoken.
High-velocity pitchers, of which Miller is near the top of the major leagues, are more likely to develop serious arm issues necessitating surgery, and the A’s must consider the unpleasant possibility they could hold on to Miller only to see him break down and end up needing Tommy John surgery.
The biggest reason Miller is a reliever is the A’s can use him in short bursts and closely monitor his use a year after he missed much of the 2023 season with a UCL strain that did not require surgery.
The guess here is Miller goes nowhere, and he tops a list of 10 players aged 26 or younger you can expect to see next year when the A’s relocate to Sacramento, where they’ll share a minor league stadium with the River Cats and are expected to play on a synthetic surface which could routinely climb past 100 degrees in July and August.
With the A’s opening a three-game road series Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, here are nine other players currently on the roster who are in the process of staking their claim to a spot on the 2024 roster:
JJ Bleday
The trade that brought Bleday, 26, in exchange for reliever A.J. Puk in 2023 looks like a good one. Bleday has played in every game, is hitting .253 with 11 home runs and 29 RBIs as a left-handed hitter and leads the team in total bases with 135. He’s also a capable center fielder.
Tyler Soderstrom
Soderstrom, 22, was a first-round draft pick by the A’s in 2020 who looked in over his head when he was called up a year ago. He’s another left-handed power hitter who is ahead of the game in one respect — he’s already shown the ability to take the ball to the opposite field and can use the entire field. The lack of time he’s gotten at catcher indicates he’s looked at as a first baseman and designated hitter.
Zack Gelof
A second-round pick out of Virginia in 2021, Gelof never for a moment looked out of place when he was called up as a rookie last season. He hit 14 homers, had 32 RBIs with 14 stolen bases in 69 games. It’s been a different story in 2024, as Gelof, 24, missed time with an oblique injury and is hitting .196 with eight homers and 20 RBIs. He’s still looked at as a blue-chip prospect with 25-plus power potential as a second baseman. There aren’t a lot of those.
Joey Estes
Estes is a strike-thrower of the first order with a competitive streak who has pitched much better than his record (2-3, 5.24 ERA). It was a bit of a reach for manager Mark Kotsay to compare Estes, 22, with Tim Hudson, but the styles are similar. He’s not far from indelible ink as far as being written into the starting rotation. Arrived from the Atlanta organization in 2022 as part of the Matt Olson trade.
Shea Langeliers
At 26 and with 14 homers and 39 RBIs, Langeliers is a capable catcher and a power bat. Not only that, but he’s got better speed on the bases than most catchers. His consistency as a hitter is another story, given his .197 batting average and .205 mark in 245 games. If Sodestrom is being looked at as a full-time first baseman/designated hitter, Langeliers will get a lot of time to sort out his issues with batting average.
A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler has shown flashes of potential but has struggled with consistency at the plate in 2024. AP Photo
Mitch Spence
A control pitcher at age 26 who has shown the ability to pitch into the sixth and seventh innings, Spence has just four walks in his last five starts and has a future as a pitch-to-contact pitcher who could fill a spot in the back end of the rotation. A Rule 5 draftee off the roster of the New York Yankees, Spence will stick for the rest of this season and is on his way to establishing himself on the 2025 roster.
Lawrence Butler
There are times when Butler, 23, shows off promising hitting skills, such as hitting a 114 mile-per-hour, 445-foot home run into the teeth of the Coliseum wind in right, or going taking a pitch to left field for a game-winning hit. Those happened on the same night on April 12 against Washington and Butler will be given plenty of chances to show he can do it more often.
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Luis Medina
Medina, 25, is 4-13 over two seasons with a 5.39 earned run average. He’s nothing like Estes and Spence in terms of command, but Estes and Spence are well short of Medina when it comes to having good stuff. One of the few good things about being at the bottom of the standings is giving someone like Medina enough experience to work out his control issues.
Esteury Ruiz
The American League leader in stolen bases last season with 67, Ruiz was demoted early as the A’s endeavored to improve his plate discipline and defense. There’s no evidence either of those things has taken place, and Ruiz has had injury issues, most lately with a strained wrist, that have derailed his season. At 23, if Ruiz can adjust his game to better take advantage of his skill set, Ruiz can become a top-of-the-order corner outfielder.
