Three weeks ago, the A’s were within a half game in the AL West. The front office looked positioned to add pitching help in an effort to break their five-year playoff drought. Late June brought a handful of injuries that have decimated the lineup and led to a plummet down the standings. The A’s have lost three straight, six of seven, and 11 of their last 14. They’re a season-worst eight games below .500 at 41-49 and would need a huge July to get back into contention by the August 3 deadline.
The A’s don’t have a ton to peddle on the trade market. If their free fall continues, this will probably be a quiet deadline season. Their impending free agents aren’t performing, but they’re unlikely to deal from their high-end position player group. While there’s an argument for them to listen on their All-Star catcher, his two remaining seasons of arbitration control give them the ability to hold and hope for better health and pitching development next season.
Record: 41-49 (10% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)
Sell Mode
Likely impending free agents: Jeffrey Springs (club option), Jeff McNeil (club option), Mark Leiter Jr., Jonah Heim, Aaron Civale
Springs and McNeil are two of the team’s three highest-paid players. They’re each in the final guaranteed seasons of their contracts. The A’s technically control both for 2027 via club options, but neither is likely to be picked up. Retaining Springs would cost them $15MM. McNeil’s deal comes with a $15.75MM option that is guaranteed to be declined.
That’d leave the A’s with five impending free agents, all of whom are role players at best for a contender. Springs is probably the best of the group, as he’s only a year removed from pitching at a league average level. Opposing lineups have pounded him for a 5.79 ERA over 18 starts this year. His strikeout and walk profile is the same as he had in 2025, when he allowed 4.11 earned runs per nine over 171 innings. He’s throwing a tick harder than he did a year ago.
Springs is a fly-ball pitcher who sits in the low-90s, though, so he has always been prone to home runs. Playing in Sacramento’s hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park never suited him. Springs has an ERA close to 7.00 while allowing 16 longballs in 54 1/3 innings at home. He has a 4.38 ERA across 39 frames on the road. The A’s could probably find a team looking for a bland fifth starter who’s willing to give up a middling prospect and take a few million dollars of Springs’ $10.5MM salary off the books — as the Cubs did with David Peterson a couple weeks ago.
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