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 …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
