Where were you for Bielak’s six appearances as an Oakland Athletic?
Good morning A’s fans and happy Saturday!
Brandon Bielak’s career with the A’s consisted of six appearances and two designations for assignment (three total for 2024). Needless to say his time in the green and gold wasn’t super memorable and Bielak now finds himself to be a free-agent ahead of 2025.
How was he acquired?
Bielak was acquired from the Houston Astros in exchange for cash on May 16 — five days after being designated for assignment.
What were the expectations?
A four-year big-leaguer with the Astros spending time in both the starting rotation and bullpen, Bielak was expected to add some of that maturity and veteran presence to the A’s staff. Bielak entered the A’s with a career 11-13 record, 4.65 ERA, 155 strikeouts and 85 walks in 191.2 innings and 70 appearances. He was coming off his best year in the majors in 2023 where he’d posted a 3.83 ERA through 13 starts, and at the time, the move was convenient for the A’s as Houston was in town.
2024 Results
Bielak made just six appearances as an Athletic throwing 12.1 innings and allowing 17 hits and six earned — good for a 4.38 ERA. Most of these appearances came in meaningless blowouts like September 16th when Bielak threw four scoreless against the Chicago Cubs in a 9-2 loss; this was Bielak’s strongest outing in the green and gold but other than that there wasn’t many positives. Bielak’s expected batting average of .296 and slugging of .517 (with both the A’s and Astros) were amongst some of the leagues worst in 2024.
The A’s designated Bielak for assignment on May 25 and September 22 but he cleared waivers both times and was sent to Triple-A Las Vegas. There just wasn’t much of a consistent role for Bielak especially with the youth movement of the team down the stretch. Bielak elected for free agency on October 15.
2025 Outlook
A former 11th round pick back in 2017 and top-10 prospect for the Astros heading into his 29-year-old season, the market for Bielak would expectedly lead to some kind of minor league deal with a likely invite to Spring Training but what comes after is unknown and in the hands of Bielak. His five-year career hasn’t been very memorable for most and he’ll need to replicate some of that 2023 magic to keep his name and chances afloat.
