The Winter Meetings are always a time of great titillation and anticipation. Will there be a major move? What will it be? When the first domino falls, what will the next domino look like and what about the one after?
The reality is this: some years there is a flurry of frantic activity during the Winter Meetings while other years groundwork is laid for significant transactions soon after. Some years the A’s are among the teams making a splash and other years they are pretty quiet before Christmas.
Case in point, 72 hours prior to the Winter Meetings the A’s shocked the world by handing our their biggest ever contract to Luis Severino: $67M over 3 years. Seems unlikely they will top that news this coming week, that is unless they trade Mason Miller while announcing they have actually decided to build their stadium in the “Oakland-Vegas compromise halfway point” of Tulare.
Even so far, what we have been told about Juan Soto is that he might sign this weekend before the Winter Meetings open — or maybe during them or just after. OK thanks for the clarification, that clears things right up.
A’s Winter Meetings Menu
Officially on the A’s off-season shopping list was a starting pitcher and a 3Bman. While they may not be done augmenting the rotation, certainly they have checked a major box with the Severino signing.
So it stands to reason that their top priority is 3B, probably through a trade. What are the most likely scenarios this coming week?
Third Base Dominos
One very plausible outcome is that the A’s watch to see where a couple key free agents land and then talk to that team about another 3Bman who is now available.
For example, if the Tigers were to sign Alex Bregman they might make 24 year old Jace Jung (their #5 prospect on MLB Pipeline) available and he comes “MLB ready” having debuted in 2024.
The San Francisco Giants just signed SS Willy Adames to join Matt Chapman on the left side of the infield, making expendable two younger players in Casey Schmitt and Marco Luciano.
The Philadelphia Phillies have lso linked to Bregman, whose signing would make Alec Bohm redundant.
So there are some 3Bman young and older, unproven and game weathered, who might suddenly be more available this week than they were last week.
Another route would be to look at a short-term free agent deal with a player not as much in the spotlight. Jose Iglesias comes to mind as a slick fielder whose bat plays just enough to make him consistent a 1.5-2.0 WAR contributor. Kike Hernandez is also a free agent, better known as a post-season Thor but not actually an every day player anywhere for anyone.
Bullpen Upgrades
The A’s bullpen took a hit with the trading of Lucas Erceg, and currently would rely heavily on two guys with shaky minor league track records who emerged in 2024: Michael Otañez and Tyler Ferguson.
With the chance either or both could go full-on pumpkin, the reliable depth behind Mason Miller currently looks like TJ McFarland. A team with payroll flexibility might want to lure one of the better free agent relievers, and it’s worth noting that even in penny pinching years the A’s have tended to invest somewhat surprisingly in relievers. Ryan Madson (3 years, $22M) comes to mind as an example along with “Oops I forgot to ever throw a pitch for you” Trevor Rosenthal.
If the A’s are looking at relievers who might be good enough to set up for Miller, here are a couple names to consider:
- Jeff Hoffman This guy is good and only seems to be getting better. Now 31, he is coming off a season with spectacular K/BB numbers: 12.08 K/9 IP and 2.17 BB/9 IP, helping him to a 2.17 ERA. Hoffman’s K rate has increased 3 years in a row while his BB rate has decreased 4 years running. His fastball averaged 96.9 MPH in 2024.
- Carlos Estevez Another of the “higher end” free agent relievers, he would also be a candidate to lock in set up duty behind Miller.
Estevez is coming off of a career year in which he walked only 1.96/9 IP and posted a 2.45 ERA with 26 of his 82 career saves.
Neither of these two will come cheap, but the A’s seem to have ample money to offer and it’s possible that adding an extra year or making the highest offer could lure a good reliever to call Sacramento home.
- Kyle Finnegan Remember him? The A’s drafted him (6th round, 2013), but he found his glory with the Washington Nationals, for whom he saved 38 games last year, 28 the year before.
Finnegan throws as hard as ever, averaging 97.4 MPH in 2024 and sitting at 97.0-97.4 MPH each of the last 3 seasons. He is now 33 years old.
- Chris Martin More of a sneaky good pitcher who is not a household name, Martin nonetheless has some eye-popping numbers to recommend him. (He also consistently throws 95 MPH with excellent secondaries.)
In 2024 his BB rate was miniscule at 0.61/9 IP (in 44.1 IP he walked 3) and in 2023 he posted a 1.05 ERA (51.1 IP, 6 ER). In 346.2 career IP, he has a 3.38 ERA with 45 BB and 357 K. In sum: he’s just really good.
Honorable mentions go to Andrew Kittredge, Jose LeClerc, Ryne Stanek, and old friend Blake Treinen, all with “quality set up man” potential and all also available on the free agent market.
Do any of these players especially excite you as targets? Do you see the A’s zeroing in on any of them this week, and if so what do you think a trade or signing might look like?
Even if nothing at all comes of it, A’s-wise, it should be an interesting few days and it will culminate with the Rule 5 draft in which the A’s will select somewhere from 2nd-5th (they are slotted 5th but only one team ahead of them currently has the required space on their 40-man roster).
Buckle up!
