Elephant Rumblings: A’s looking to extend Rooker

MLB News Roundup

Greetings, Athletics Nation. Looking at the Severino signing late last week there are signs of hope for A’s fans that the team may truly make the commitment to winning. Of course this is all tempered with the fact that the team will be playing two hours north in Sacramento for the next three years and signs are pointing to them actually making the move to Las Vegas.

One piece of early news coming out of the Winter Meetings in Dallas, hinted at last week but confirmed by Oakland Athletics correspondent @MartinJGallegos, was the Athletics desire to work out a contract extension for Silver Slugger Brent Rooker. Rooker is heading into his first year of salary arbitration and is still a few years away from potential free agency. A’s management, far from synonymous with long-term, rich contracts, seems intent on locking up their superstar. It’s easy to see how Rook could be considered a vital building block for the team’s ascent back into relevancy, especially after his breakout 2024 season. This past season Rooker batted .293, with thirty-nine homers, 112 RBI’s, eighty-two runs scored and eleven stolen bases. He logged a .927 OPS. He led the team in each of those categories except for doubles (JJ Bleday had 43) and stolen bases (Zack Gelof had 25). He was tied for fourth in the American League in homers and was third overall in RBI’s.

As Connor Ashford reported in yesterday’s Elephant Rumblings the A’s are still the focus of a potential players union grievance for not investing enough money in its major league ballclub. And while the players union is still fighting its own internal battles, the Athletics are an easy target.

To read Gallegos’ full article on the potential extension, click here to visit the A’s MLB webpage.

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