A's DFA Pitcher From Trade with Kansas City Royals

The A's have made another splash in free agency by signing former Texas Rangers closer, José Leclerc. The club's corresponding move to make space on the 40-man roster was designating right-hander Will Klein for assignment.

At the halfway point in the 2024 season, the A's elected to trade reliever Lucas Erceg to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Mason Barnett, Jared Dickey, and Klein. Erceg was a solid bullpen arm for the A's in his time with Oakland after being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2023 campaign. He dealt with some minor injuries in the first half, so was limited to 36 innings in 2024 with the A's before the trade.

The A's seemingly got a haul for the reliever, gaining three intriguing prospects, including the now sixth-ranked A's prospect, Mason Barnett. However, Erceg was dominant in the second half with his new ball club.

In 25 innings during the regular season with Kansas City, Erceg posted a 2.88 ERA with 31 strikeouts and was the team's closer. He recorded 11 saves with the Royals on top of the 3 saves that Erceg posted in Oakland.

In the Erceg trade package was 25-year-old Will Klein, who, upon joining the A's organization, he became the club's 16th-ranked prospect. Klein made five appearances with the Royals in the big leagues where he gave up 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched.

Although the big league numbers for Klein didn't look enticing with the A's (five runs allowed in 1 2/3 innings), there was certainly lots of potential for Klein to become a great pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Starting with his frame, he stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs 230 pounds. He also came equipped with a 70-grade fastball, sitting in the high 90s and would often hit triple digits. His frame and his ability to throw for high velocity certainly excited the A's, leading them to give up promising reliever Lucas Erceg for him.

After his brief showcase with the club, he was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas where he would remain for the duration of the 2024 campaign.

In Klein's rough start to the big leagues, he has shown his ability to miss bats. In his 7.1 innings with the A's and Royals, he recorded 7 strikeouts, which is good for an 8.6 strikeouts per nine.

His 15.8% walk rate is what got him in trouble at the big league level, but that had been right about where it was when the A's acquired him, so they shouldn't have been surprised that two weeks after he was dealt that it hadn't been completely fixed.

His slider and his curveball graded extremely well in terms of Stuff+, at a 141 and a 124 respectively, with 100 being an average pitch. The combination of poor location and a fastball that graded out at 76 on the Stuff+ scale weren't helpful, but he has a couple of big weapons that are ready to do some damage if he can get to them in the future. The key will be setting them up with that heater.

This is possibly not the end of the road for Klein's time with the A's organization. He can be outrighted and sent to Triple-A Las Vegas if he goes unclaimed on waivers. However, considering Klein is the A's 16th-ranked prospect and gives scouts many reasons to rave over him, there's a good chance another team will give the 25-year-old a chance to earn a spot out of Spring Training.