A's GM Hints at Interesting Deadline Approach

The Athletics aren't where they'd hoped to be at this point in the season, sitting at 38-56 on the year and 17.5 games back of the Houston Astros in the American League West. Outside of a 1-20 stretch in May and into June, the club has actually been exactly where they were hoping, holding a 37-36 record.

So when it comes to the Trade Deadline, the A's will likely be looking to make some trades that will bring in players that can help them be more consistent in 2026 and beyond. This club is still looking to make it back into the postseason hunt, so they'll likely be targeting upper level arms, not lower-level projects.

On Wednesday's episode of A's Cast, GM David Forst said something that was interesting, however. While the club has their core group of guys, he says they can't be afraid to be daring in any potential deals.

When asked if they would be buyers or sellers, he said, "You've got to be careful, but you also don't want to be afraid to do things, because you want to get better. Sometimes getting better means you do some things that are uncomfortable. I don't think we're gonna do anything crazy. We're not gonna dig into a lot of this position player core that we spent so long building."

This is pure speculation, but it sounds as though one of the pieces that many would consider a core piece for the A's could be on the move if the right deal comes along. The rationale here, in GM speak, is that they're not going to dig into the position player core, but there are two ways to wriggle out of that one.

The first being that "digging in" could mean a huge piece, like a Jacob Wilson or Nick Kurtz, or even that they'd trade multiple members of that core. That doesn't appear to be likely in the slightest.

The second way to get around how he phrased that is the word "core piece." While some fans may view a player as a core piece, perhaps the organization doesn't any longer, which would mean that his statement is still true.

So what does that mean? In our bold predictions piece before the season, we mentioned that the A's would acquire some pitching in exchange for either Zack Gelof or Tyler Soderstrom. The reasoning being that the A's would probably need more pitching, and both players were in jeopardy of being bumped from their positions.

Gelof has just returned from injury, so it's not likely to be him given that his trade value is fairly low, but the A's could land an impact pitcher for Soderstrom, who has hit much better when playing first base than when he's out in left field. In his 41 games at first, he's slugged 13 home runs while holding a 153 wRC+ (100 is league average). In left field, he's hit just two homers and holds an 80 wRC+.

With Kurtz entrenched at first base now, Soderstrom may be the odd-man out on the roster. Not only could the A's get an upgrade in the rotation for the rest of 2025 and into 2026 and beyond, but they could add an outfielder that's a little better defensively to give the team's defense an added boost. Soderstrom has been perfectly league average, which is fine, but the team as a whole is lacking in that department with few other areas to make a change.

This isn't to say that Soderstrom is a bad player by any stretch. In fact, the reason we're discussing him is because he's in fact quite good. He just may not fit the A's current roster the way things have worked out any longer, and that could make him a potential trade piece.