A's Pitchers Land on List of Top-40 Trade Candidates

The Athletics season has ultimately not gone the way the team had hoped. The clubhouse entered the season aiming for a roughly .500 season, and after Friday night's July 4 blowout of the San Francisco Giants, the A's now sit at 37-53. They could go on a bit of a run in the second half, but reaching their goal would appear to be a long shot.

The A's hold the third-worst record in baseball, and with the MLB Trade Deadline looming at the end of the month, it's likely that there will ultimately be some players swapping out their jersey by month's end.

In a recent post from MLB Trade Rumors, they ranked the top 40 trade candidates this deadline season, and the A's top trade piece was not Luis Severino, who seems like a likely candidate after last weekend, but instead the other big addition to the roster over the offseason, Jeffrey Springs.

They have Springs ranked No. 7 on the list, which, if he were to be moved, could net the A's a pretty decent return. Springs is under contract for the 2026 season at $10.5 million, and has a $15 million option or a $750K buyout for the 2027 campaign.

He has a 4.07 ERA this season across 97 1/3 innings of work, and that's after a horrid month of April where he exited with a 6.04 cumulative ERA. Since, he has racked up a 3.26 in his last 12 starts. Among qualified pitchers, that ranks No. 35 over that span. So he's not an ace, but he's a solid two or three starter for a postseason team.

The issue here is that he's been pitching well for the A's--a team that could use more pitching--and his contract for next season isn't unreasonable by any means. The A's would presumably have to receive a pretty decent offer--perhaps even an overpay--in order to move him. They need arms that badly.

It also doesn't help that the key piece of the deal they gave up to acquire Springs, Joe Boyle, has been terrific in the Tampa Bay Rays system this season, and has cut down on his walk rate dramatically. He was also named the International League Pitcher of the Month for June after putting up a 1.80 ERA in six outings.

That said, this could be an opportunity for the A's to collect more pitching talent to build their roster with, in addition to a recently resurgent Jacob Lopez, who was also part of the trade with Tampa Bay.

But since this is the A's we're talking about, nothing can be as simple as it would appear. Severino, ranked as the No. 21 trade piece thanks to he overpay the club made to secure his services in December (and his poor performance this season) would be the likelier option to find a new home this month. His contract could make that more difficult, given that he's owed $25 million next year and has a player option for 2027.

The A's likely can't trade both players, either, given that they still need to meet a certain payroll threshold in order to avoid a potential grievance being filed by the MLBPA. So they may have to choose between the right-hander that is causing some off-the-field headaches, or the left-hander that could potentially bring back some pieces for the future.