A's Question Marks and Internal Options

In looking at those two specific relief pitchers, the easy comps for those spots in 2025 would have been Justin Sterner, a slider-heavy righty, taking the place of Adams, and Elvis Alvarado was the same archetype as Otañez. As a pitcher with great stuff that walked too many guys in the minors and had yet to make his big-league debut.

Sterner began the season by not allowing an earned run in his first 18 2/3 innings, and then ended up having a couple of bad outings in May, which inflated his ERA to 3.08 despite the incredible start. He ended up getting optioned to Triple-A at the beginning of June, only to return at the beginning of July.

He struggled to a 4.50 ERA across 12 innings that month, but followed it up with a 1.98 ERA and a 0.75 in August and September, giving him a 3.18 on the season. He was able to get back on track, which is a great sign heading into the offseason.

As for Alvarado, his numbers were fairly similar to Otañez, with the 2025 A's righty racking up a 27.3% strikeout rate with a 12% walk rate, while Otañez struck out an incredible 36.4% and walked 13.2% in 2024. Perhaps the key here is that Alvarado's strikeout number seems more repeatable.

Among pitchers with at least 30 innings in 2024, Otañez ranked 8th overall in strikeout rate, mixed in with guys like Mason Miller, Edwin Díaz and Josh Hader. Alvarado ranked 84th by the same metric this past season.

Depth Options

The A's haven't been involved in too many rumors this winter, so it's difficult to see exactly where they're headed with making improvements to the roster, but at the same time, they have a number of starting pitcher options that could be destined for the bullpen in 2026.

The most obvious candidate is going to be Luis Medina, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, and is out of options. That means he'll both need to be on an innings limit and on the 26-man roster. The best way to accommodate both of those needs would be to have him in the bullpen to begin the season. He could start in low leverage situations, and potentially work into a late-inning option.

The other big option would be Jack Perkins, whom the A's would love to keep in the rotation, but a lack of space in the starting five at the moment mixed with some injury history could lead to the same path that Mason Miller took just a couple of years ago.

If the A's don't make any additions to the rotation, the righty is likely the fifth starter the way things sit right now. However, if the team makes upgrades to that starting staff, Perkins has late-inning arm written all over him if that's the route they go.

Those two arms could be integral for the A's in 2026, depending on what other moves the team ends up making this winter.