Athletics 2025-2026 Offseason Wishlist

The 2025 Athletics were a sneaky fun team. An offense filled with young talent, tons of power, and one of the best young hitters in the league makes watching this team much more enjoyable than years past.

Although they improved their win total for the third year in a row, the A’s are still a ways away from being a playoff team. Their offense is close, but massive strides need to be made to the rotation and bullpen before we can discuss even an 80+ win season.

The A’s enter the offseason having turned a page. If the A’s cycle of roster construction from the past tells us anything then we know this team will not be trading away talent for prospects. Instead, they have entered the phase where the free agents get a little better and proven talent becomes trade targets.

I won’t lie to you and say the top free agents will be in play. However, I do think some more money will be spent, relatively speaking. As much as it hurts me to say, the A’s move to Vegas is getting closer and closer and putting together a more competitive team as they start in a new city should be the goal.

We all know the spending will be limited. We also learned that Sacramento is not a place many pitchers want to call their home ballpark. The A’s will either need to trade for pitching or overpay arms to come West.

Today, I’ll work through what I feel are the five most important needs and moves of the A’s offseason. This thorough exercise is intended to be a realistic approach, considering previous actions of the front office combined with the current life cycle of the team.

Acquire a Starter with Upside

Last winter the A’s shocked many by adding both Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs to their rotation. Severino was not quite the pitcher they had hoped for and his vocal frustrations with Sacramento’s mound and park led to trade rumors.

Could he be traded? Sure, but I would not say it’s likely. Springs finished the year with 30 starts, a 4.11 ERA, and 4.65 FIP giving the A’s a veteran who could eat some innings, which is something they needed. Like Severino, he was much better on the road pitching to a 3.45 ERA compared to 4.81 in Sacramento.

How much of a factor will Sacramento play in the minds of free agents? I’m sure it will be significant. But, the A’s must try to add to the rotation either way. Perhaps trade is the most likely route. They simply cannot go into 2025 with another collection of no. 4’s and 5’s filling out a rotation.

Potential Free Agents: Jordan Montgomery, Tyler Mahle, Nestor Cortes

You might notice a theme. Veteran pitchers who have had great moments, have struggled and/or been injured, and need a rebound. The entire Jordan Montgomery situation the past two seasons has been bizarre. I’m not really sure what to expect from him, but I’d love for the A’s to roll the dice.

Mahle was excellent to start last season but injury cost him much of the second half. A California kid, Mahle could be the type of upside play that you give a multi-year deal to. He’s only 30 years old and has hardly breached 100 innings over the past three seasons combined.

Cortes, like Montgomery, is another lefty that had success before injury limited him to only 34.1 innings in 2025. A funky southpaw, Cortes has fantastic command but does allow more flyballs than you would like in Sacramento.

Potential Trade Options: Bobby Miller, Braxton Garrett

How about a funky, yet risky, move? Bobby Miller is a former top prospect who has had his own issue with the Dodgers and has fallen out of favor. Young, years of control, and enough talent to work with allowing you to have some upside to dream on.

Garrett has battled injuries but when healthy has been the type of lefty the A’s could use. Great command with a reliance on movement and produces a lot of groundballs. Would be a great fit for the ballpark and considering the Marlins have a number of young lefties set to debut, he could be on the move.

Add an Infielder

The A’s have solidified shortstop with Jacob Wilson and first base with Nick Kurtz. Third and second remain questions marks. Zack Gelof has not been able to replicate what he showed in a small sample from 2023 and his plate discipline is too bad to stomach. Below-average power and contact is a bad combination.

Darell Hernaiz, Max Muncy, and Brett Harris all offer something I like, but come with their own concerns that outweigh the pros. If the A’s insist on filling either second or third with some combination of these three, fine. But addressing both positions with this group cannot happen.

Potential Free Agents: Yoan Moncada, Luis Rengifo, Sung Mun Song

Yoan Moncada put together a very solid season slashing .234/.336/.448 with 12 home runs and a 117 wRC+ across 84 games with the Angels. The problem is he once again failed to reach 100 games now for the third straight season. Injuries are a problem but a short deal for modest money is possible.

Rengifo, Moncada’s teammate on the 2025 Angels, might get enough attention elsewhere to not be a possibility but after a terrible season a one-year prove it deal is possible. A switch-hitter that can literally play all over the field and makes a ton of contact. Could become a could buy-low, sell-high piece if the A’s move players at the deadline.

Then we have the unknown. Sung Mun Song will be coming over from the KBO and is more of a second-tier international signing. He’s played a lot of third along with some second and first. He broke out over the past two years hitting for much more power while also hitting over .315 in each of the past two seasons.

More likely than not he’s going to end up with a deal that is probably too rich for the A’s. However, we aren’t talking 7 years and over $100 million. If he lands in more of the three-year range $25-$30 million, the A’s could make a push.

Potential Trade Target: Josh Jung

Jung comes with three years of control and will enter 2026 at age 28. After a great rookie season in 2023, injuries slowed his momentum in 2024 and 2025 was a disappointing season that even saw him spend some time in the minors.

I am not sure if the Rangers would be willing to trade Jung, but if they are he’s the type of buy-low candidate the A’s should be willing to target. He comes with his flaws but is a solid defender that makes enough hard contact for you to dream on more power coming.

The move would not be for scraps, but the A’s have to start somewhere. Jung could at least be a better option than what they have internally.

Trade for Relief Pitching

I typically do not put much emphasis on building a bullpen for teams that are not projected to make the playoffs. Bullpen arms cost money that a team like the A’s should not be investing unless they are on the verge of a playoff berth.

However, I am in favor of trading for bullpen arms with control. For the A’s, they are in a pretty good position to do so. JJ Bleday has been moved down the depth chart and Colby Thomas, a righty bat, is more fit for a platoon role and bench bat.

Because Bleday still has an option and has shown an ability to play all three corner spots (and even had a nice 2024 season at the plate), I think the A’s could get a solid relief pitcher back in a trade. He’s exactly the type of player that teams always take a chance on and often are willing to move a younger reliever for.

I don’t have a list of specific names because that list would be very long. The Athletics need an arm that has strikeout ability and could be an option in leverage situations at some point next year, and going forward.

Improve the Catching Situation Behind Langeliers

I have written multiple times about how Shea Langeliers is vasty underrated. In no way do I think the A’s should bring in a catcher that takes time away from Langeliers, but they cannot continue to roll out whoever they find on the waiver wire as a backup.

Assuming normal workload, Langeliers will catch about 130 games. Why should I care about the 32ish games from a backup catcher? Because the idea of Langeliers going down because of injury leaves the A’s with essentially nothing behind the plate.

If you don’t remember, the A’s had a revolving door of 30+ year-old career Triple-A catchers cycling through their bench in 2025. Raising the floor is not hard, but it is important.

Daniel Susac, the A’s first-round selection from 2022, showed well across Double- and Triple-A last season but should continue to play everyday in the minors instead of serving in a backup role. For the sake of his development, I’m okay with him being part of the plan if Langeliers goes down but a better veteran option should be added.

Potential Free Agents: James McCann, Gary Sanchez, Tom Murphy

I know, I know this list as about as boring as it gets. Which is fine, there’s no need for it to be exciting. High-end back ups will prefer to sign in a situation that allows them more of a time share than the A’s will. Murphy has missed a lot of time with injury but was an above-average hitter in the past. Maybe he has something left in the tank.

James McCann and Gary Sanchez are pretty opposite players. Want a catcher with more offense but no defense? Sanchez is the guy. McCann handles a staff well which should bring value to a group with so many young pitchers.

Final Thoughts

As much as I would love to include higher profile names I cannot possibly talk myself into that outcome being a reality. Last winter’s surprise additions did not pan out all that well for the A’s and they satisfied the spending threshold they were held to.

I do think one decent sized contract for a pitcher is a possibility and a top priority. They have been able to find bullpen pieces in the margins and even have a few talented players they could trade away to sure up the ‘pen.

We are not expecting the A’s to build a playoff contender for 2026. What I do expect is for them to add enough to approach 80 wins and set themselves up for me to write this article next winter with a different tone. The builds are slow for the A’s, but they have been pretty successful. Hang tight, A’s fans, brighter days are coming. At least brighter lights.