Four Takeaways From the Athletics’ 2025 Season

While Wilson did eventually slow down towards the back half of the season, the Athletics finally have some building blocks. With both guys being under 25, this franchise is in safe hands for the next era of Athletics baseball.

Bright, Young Offense

Wilson and Kurtz are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this overpowering offense.

Shea Langeliers put together one of the better catcher seasons of 2025, which was completely overshadowed by the monster numbers of Cal Raleigh. Langeliers launched 31 home runs with a 132 wRC+.

It looked like a true breakout for the 27-year-old, and the A’s now have one of the best hitting catchers in the game. However, he wasn’t the only breakout star of 2025 for this ballclub.

Tyler Soderstrom had an impressive campaign after a few underwhelming years to start his career. He opened the season rivaling only Aaron Judge in terms of home run output. Naturally, Judge ran away with that and eventually got passed by Raleigh, but Soderstrom’s numbers didn’t slow down.

He ended the season with a .276/.346/.474 slash line, 25 long balls, and a 125 wRC+. Mix in a decent sophomore season from Lawrence Butler and another year of amazing offensive production from Brent Rooker, and you get one of the better offenses in baseball.

The group that ended the season with five players with 20 or more home runs finished the year 10th in baseball in terms of wRC+ and fifth when it came to slugging percentage. With Rooker locked down long-term and the other performers being young and controllable, this offense is poised to make a run at some point throughout the next few years.

A Perfectly Putrid Staff

While the offense was the bright spot of this team’s 2025, pitching was an entirely different story. Luis Severino was their major signing of the offseason, and while he did post 2.5 fWAR, he was a nightmare at home.

In 15 games in Sacramento, he posted a 6.01 ERA. Whether it’s a Triple-A ballpark or not, numbers like those are unacceptable for your big fish of the winter. Outside of Severino, there wasn’t anything to get too excited about.

Not a single guy who started at least 10 games for the A’s posted an ERA under four. While the home environment definitely didn’t help, as we saw with Severino, there’s no world where a team can envision winning with a rotation like that.

The bullpen was slightly better, but still nothing to brag about. Sean Newcomb put together a very nice season, with a 1.75 ERA in just over 50 innings. Hogan Harris, Elvis Alvarado, Michael Kelly, and Justin Sterner also made some nice contributions in that group.

Either way, this is the part of the Athletics that clearly needs the most help. In a division loaded with teams like the Mariners, Astros, and even the Rangers, a staff like this is simply not going to cut it.

Improving the Farm System

Of course, Mason Miller was one of the best relievers in baseball for the A’s. That was until the trade deadline, when he was shipped to the Padres.

In return, the organization got one of the best prospects ever dealt, Leo De Vries (Just Baseball #7), along with three solid arms. As a matter of fact, the system now has three top-100 prospects in De Vries, Gage Jump, and Luis Morales.

The deadline allowed a system that is constantly reloading via the draft to get stronger, even after the graduations of Wilson and Kurtz. If some of their prospects can develop into legit big league talent, the A’s will undoubtedly have one of the best young cores in baseball.

Wrapping It Up

All things considered, the 2025 season was a step in the right direction for the Athletics. While it wasn’t always pretty and the move to Sacramento brought challenges, this season helped uncover a young offensive core that can genuinely anchor this team’s next competitive window.

Between the breakouts of Wilson, Kurtz, Langeliers, and Soderstrom, there’s some real optimism surrounding this ball club. If the A’s can pair their offensive firepower and improving system with just a near-league-average pitching staff, they could go from rebuilding to contending eerily fast.