One Offseason Move Encapsulated the A's Struggle with Ownership

The A's needed to spend money last winter in order to avoid a grievance from the MLBPA, and even after signing Luis Severino for three years and $67 million, and bringing in Jeffrey Springs and his contract, the club still had some work to do in order to reach the reported $105 million threshold they were after.

That's why, in January of this year they ended up bringing in veteran relief pitcher José Leclerc on a one-year, $10 million deal. The 31-year-old ended up getting into 10 games for the A's, racking up nine innings of work, and holding a 6.00 ERA.

He started off as a key member of the bullpen, setting up closer Mason Miller, but quickly lost that role and was pitching mop-up duty for a club that was expecting to take a step forward.

It's not a big deal that the A's took a swing on a veteran that could help them now, but it's the incentives that the club was chasing, in this case revenue sharing, which really put a focus on this particular signing.

In order to add Leclerc to the roster, the A's ended up designating hard-throwing 25-year-old Will Klein for assignment before trading him to the Seattle Mariners. Not only was Klein DFA'd, but he was traded to a division rival that figures to be the A's main competition for years to come.

After a couple of months in the Seattle system, he was flipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he'd pitch well in limited regular season appearances, and was left off the postseason roster until the World Series.

Last night he ended up tossing four shutout innings with no margin for error in extra innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, ultimately earning the win. This isn't to say that the kid has arrived and is going to be a can't-miss relief pitcher for the next 15 years. Instead, he showed some gumption, and that it important for a relief pitcher. He stepped up, and delivered on the biggest stage.

The most curious part of the A's choosing to depart with Klein is that he had clear potential when the A's landed him in the Lucas Erceg deal with the Kansas City Royals, and his Stuff+ metrics were even reminiscent of Erceg's when he landed with the A's. The path was seemingly right there for the team to unlock another hard-throwing righty and turn him into a key bullpen piece.

He struggled in his initial stint with the Athletics, and his Location+ data (61, average is 100) was bad, but to give up on him so quickly was a surprise. That location data has been a blip on the map, as he held a 94 with the Royals, and a 96 this season with the Dodgers.

The A's have also had success with relief pitchers that are more stuff over command in recent years, with Elvis Alvarado being their latest success story.

Saving Grace?