Opinion: The A's May Not See José Leclerc Back for Awhile

Back in 2014, the Athletics traded Jemile Weeks and David Freitas to the Baltimore Orioles for closer Jim Johnson, who ended up with the loss on Opening Day. He was also being paid $10 million that season, which was a big contract by A's standards at the time.

Johnson went on to post a 7.14 ERA with the A's that season and was released in August.

Like Johnson, José Leclerc was added to the A's bullpen this offseason and is making $10 million. He also earned the loss on Opening Day and holds a 6.00 ERA on the year. The big difference is that the A's didn't trade for him, and he's not the closer, but he was still expected to be a veteran set-up man for this young roster.

Earlier this week, Leclerc struck out Adolis García on three pitches, then was removed from the game with a right lat strain. After getting tested the following day, Leclerc now has no timetable for a return according to A's manager Mark Kotsay. That's the first sign that something could be up.

Kotsay also mentioned that the A's are going to get a second opinion on Leclerc's injury next week when the team heads to Texas to face the Rangers. The right-hander has "had some history with one of the doctors there." The skipper said that he is shut down for the time being.

In manager speak, not having a timetable for someone yet doesn't necessarily mean that they're never coming back, but instead that as of right now they're waiting on some sort of information before they can produce a timeline for a player's recovery. In this case, they're waiting for a second opinion.

Second opinions on the other hand are typically not a good omen, because they mean that the first opinion wasn't good news.

In this specific case, the fact that they're just going to wait for a full week until having him looked at by the doctor he trusts doesn't bode well. If there was a quick recovery period diagnosed, then he would have seen the doctor already, which means that his absence could be a lengthy one, and that the extra week doesn't really matter.

Of course, this is all just speculation based on context clues and there is no reason, currently, to think that Leclerc will be out for the season or even for months of the season based on what has been said. But from the little bits of information that have been shared, it seems as though there could be more data coming that puts that timetable for a return weeks or even months away.