{"id":251579,"date":"2025-10-31T04:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T04:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/251579\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T04:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T04:43:08","slug":"as-to-pursue-a-proven-ninth-inning-arm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/251579\/","title":{"rendered":"A’s To Pursue A Proven Ninth-Inning Arm"},"content":{"rendered":"

The A\u2019s go into the offseason prioritizing starting pitching and help at one or both of second and third base<\/a>. They might also be in the market for a late-game reliever. Mart\u00edn Gallegos of MLB.com<\/a> writes that the A\u2019s are likely to target a pitcher who has closing experience.<\/p>\n

Manager Mark Kotsay used a committee approach in the ninth inning after the A\u2019s traded\u00a0Mason Miller<\/a> at the deadline. Hogan Harris<\/a>,\u00a0Sean Newcomb<\/a>,\u00a0Michael Kelly<\/a> and\u00a0Tyler Ferguson<\/a> each picked up at least one save. Osvaldo Bido<\/a> got one as well, but that was of the \u2019three innings to finish a blowout\u2019 variety.<\/p>\n

The patchwork relief group pitched well. Only the Guardians had a lower bullpen ERA than the A\u2019s 2.99 mark over the final two months. They surrendered only three leads, tied with Miller\u2019s new team in San Diego for the fewest in MLB. It\u2019s nevertheless understandable that the front office would prefer a more proven arm at the back end.<\/p>\n

The quartet of Harris, Kelly, Newcomb and Ferguson had a combined four career saves before August. Newcomb, who had two of them, is headed to free agency. The A\u2019s don\u2019t have many relievers with significant big league experience of any kind. They won\u2019t have a single reliever with even two years of MLB service time once Newcomb, Jos\u00e9 Leclerc<\/a> and\u00a0Scott McGough<\/a> hit free agency.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s tried to add a proven back-end arm last offseason, signing Leclerc to a one-year deal with a $10MM salary. He was supposed to be the team\u2019s top setup man in front of Miller. Leclerc made 10 appearances before suffering a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. He\u2019s highly unlikely to be back. It stands to reason they\u2019ll try to retain Newcomb, who pitched to a 1.75 ERA in 51 1\/3 innings after being acquired from the Red Sox. He\u2019s got a shot at a two-year contract after that strong showing but won\u2019t command much on an annual basis. The A\u2019s aren\u2019t going to sign Newcomb as a closer, though, so there should be room for a bigger move in the ninth.<\/p>\n

There are no shortage of free agent relievers who have closing experience. The A\u2019s aren\u2019t signing\u00a0Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a>, of course. It\u2019s highly unlikely they\u2019ll win the bidding for\u00a0Robert Suarez<\/a> either. Any of Kyle Finnegan<\/a>,\u00a0Raisel Iglesias<\/a>,\u00a0Emilio Pag\u00e1n<\/a>,\u00a0Kenley Jansen<\/a> or\u00a0Ryan Helsley<\/a> should be within the price range. There\u2019s a chance Devin Williams<\/a> settles for a pillow contract. Each of Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez<\/a>, Gregory Soto<\/a>,\u00a0Kirby Yates<\/a>,\u00a0Taylor Rogers<\/a>,\u00a0Paul Sewald<\/a> and\u00a0Michael Kopech<\/a> have past closing experience as well. No one from the latter group seems likely to sign as a closer this offseason, however.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s could have issues selling some of those pitchers on signing with a fringe contender that plays its home games in a hitter-friendly minor league stadium. They\u2019d have no such need if they trade for a closer, so players like Pete Fairbanks<\/a>,\u00a0JoJo Romero<\/a> and\u00a0Dennis Santana<\/a> could be targets on that front.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The A\u2019s go into the offseason prioritizing starting pitching and help at one or both of second and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-251579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}