SACRAMENTO ATHLETICS
2025 finish: 76-86 (4th in AL West)
Manager: Mark Kotsay (255-393, 5th season)
Leading the front office: David Forst, general manager (11th season)
DOLLARS AND SENSE
Largest luxury tax hit: RHP Luis Severino ($22.3 million)
Top returning players: 1B Nick Kurtz (4.6 fWAR), C Shea Langeliers (3.9), SS Jacob Wilson (3.5)
Top returning starting pitchers: Severino (2.5), LHP Jeffrey Springs (1.7), LHP Jacob Lopez (1.2)
Top returning relievers: LHP Hogan Harris (0.6), RHP Justin Sterner (0.3), RHP Elvis Alvarado (0.1)
ROSTER WATCH
Key additions: 2B Jeff McNeil (trade), RHP Aaron Civale (free agent), RHP Mark Leiter Jr. (free agent), RHP Scott Barlow (free agent), INF Andy Ibanez (waivers), 1B Joey Meneses (minors), RHP Nick Anderson (minors),
Key losses: LHP Sean Newcomb (free agent), OF JJ Bleday (free agent), 3B Gio Urshela (free agent), INF Luis Urias (free agent), RHP Scott McGough (free agent), RHP Jose Leclerc (free agent), RHP Mitch Spence (trade), RHP Grant Holman (waivers)
Baseball America top-100 prospect(s): SS Leo De Vries (12), LHP Jamie Arnold (39), LHP Gage Jump (40)
Athletics Assistant General Manager Dan Feinstein, from left, shortstop Jacob Wilson, and General Manager David Forst, pose at a news conference Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Mark Anderson)
KEEP AN EYE ON
The A’s won’t move into their new park on the Las Vegas Strip until 2028, so they’ll have two more years to have their young hitters thrive at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. 1B Nick Kurtz hit 36 homers in 117 games (1.002 OPS) as the AL Rookie of the Year and SS Jacob Wilson (.800 OPS) finished second in AL ROY voting ahead of signing a seven-year, $70 million extension. C Shea Langeliers (.861 OPS) hit 31 homers, DH Brent Rooker (.814 OPS) hit 30 homers and LF Tyler Soderstrom (.820 OPS) hit 25.
Pitching in Sacramento, of course, won’t be easy. The A’s had a 4.99 ERA at home last year and don’t have a lot of upside arms in the near-term plans as RHP Luis Severino (4.54 ERA) and LHPs Jeffrey Springs (4.11 ERA) and Jacob Lopez (4.08 ERA) are back to anchor the rotation. The newcomer is RHP Aaron Civale, who signed a one-year, $6.5 million deal after posting a 4.85 ERA over 102 innings last year.
The A’s don’t have a closer after trading away RHP Mason Miller to the Padres last year, so newcomers Mark Leiter Jr. and Scott Barlow figure to be part of the late-inning mix. That will be worth it for Sacramento if SS Leo De Vries, the real prize in the Miller trade, continues his ascension. De Vries, 19, had a .910 OPS and five homers in 21 games in the Double-A Texas League after the trade.
Fangraphs projection: 78.7 wins