Gelof My Cloud

 

I said going into this season that if Zack Gelof went about 2026 the same way he went about the last few seasons [hitting .210 and getting hurt], it'd be a one way ticket to Colorado. So he must have heard me, cause he used an injury to Max Muncy to become an everyday third baseman and is hitting incredibly well, with an .833 OPS, a .282 average, 11 homers and 29 RBIs. After so many years of being the 'and the rest' portion of the young A's core, Gelof finally has something to say. Now...preferably it'd be happening for a non-4th place A's team, but they can get there.

I knew they wouldn't be a 1st place team forever, and they were really just one rough stretch away from where they usually are, and sure enough that's the case. They had a tricky end of the month schedule, they didn't find an upper hand barring more Kurtz homers, and now they're 41-49, trying to get back above the Astros. 

The good news is that, as this was already the fullest vision of this A's team going into the season, it's gotten even fuller as we've gone on. Here's what the A's train has gained as we've embarked on another campaign: Henry Bolte, a working centerfield bat with great defense, Gelof becoming an everyday infielder, J.T. Ginn reaching ace status, Gage Jump finding his footing in the bigs [despite a rough go of things last night against the Marlins], Jonah Heim as a kickass backup catcher, and the rise of Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, from New Brunswick, who's looking to take over for Jeff McNeil going forward, and is hitting enough to potentially unseat McNeil soon. We already established the baseline pieces of this team [Kurtz, Wilson, Butler, Rooker, Soderstrom, Langeliers], but now we're filling things out and adding some pitching mainstays, which is very helpful.

Now...of course this is the exact moment that some of the baseline pieces start going down. Brent Rooker's out for the season, which has to smart. Tyler Soderstrom's out for a few more weeks, despite a really nice June. Wilson's once again hurt, meaning Muncy's gotta cover short. Denzel Clarke is still out, hence Bolte. It's not all insurmountable, there's enough guys like Carlos Cortes, Colby Thomas and Alika Williams who can cover those positions while not just being replacement-level. But seeing the rest of this season without Rooker is pretty tough. It's also not helping that Lawrence Butler still hasn't found his groove, he's hitting .202 with only 5 homers. Granted, his whole thing is catching fire after the all-star break, but is that sustainable??

The back half of the rotation still worries me, as does the 3.75 ERA the bullpen's been sporting. But this is a better A's team than we've seen, and there's still room to be potentially good this year, even if they're not able, with the pitching, to truly go deep yet. Getting Zack Gelof in place is a very big thing though, and won't go unnoticed.

Coming Tonight: Extremely weird that this guy's stayed in one place for 10 years, and is still pretty elite.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Athletics

 

It's extremely ironic that, in the first year of being stripped of their national identity and having to play in a minor league park in Sacramento without a credited city while they wait for their stadium in Las Vegas to be build, the Athletics finally formed a team identity for the first time since Fisher sold the farm in 2022. I can now tell you exactly who this team is, what they're trying to do and how far along they are. I couldn't tell you that during many of their last Oakland years. 

In 2025 alone, the Athletics reaped the benefits of two separate rookie stars, Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz, while getting 30+ homer years from veterans Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers and a 20-20-20 season from Lawrence Butler. Yes, they also dealt Mason Miller this year, but they got Leo de Vries in return for him, which is a very good thing. 

Does that mean every big piece is gonna hit the ground running immediately for the A's? No, not even remotely. Max Muncy was an April call-up that spent the majority of the season with the team, and did so without making much of an impact until far too late. Max Muncy, not to be confused with that other corner infield guy for the Dodgers. This reminds me of when the A's gave an Opening Day lineup spot to Kevin Smith, not to be confused with Kevan Smith the catcher, and Kevin Smith bowled an absolute gutterball in the majors. Muncy was...marginally better. At the very least he had 9 homers and 23 RBIs, but aside from a June run, he was mostly ineffective, and spent a lot of time in the minors.

2026 Prediction: Seeing as he will have competition at both 2nd and 3rd [see later in the post], he'll need to get into what prospectors have been talking about. I say he gets there, but I also think if the A's are gonna trade any of their infielders this offseason, it'd likely be him.

Denzel Clarke got a special award during Awards Week for the big 'web gem' of the year, which could have been any of his incredible catches in the outfield. The Toronto native may not have had the contact hitting part down during his rookie season, but his defense made him a crucial piece of the team's development. Even in games where the A's got embarrassed, I'd hear something insane Clarke did in center. He also stole 6 bases in 47 games, meaning if he gets a starting job next year, him and Butler could be a fun, speedy duo.

2026 Prediction: The A's wouldn't have released J.J. Bleday if they didn't think they had something in Clarke. I think if the A's build themselves up enough, they can use Clarke in the same way the Jays used Myles Straw this year, as a defensive substitution with the occasional contact perk. As for who'll get the majority of the offensive starts in center, uh...well, see a little below.

So...the wild idea Fisher had of getting Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs on contracts to start, uh...didn't really work. Springs flirted with greatness but was mostly fine. Sevvy struggled all year. Even J.P. Sears wound up getting dealt anyway. So a lot of local guys and scrubs had to start games for the A's, and one of the more prevalent ones was J.T. Ginn, who came up towards the end of last season. Ginn made 23 appearances, 16 of them starts, in 2025, and went 4-7 with a 5.08 ERA and, importantly, 99 Ks. The A's are gonna try to make sense of this rotation next year, with Jacob Lopez, Luis Morales and Gunnar Hoglund impressing in late months, and Ginn may be one of their most reliable rotation arms remaining.

2026 Prediction: A surprisingly great season that's a great audition for a better team to trade for him.

The Red Sox used Sean Newcomb as an Opening Day rotation guy this year, in case you've already forgotten. Because it's no longer 2018, that didn't especially work. So they cut him, and the A's picked Newcomb back up and used him, once again, in long relief. Somehow, this move led to Newcomb becoming one of the A's best relief pieces this year, posting a 1.75 ERA in 36 appearances, leading to a 1.7 WAR.

2026 Prediction: I actually think relief is the way to go. Somebody like the Reds or the Brewers is gonna pick him up and he's gonna be really useful. 

Two years ago, Zach Gelof was thought of as one of the foundational prospect pieces for the A's. He was brought up with Tyler Soderstrom, and was joined by Lawrence Butler some time later, and the idea was that they'd lead the team to greatness. Last year was...passable for Gelof, but he still led the league in strikeouts with 188. This year he missed almost the entirety of the year with injuries, and only made it up for 30 games, in which time he hit .174 with 46 more Ks. Either he's cooked or he's getting this out of his system.

2026 Prediction: Gelof will be higher in the depth chart than Muncy, and I think the A's will give him 2nd from the start, and some great games will follow. However, if he gets injured again I don't think the team will give him another chance.

The A's also had rookie Colby Thomas in the outfield mix, primarily in right field. Thomas seems like a decent piece, with some power perks, hitting .225 with 6 homers and 19 RBIs in 49 games. Thomas could be the missing piece to the outfield formula on offense, between Soderstrom and Butler.

2026 Prediction: Yeah, will get tons of starts at RF/CF with Bleday gone, will come into his own next year. Assuming the guys who broke out this year stay great, he could be a part of a great A's lineup next year.

Coming Tomorrow- Not sure if you heard, but the Blue Jays made a World Series this year. Here's a few people on that squad that I didn't get to during the year.

Anything is an Improvement

 

I talked about the Chicago White Sox being in this position the other day, but there's a few teams out there where the eventual last place finish is a likely outcome, at least according to a lot of different pundits. I'm still not certain who'll finish in last in the NL Central, or even the NL West, but you can definitely make a guess that the A's or Red Sox will have a last place year this year. 1, because how can they compare to the rest of the division, and 2, because they're not working with a lot right now.

Notably, the Red Sox do still have some large pieces that will at least keep them from losing 100 games. Rafael Devers, Brayan Bello, Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida are still integral pieces of this team, and they all had great showings in Spring Training. There's even some lower-key pieces that are looking impressive, like Garrett Whitlock, who looks healthy enough to start a ton of great games for the Sox this year. In 6 preseason starts he sported a 2.49 ERA, 22 Ks and a .877 WHIP. Those would be excellent April stats, and hopefully his power carries over to the regular season. 

The issue with the Sox's rotation is that they don't have a ton of big names anymore, not since Chris Sale got traded. So it is a largely anonymous group, with people like Bello, Whitlock, Kutter Crawford, Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck. And there are great pitchers here, with many likely to have an excellent season. But they're not names people have heard of, even with someone like Bello getting an extension. Comparatively, the Yankees have Stroman, Rodon and Cole in their rotation, the Jays have Gausman, Berrios and Bassitt, the Orioles have Corbin Burnes and Kyle Bradish, and even the Rays have Zach Eflin and Aaron Civale, who are at least lower-tier favorites. The Sox just don't have many trustworthy starters anymore, and after their legendary postseason rotation in 2018, that's just disappointing.

The Sox may still have a decent enough season, especially with Story prime for a comeback and so many young pieces hoping to factor in, but with the other four AL East teams all competing, and all excellent, even if they do well they're not expected to go for first place. So even if they exceed standards, they may still have to pawn people off in July and continue to rebuild. It's upsetting that it needs to happen, but that's how good the AL East has been.

Similarly, the AL West has three excellent teams, an alright team, and the Oakland Athletics, who are probably heading to Vegas next year, despite the hesitancy on many accounts to actually bring them there. Unlike the Red Sox, who still aim to be a decent team trapped by four better ones, the A's...are just hoping to finish the season, honestly. 

We seem to be at the beginning of the stage where they build a team of young phenoms. Now they have Zach Gelof and Lawrence Butler starting in the majors with the team, they confirmed that Joe Boyle will start games from the jump, Darrell Hernaiz made the team as a backup infielder that could start and Esteury Ruiz, Shea Langeliers and J.J. Bleday are still populating the roster. People will only continue to keep coming up, and they could build a passable core with these guys. The issue is that I doubt it'll be enough to catch the Rangers, Astros or Mariners as they continue to build around their ever-growing youth movements, but it's a start.

You also see the A's employing more veterans this year to provide structure. Alex Wood, Ross Stripling and J.D. Davis are all expected to play big roles in this team, and with the exception of possibly Davis they're all expected to be building blocks to get the team to the next stage. The Orioles had a season where they got low-rent veterans to help out before they could rely fully on the youth, and the A's may need a few more years of that but they're definitely bringing up the right people.

The expectation is still for the A's to come in last, and while the Angels could potentially have another disaster of a season, I don't see the A's outrunning them. It's awful that the organization has gotten to this point, and it's hard to see a team hung out to dry like this. I definitely think they'll be better than last year, and there'll be more specific heroes and promising developments for the future. But they definitely don't have as much as Boston, and will take longer to get back to a competitive form.

Someone needs to come in last in both these tight divisions. Time will tell if it does end up being these two.

The A's in Rebuild Limbo

 

Here's how you know the A's have achieved a new level of badness: I haven't heard many of their pieces being talked about in trades. Like, who can you pilfer at this point? Trevor May? Paul Blackburn? Rooker I guess but would that just be kicking a team when they're down?

The A's, as the worst team in baseball, are trying to rebuild, but are doing so at a gradual enough pace that it's not clear if this current wave of it is going to amount to anything. The rebuild going into this year involved a lot of prospects from other teams, like J.J. Bleday, Esteury Ruiz, Kyle Muller, Ken Waldichuk and Freddy Tarnok, and I honestly don't know if they're gonna be here long enough for the team to compete. It's why I call this 'rebuild limbo', like the period in between the actual rebuild, where they just sort of get by with what they have and hope it's enough. 

And the fact that even established guys like Jace Peterson and Aledmys Diaz can't help lift this especially much just proves how unsuccessful a lot of this mid-rebuild has been. Ruiz at the very least can steal bases, but that's all he can do. Bleday was supposed to be big for Miami, but I think they knew he wasn't all that great, because all he's done for the A's is hit .213 and occasionally hit for power. The ex-Yanks aren't great rotation guys, save for J.P. Sears, who's just proven how ready he was last year, and how ill-advised that Montas trade was. It just seems like a dumping ground for people that couldn't work in other markets, and ironically feels more like an expansion team than the A's probably will in a few years.

The decent enough news is that you can begin to see the next wave of rebuilding start to figure things out. Of the two guys the A's brought up recently, Zack Gelof is doing the best right now, with 2 home runs in his past two games [I wrote this Sunday morning], 6 RBIs and 12 hits in 13 games. He seems like a useful young piece, a decent infielder with a nice contact bat. Tyler Soderstrom is coming a bit slower, hitting only .200 in his first 11 games, but something may happen over time with this guy, considering how highly ranked he was as a prospect. And then you also have to remember that Mason Miller was playing really well before he got injured, Cody Thomas is beginning to figure things out, and you still have Darell Hernaiz and Lawrence Butler in triple-A.

You can see the next stage of this team waiting to take over, but it does involve a lot of this stage standing aside, which they may not realize needs to happen for another year or so. And by that point, who knows how many fans will still want to go to games.

Coming Tonight: A Rockies outfielder that may or may not have been traded by the time I have to write this post, so if he has, a Rockies reliever. 

The A's Go for Plan B

 

I will say there is something both ballsy and admirable about the Oakland Athletics, after winning 25 games in the first half, providing a 40-steal guy that can't hit, not getting production out of any of their starters, having two contracted stars that worked in bigger markets hit .209, and alienating the fanbase even more than they did before, going 'well...that didn't work, let's try something else.'

And that's the only way I can explain the A's starting the second half by immediately calling up the team's two biggest prospects, Tyler Soderstrom and Zach Gelof, who look to fit into this team either in the infield or, in Soderstrom's case, behind the plate. It's not like the A's haven't peppered organization favorites into this team: Esteury Ruiz, Shea Langeliers, J.J. Bleday, Nick Allen, Kevin Smith and Jordan Diaz all have played nice roles in this team. Of this bunch, only Smith and Allen were actual A's farm products, everything else came from trades. 

And the one thing that has doomed this team so far is that the prospects they've been handed in return for their major assets just haven't been working as promised. This team has an entire rotation full of ex-Yankee pitching prospects, and only J.P. Sears has had a halfway-decent go of things. Langeliers and Bleday were pitched as organizational cornerstones, and neither are hitting over .215. Meanwhile, both teams that gave them up are doing well with the guys they got in return for them, including the frigging Marlins, who the A's still regret handing Jesus Luzardo to all those years ago. 

So the A's, if anything, need their own farm system to produce something that at least makes things somewhat tolerable for the next stretch of time. And if the answers at corner infield spots aren't to the team's liking, or catching, then sure, bring in the new guys. I'm writing this before the game against Minnesota, I don't know how Soderstrom or Gelof did, I'm guessing they adequately demonstrated proper baseball technique.

With the team progressing further, I don't know what it means for the guys that have been there for a bit. Paul Blackburn's still on the A's, I bet you forgot about that. He was injured, missed a whole season including last year's trade deadline, which is...suspicious. But he's still here, and he's still doing pretty well, 4.86 and 41 Ks in 8 games, not terrible considering the usual quality of this rotation. But...look, he's a competent pitcher in Oakland, I don't know if he's gonna last much longer. Maybe they flip him for something that'll help them out when Soderstrom's got a team built around him. I just don't expect them to keep Blackburn, even if, realistically, they still may.

The A's are at the very least interesting. As a bad team, they still have a lot of good things going for them, and a lot of interesting details that make them anything but a boring team. These two rookies make them even more interesting, and you never know what wild things will happen as they fight to stave off 100 losses.

Coming Tonight: The Guardians didn't have a place for him, but the Rockies, of all people, seem to.