What Do the Athletics Have To Sell at the Trade Deadline?
It's not going to be an exciting trade deadline for the Athletics, but at least there are a handful of moves they can make.
Coming into the season, the Athletics were a trendy pick to potentially push for the playoffs. An eclectic young core that continued to improve, with a pitching staff that was subpar but had a few prospects who could raise their ceiling. While not yet a truly good team, they were trending in the right direction.
Well, here we are, less than two weeks out from the trade deadline, and they are clear sellers, sitting at 43-59. The pitching staff has seen J.T. Ginn take massive strides forward but has lacked the depth and bullpen to survive the step back that so many injuries have caused. Offensively, injuries to Brent Rooker, Nick Kurtz, Zack Gelof, Jacob Wilson, and others have stalled what once looked like an explosive lineup.
While the A’s path towards building a contender should not be derailed, they are in no position to buy. Moving off their obvious rental pieces will be step one. However, more creative moves could be in play. Reports surfaced this week that the A’s were interested in trading from their crop of young outfielders as a way to acquire pitching with control.
So, who do the A’s have to sell?
The Rental Pieces
A team in the A’s position probably wishes they had more rental pieces to sell. I guess when you have been a rebuilding team for the past few seasons, most of your spots are filled with young players with several years of team control. Not only do they lack a high number of rentals, but the ones they do have do not carry much value.
Jeff McNeil – INF
Contract: $12 million with a $15 million club option for ’27, $2 million buyout
2026 Stats: .238/.301/.321, 4 HR, 72 wRC+
We are not talking about the same level of player who won a batting title a few years back. McNeil has struggled since joining the A’s, and any acquiring team would be taking on the remaining portion of his $12 million for 2026 while also eating the $2 million buyout for 2027.
Any return would be a very low-end prospect or PTBNL. Considering how injured the A’s have been, they might consider keeping McNeil simply to have a warm body.
I could see a scenario where a team without much prospect capital is interested in adding a veteran who can fill in at multiple positions with a track record far better than his 2026 numbers. A bench bat that puts the ball in play and might actually be an upgrade to some team’s options. The A’s might have to pay down some of his contract, which feels unlikely.
Jeffrey Springs – SP
Contract – $7.75 million with a $15 million club option for ’27, $750,000 buyout
Stats: 102.2 IP, 5.96 ERA, 6.02 FIP, 7.54 K/9, 3.33 BB/9
Springs had a nice enough season in 2025 but has poorly timed the worst season of his career in 2026. His club option will not be picked up, but his buyout is small enough not to matter.
His ERA and FIP, however, are not small enough not to matter. Like for many players, pitching in Sacramento has not helped. His road ERA of 5.03 and 1.28 FIP is better, and considering how cheap he will be to acquire, there’s a non-zero chance of a move.
Similar to McNeil, teams that are short on high-end prospects but want to find an arm to eat some late-season innings could acquire Springs for next to nothing. A rookie ball prospect or Single-A bullpen arm should be enough. Let’s be real, he’s not a playoff rotation candidate.
Mark Leiter Jr. – RP
Contract: $2.85 million expiring deal
Stats: 33.2 IP, 4.28 ERA, 2.96 FIP, 10.16 K/9, 2.94 BB/9
Of the available rentals, Mark Leiter Jr. might be the best (as long as he’s healthy). That’s not a great position to be in as a seller.
The money is cheap, and every team is always interested in an arm to round out their bullpen and even fill some leverage innings. The issue to keep in mind is that Leiter will be on the IL with a right hip impingement through the deadline.
Still, Leiter has a solid track record and has always flown under the radar a bit. He won’t have acquiring teams’ fans jumping for joy, but I think they will be pleasantly surprised when they watch him pitch.
Jonah Heim – C
Contract: $1.25 million expiring contract
Stats: .238/.291/.438, 9 HR, 96 wRC+
After starting his career with the Athletics, Heim was shipped off to Texas, where he had a couple of nice seasons before seeing his production nose-dive. His defense is not as good as it once was, but it is still solid enough to fill a backup role.
I doubt many teams would be all that interested, and considering how thin the catching depth is in the A’s organization, they should welcome him back next season. More likely than not, he stays put.
The Outfielder the Reports Could Be Talking About
The A’s outfield feels thinner since Denzel Clarke hit the IL and Lawrence Butler fell off a cliff (figuratively, of course). But a crop of Tyler Soderstrom, Carlos Cortes, Lawrence Butler, Henry Bolte, Denzel Clarke, and Colby Thomas is still strong. Devin Taylor is also making some noise in Double-A. As the reports have suggested, a move makes sense.
- Soderstrom (Signed through ’30): .248/.346/.474, 16 HR, 124 wRC+
- Cortes (Pre-Arb): .275/.351/.436, 7 HR, 119 wRC+
- Butler (Signed through ’31): .198/.296/.294, 5 HR, 66 wRC+
- Bolte (Pre-Arb): .251/.329/.335, 3 HR, 11 SB, 88 wRC+
- Clarke (Pre-Arb): .170/.228/.189, 15 wRC+ (on 60-day IL)
- Thomas (Pre-Arb): .204/.241/.350, 4 HR, 58 wRC+
Let’s first discuss the players on extensions. Butler had a disappointing 2025 season and has followed it up with a miserable 2026. Although he’s playing better as of late, anyone taking on that deal feels unlikely. Soderstrom has been a great player and core piece, so moving him doesn’t make much sense even if he could net the best return.
Bolte is a phenomenal athlete who can play center, steal bases, has some pop, and he could develop into a nice player, even if swing-and-miss issues limit his ceiling. I do see Bolte as the type of player who could net a nice return, although trading him creates a hole in center. Clarke is a world-class defender but can’t hit a lick. His injury makes a move less likely.
This leaves us with Thomas and Cortes, so long as Bolte truly isn’t available. Thomas profiles as a short-side platoon bat that could develop into more given the opportunity. However, I think his trade value will be that of a short-side platoon bat, which would not net a great prospect.
Cortes is found value for the A’s. He’s a 29-year-old who spent his career in the minors and suddenly became a great hitter. I would not be surprised if this is the highest his value will ever be. Without much defensive value and entering his 30s, he makes the most sense to move.
He’s a player any contender could slot into the bottom third of their order. He makes contact with the best of them, has years of control, and won’t cost much on the books. A perfect complementary piece for a contender. Could the A’s get a younger starter who doesn’t have a future spot in another team’s rotation? I think so.
The Other Options
We have covered the few rental options and addressed the one “rumor” that holds value and makes sense. Well, how about the rest of the roster?
I think it is important to remember the A’s are not a team that often trades players with several years of control. Cortes is a unique exception because of his age and the surplus in the outfield, but historically, the A’s hold on.
Shea Langeliers – C
Contract: 2.5 years of control
Stats: .263/.333/.497, 23 HR, 126 wRC+
Langeliers is a proven power bat that will soon demand a big contract. With how many extensions the A’s have handed out, it is notable that Langeliers was not one of them. I think the A’s wish he were. Langeliers might want something different. With this much control and nothing at catcher in the pipeline, I feel like a deal falls in the 5% likelihood range. Not happening.
If the A’s were to lose their mind and trade Langeliers, he would certainly bring back the biggest return: multiple prospects or young major leaguers who could help a talent-depleted pitching staff. I would explore other avenues to improve before trading Langeliers.
Hogan Harris & Luis Medina – RP
Control: 2+ years
I’m going to clump these two relievers together because I feel the same way about how they will be discussed at the deadline. Both are relievers with poor command but strikeout stuff and enough control to make moving them difficult to swallow. If the A’s want to move one, okay, maybe, but not both.
The A’s need a lot more arms, and moving two that are productive, cheap, and have control does not make much sense at this point in time.
Final Thoughts
Well, I can’t say I’d be excited if I were an A’s fan. The team has had the opposite season than they would have wanted and might have even taken a legit step back in their rebuild. They are stuck, selling, but they do not have much to sell at all. If they need to shake up the roster and bring in an impact pitcher, they will have to trade away a player they see as part of fixing what has been a five-year problem.
Buying is also not an option. Even targeting a player with years of control in exchange for a prospect is not a sound plan. The farm system is not particularly strong or deep, although the A’s tend to outperform the system rankings.
So what should the A’s do? Trade away the few rentals they can, get through the rest of the season with a disappointing record, and add more aggressively in the offseason. And at least learn from their mistakes.
Become a Member of Just Baseball
Subscribe and upgrade to go ad-free!
* Save 25% by subscribing annually.
Written by