Athletics Have Made Extension Offer To Nick Kurtz
2:30pm: Kurtz tells Tyler Kepner of The Athletic that he is “Definitely open and interested” in a long-term deal but added that “It’s just about timing.”
1:10pm: The Athletics have made an extension offer to first baseman Nick Kurtz, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. No specifics of the offer have been reported and it’s unclear how likely it is for the two sides to reach an agreement.
The A’s have been busy on the extension front in recent years. It appears there is a dual motivation at play, connected to their ongoing move from Oakland to Las Vegas, with a stop in West Sacramento in between. Reportedly, they wanted to increase their spending in order to avoid a grievance from the MLBPA, so as to not risk losing their revenue-sharing status during the move. Also, it seems the club wants to have an exciting and consistent young core in place to help them build a fanbase when they get to Vegas, currently planned for Opening Day 2028.
About this time last year, they got two extensions done. They signed outfielder/designated hitter Brent Rooker to a five-year, $60MM pact, then inked Lawrence Butler to a seven-year, $65.5MM deal. They have continued down that road this offseason. It was reported on Christmas Day that they had agreed to a seven-year, $86MM deal with outfielder Tyler Soderstrom. That was followed by a seven-year, $70MM deal for shortstop Jacob Wilson about a month ago.
Kurtz is another sensible target. He just made his debut last year at the age of 22. His 30.9% strikeout rate was on the high side but he drew walks at a strong 12.9% clip and hit 36 home runs in only 489 plate appearances. He was the unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year, even though he wasn’t called up until late April.
Even though he missed part of the season, Kurtz was retroactively awarded a full year of service time for that award win, as part of the prospect promotion incentive rules. That means the A’s currently control him for another five seasons instead of six. He is going into his age-23 season and is slated for free agency after his age-27 season.
If the A’s want to sign him for longer than that, it makes sense to do it sooner rather than later. Players generally get more earning power as they approach free agency. The record guarantee for a player with one year of service time or less is Julio Rodríguez, who got $210MM from the Mariners. For guys with two years of service, Fernando Tatis Jr. got $340MM and Bobby Witt Jr. got $288.8MM. For guys who have pushed into their arbitration seasons, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has the record at $500MM.
That doesn’t mean that getting something done now would be easy, as MLBTR’s Anthony Franco examined in detail earlier this month in a post for Front Office subscribers. For one thing, Kurtz is represented by Excel Sports Management, an agency with even less of a track record of early-career extensions than the Boras Corporation.
Kurtz also shouldn’t be desperate for cash in the short term. He got a $7MM signing bonus after being drafted fourth overall in 2024. He also would have added around $2MM in 2025. The league minimum salary was $760K last year and Kurtz earned just under $1.3MM via the pre-arbitration bonus pool.
Considering those factors, as well as Kurtz’s prospect pedigree and rookie season, Franco concluded that it would probably take $150MM or more to lock up Kurtz now. He’s in a similar position to Rodríguez when he signed his $210MM deal with Seattle, though Rodríguez had more earning power as a strong defensive center fielder, whereas Kurtz is farther down the defensive spectrum as a first baseman. The $150MM range would get Kurtz beyond Roman Anthony, who only had a couple of months of big league experience and was one year further from free agency than Kurtz when he signed his $130MM deal.
Getting to that range would require the A’s to effectively double their franchise record, which is currently held by the $86MM deal for Soderstrom. The long-term books aren’t totally clean, as the four aforementioned extensions are there. However, none of those deals has an average annual value of even $13MM. The salaries do increase over time but none of the guaranteed seasons even reach $20MM.
If the A’s wait, they run the risk of Kurtz continuing to perform, which would gradually nudge his earning power closer to that of Guerrero. Even if they can’t get a deal done, they can control Kurtz through 2030. If they open in Vegas in 2028 as planned, they could still potentially have Kurtz for their first three campaigns in their new home.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
A’s Notes: Butler, Clarke, Bullpen
A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler is working back from the patellar tendon procedure that he underwent in early October. He has entered camp a little behind schedule as a result, though it seems he’s on track to be ready for the start of the season.
Martín Gallegos of MLB.com writes that the lefty batter has been cleared to take batting practice and do simple defensive drills. He has yet to get the sign-off to play defense at full effort or run the bases, which is holding him out of game action for the moment. Manager Mark Kotsay told Gallegos that the A’s are hoping Butler will be able to make his Cactus League debut midway through the spring. That’d give him a couple weeks to get up to speed before Opening Day.
Butler is coming off a .234/.306/.404 showing across 630 plate appearances. He had a 20-20 campaign and hit 30 doubles, but his rate metrics were around league average. Although it wasn’t a bad season, it was a step back from the huge 2024 second half that established him as a core piece. Playing through the injury probably had something to do with that. Butler took a .251/.326/.433 line into the All-Star Break but hit .203/.268/.351 in the second half.
The A’s could ease him into the lineup early in the season to avoid placing too much stress on the knee. He’ll be an everyday player once he’s fully healthy. Butler should see the majority of his work in right field. He can kick into center if Denzel Clarke struggles enough at the plate that the A’s prefer to swap out his superlative glove to plug a better hitter into the corner outfield mix.
Clarke missed the final two and a half months of his rookie season with an adductor strain in his right hip. He was a human highlight reel in center field over his first 47 big league contests. Statcast credited Clarke with an astounding 13 Outs Above Average in less than 400 innings. He was fifth in MLB among center fielders while logging around 30-40% of the playing time of the players above him in that category.
The bat is a much bigger question. Clarke has posted worrisome strikeout tallies throughout his minor league career. He punched out 61 times while drawing all of six walks in his first 159 MLB plate appearances. He can hit the ball hard when he makes contact, though a lot of that comes at such low angles that it limits his power ceiling.
Clarke appears to be without any restrictions as camp gets underway. He started his first exhibition game as a designated hitter but has played center field without issue during his two most recent appearances. Clarke also signed on to represent his native Canada in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. That’ll give him the opportunity to play alongside his cousins Bo Naylor and Josh Naylor, each of whom is also on the Canadian national team.
Most of the A’s lineup is settled. Assuming Butler is ready for Opening Day and Clarke wins the center field job, the only lineup spot up for grabs is third base. There’s much more variability on the pitching side. The A’s have multiple young pitchers competing for two spots at the back of the rotation. The bullpen is also fairly open, especially in the late innings.
Kotsay said at the beginning of Spring Training that he does not intend to designate a closer by Opening Day (separate MLB.com link via Gallegos). The A’s found success with a committee approach after trading Mason Miller at the deadline. They explored the market for an established closer this offseason but were seemingly priced out of a quick-moving, generally robust free agent relief class.
The A’s added a pair of veteran arms, Mark Leiter Jr. and Scott Barlow, on cheaper one-year contracts. Barlow has a decent amount of closing experience but has been in lower-leverage roles for the last two seasons. Both righties are reclamation types rather than lockdown arms at the back end. Of the A’s returning arms, Hogan Harris led the way with four saves last season. He’s likely to be in high-leverage roles alongside Justin Sterner, with Tyler Ferguson and Elvis Alvarado potentially in the mix as well.
Poll: Which Team Had The Best Offseason?
The offseason has more or less come to a close at this point. While a handful of players remain available in free agency and there’s always a chance of a surprise trade or two throughout Spring Training, the vast majority of the heavy lifting has been done. As Spring Training begins, it’s worth checking in on what teams around the league did this winter to see which club had the strongest offseason. A look at a few of the candidates:
Baltimore Orioles
After a disastrous 2025 season that saw the club fall to the basement of the American League, the Orioles have been very busy in their efforts to turn things around. A rotation that struggled to stay above water last year saw the return of Zach Eflin as well as the additions of both Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt. Those additions may not have included the front-of-the-rotation ace the Orioles were widely expected to pursue, but the club was aggressive elsewhere on the roster. Ryan Helsley was brought in to close while Felix Bautista is injured, and the club swung a deal for Taylor Ward to help round out their outfield. By far the biggest addition of the winter, however, was slugger Pete Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155MM contract. Alonso adds a legitimate 40-homer threat to the middle of a lineup that struggled to generate much offense outside of Gunnar Henderson last year and was heavily slanted toward lefty hitters.
Chicago Cubs
It’s rare that a team would be in this conversation after losing the offseason’s top-ranked free agent, but there’s a lot to like about the 2026 Cubs even after bidding farewell to Kyle Tucker. Alex Bregman, signed to a five-year, $175MM deal, can’t be expected to be the same offensive force as peak-level Tucker, but he makes up for that by helping to complete what’s arguably become the best defensive infield in baseball alongside Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, and Michael Busch. The move pushes Matt Shaw into a utility role, where he can serve as protection against injury for the club while also potentially sharing time with fellow youngster Moises Ballesteros at DH. The addition of Bregman was complemented by the decision to swing a trade for high-upside righty Edward Cabrera in the rotation. That likely pushes swingman Colin Rea back into a bullpen that’s been rebuilt with Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, and Hoby Milner after losing Brad Keller, Andrew Kittredge, and Drew Pomeranz back in November.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers’ offseason hasn’t been an exceptionally busy one, but the few moves they wound up making could prove to be the most impactful of any team this winter. They kicked off their offseason by poaching star closer Edwin Diaz away from the Mets, but their biggest splash was the addition of Tucker to their outfield. Diaz and Tucker are both All-Stars with among the highest ceilings in the game at their respective positions. Adding both to an already star-studded roster, the Dodgers managed to address the 2025 team’s biggest weaknesses: a lackluster outfield and a leaky bullpen. They also extended Max Muncy on an affordable one-year deal and reunited with Kiké Hernandez and Evan Phillips. After back-to-back World Series championships, the Dodgers look even better headed into 2026 despite their relatively low volume of transactions.
New York Mets
While the Dodgers mostly kept their 2025 team intact for 2026 with just a few additions, the Mets went in the opposite direction with a complete roster overhaul. Out went Alonso, Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil. Replacing them is a host of talent ranging from new staff ace Freddy Peralta to relievers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver on the pitching side, and a cluster of position players headlined by star infielder Bo Bichette. In addition to Bichette, who’ll move to third base alongside shortstop Francisco Lindor, the team brought in Marcus Semien to handle the keystone, Jorge Polanco to cover first base, and Luis Robert Jr. to work in center field. It’s a busy offseason that completely changed the look of the team that failed to make the playoffs last year, though it remains to be seen if this team will better support Lindor and Juan Soto in their pursuit of a World Series championship.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays finished just shy of a World Series championship last year, and this winter they acted like a team that wanted to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to close the gap. A new-look rotation added Dylan Cease at the front and Cody Ponce at the back. A lineup that lost Bichette in free agency looked to make up for it by bringing in Kazuma Okamoto and Jesus Sanchez. Meanwhile, the team’s shaky bullpen upgraded from hard-throwing righty Seranthony Dominguez by bringing in ever-reliable soft-tosser Tyler Rogers. Missing out on both Bichette and Tucker takes some of the punch out of Toronto’s offseason, but adding Cease to a rotation that already includes Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage should make the Jays significantly more threatening than they already were last year.
Other Options
Plenty of teams had offseasons worthy of praise aside from the five listed above. The Tigers managed to snag arguably the top pitcher available in lefty Framber Valdez on a short-term deal while also reuniting with future Hall of Famer and Detroit legend Justin Verlander, though failing to upgrade the lineup is surely disappointing for fans hoping to see the team make the most of Tarik Skubal‘s likely last year in town.
The Red Sox were very busy this winter as they brought in Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Willson Contreras, and Caleb Durbin via the trade market while signing Ranger Suarez and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in free agency, but the team’s failure to reunite with Bregman casts a shadow over their busy winter.
The Astros got the rotation depth they coveted, signing NPB star Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal with multiple opt-outs and acquiring righty Mike Burrows in a three-team trade that sent outfielder Jacob Melton to the Rays. They’re still too right-handed and have a glut of infielders that could still lead to one more big spring trade.
The Pirates were very active by their usual standards, overhauling the lineup to bring in Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna, and Brandon Lowe among others. The Rangers came into the winter without much room to add but managed to come away with a solid bat (Nimmo) for the lineup and a big arm (MacKenzie Gore) for the rotation nonetheless. The Mariners kept Josh Naylor and added Brendan Donovan to the infield. The A’s added only complementary pieces (McNeil, Aaron Civale) in terms of external additions but deserve praise for their franchise-altering extensions of Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson.
On the flipside, the rebuilding Cardinals managed to shed significant portions of the Contreras, Gray and Nolan Arenado contracts and pulled in a nice return from the Mariners (and Rays) in the three-team Donovan trade.
What team do MLBTR’s readers think had the best offseason this winter? Have your say in the poll below:
Which team had the best offseason?
A’s Hire Bob Melvin For Baseball Operations Role
The A’s are bringing longtime manager Bob Melvin back to the organization, albeit in a new role. The team announced Thursday that Melvin is returning as a special assistant in the baseball operations department. Details regarding these types of roles are typically vague but often include working with young players in camp and serving as an in-season resource for both the front office and coaching staff.
Melvin, 64, managed the Athletics from 2011-21, leading the then-Oakland club to the postseason on six occasions. Despite perennially working with one of the lowest payrolls in the league — oftentimes the lowest — Melvin led the A’s to an 853-764 record during his 11 seasons at the helm (.528 winning percentage). He was voted the American League Manager of the Year in both 2012 and 2018, and he also won NL Manager of the Year honors with Arizona back in 2007.
The 2026 season will be the first year since 2010 — and just the second year since 2003 — that Melvin has not been a big league manager. Despite Melvin still being under contract in Oakland, the A’s allowed him to interview with the Padres and take the managing job in San Diego following the 2021 season. That was a largely financial decision by the A’s. Melvin was reportedly earning around $4MM per season, and the A’s were aggressively cutting payroll as they both rebuilt the farm system and prepped for a potential relocation.
Melvin spent two years in San Diego, taking the Padres to the NLCS in 2022 before missing the playoffs entirely in 2023. Melvin and Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller reportedly clashed at various points, however, and the tension between the two grew to the point that Melvin was granted permission to interview with the division-rival Giants despite being under contract through 2024. The Giants hired Melvin, while the Padres replaced him with former Cardinals skipper Mike Shildt.
As was the case in San Diego, Melvin stayed two years but departed while still under contract for an additional season. Farhan Zaidi was San Francisco’s president of baseball operations when Melvin was hired, but as is often the case, a new front office regime eventually gave way to new dugout leadership.
Giants ownership fired Zaidi following the 2024 campaign and installed franchise icon (and board member) Buster Posey as the new baseball operations leader. Posey exercised a 2026 club option on Melvin back in July, but less than three months later Posey announced that Melvin had been fired. The Giants went outside the box and hired University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello to replace Melvin.
It’s been a tumultuous few years for Melvin, but he’ll now return to the organization that provided him stability for more than a decade. He’ll be an experienced voice with plenty of perspective for general manager David Forst to consult and can also offer various insights to the Athletics’ young core and a coaching staff that’s now run by fifth-year skipper Mark Kotsay.
A’s Could Get Zack Gelof Outfield Reps In Spring Training
The A’s trade pickup of Jeff McNeil solidified second base, where the veteran is expected to play regularly. That pushed Zack Gelof out of the projected starting lineup. The former second-round pick had an impressive half-season as a rookie back in 2023 but has struggled with strikeouts and injuries over the past two years.
Gelof enters camp slightly behind schedule after undergoing surgery to fix a dislocated left shoulder at the end of last season. Gelof is a little delayed in his ramp-up offensively, but Martín Gallegos of MLB.com writes that he can participate fully in defensive drills. He’s not only taking those at second base but in center field to prepare for a potential utility role. Manager Mark Kotsay said that Gelof could see outfield work in games this spring.
The 26-year-old hasn’t played anywhere other than second base in a major league game. Gelof has more than 2000 innings over 237 MLB appearances at the keystone, grading as a slightly above-average defender. The only other position at which he has any significant experience is third base. He played the hot corner at the University of Virginia and during his first year or so in the minor leagues. He didn’t play the outfield at all in college and has nine innings there as a professional — one Double-A game as a center fielder in 2022.
Gelof is a good athlete and an above-average runner. The A’s won’t be able to tell how his instincts and reads will play in the outfield without getting him reps out there. Spring Training is the best time to experiment with different roles. It’d certainly be a big help to Gelof’s chances of making the roster if he’s capable of building defensive versatility. Most teams only carry four position players on the bench to maximize a 13-man pitching staff. Using one of those roster spots on a player who only plays second base isn’t ideal. Gelof has a pair of minor league options and would head back to Triple-A Las Vegas if he doesn’t break camp.
The A’s have Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler in the corner outfield. They’re likely to give Denzel Clarke the first opportunity in center field. Clarke is a phenomenal defender but has massive strikeout rates, so the A’s may not want to live with that tradeoff all season. Gelof isn’t likely to push Clarke for everyday playing time in center. He’s only a year removed from leading the American League in strikeouts himself, and he’s almost certainly not going to defend at the same level that Clarke does. There’s an opening for a fourth outfielder, while Gelof’s old third base position is also up for grabs in camp. Waiver claim Andy Ibáñez joins holdovers Max Muncy, Brett Harris and Darell Hernaiz in that mix.
Diamondbacks Claim Grant Holman
The Diamondbacks have claimed right-hander Grant Holman off waivers from the Athletics, per a team announcement. Holman was designated for assignment by the A’s last week to make room for Aaron Civale on the club’s 40-man roster. Southpaw A.J. Puk was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Holman on the 40-man roster.
Holman, 26 in May, was a sixth-round pick by the A’s back in 2021 and made his MLB debut in 2024. That first taste of MLB action went fairly well, as he pitched to a 4.00 ERA (100 ERA+) with a solid 3.87 FIP across 18 appearances, striking out 22.0% of his opponents despite an elevated 12.3% walk rate. It was a good debut overall and seemed to portend a larger role with the A’s in 2025, but things unfortunately did not work out that way. While he did make more appearances in 2025, they weren’t especially effective as he wound up posting a lackluster 5.09 ERA in 23 innings of work. His peripherals weren’t much better, as he posted a 4.66 FIP and his strikeout rate fell to 16.5%.
Perhaps he would’ve gotten more of a look at the big league level had injuries not gotten in the way, but rotator cuff tendinitis sidelined him for the majority of the 2025 campaign. He threw just 32 1/3 innings between the majors and minors in total, though his 9 1/3 scoreless frames at Triple-A with a 31.0% strikeout rate did suggest there could be some upside in Holmes’s profile if he can just stay healthy long enough to reach it. Regardless, the A’s had seen enough and cut him loose earlier this week as they beefed up their pitching staff with more veteran additions.
Still, Holman’s upside was intriguing enough for the Diamondbacks to the roll the dice on him. That’s an understandable decision to make for the club given their need for help in the bullpen this year with both Puk and Justin Martinez set to start the year on the injured list as they rehab from elbow surgeries. Puk will be back sooner than Martinez, having undergone UCL revision surgery rather than full Tommy John, but even he is expected back at some point in June at the earliest. That gives the Diamondbacks a few months where they’ll need to patch together a bullpen using veterans like Michael Soroka and Paul Sewald as well as youngsters like Kade Strowd and Andrew Hoffmann. Holman figures to be part of that latter group, and will compete for a role in the Opening Day bullpen for the club during Spring Training. Should he miss out on a roster spot to open the season, he’ll head to Triple-A and join players like Philip Abner and Juan Morillo in the mix for a call-up when injuries or roster churn necessitate it.
A’s Trade Mitch Spence To Royals
The Athletics have traded right-hander Mitch Spence to the Royals in exchange for minor league righty AJ Causey, per announcements from both clubs. Spence was designated for assignment by the A’s earlier this week. Kansas City placed righty Alec Marsh on the 60-day IL to open a roster spot for Spence.
The 27-year-old Spence didn’t have to wait long to find a new home after getting DFAed on Tuesday. He’ll head to Kansas City as a depth option behind a fairly set rotation. Marsh had labrum surgery in November and is set to miss the 2026 season. His placement on the 60-day was a formality.
The Athletics added Spence as a Rule 5 pick from the Yankees ahead of the 2024 season. He emerged as a mainstay in the rotation that year, piling up 151 1/3 innings across 35 appearances (24 starts). Spence posted an ERA in the mid-4.00s with subpar strikeout numbers. He did well to limit walks and got ground balls at an above-average clip.
The offseason additions of Jeffrey Springs and Luis Severino squeezed Spence out of the rotation. He made 32 appearances with the club, mostly out of the bullpen. Spence briefly returned to the rotation in June. His performance as a starter (5.05 ERA, 11 home runs allowed) led to a demotion to the minors. Spence returned to the A’s in September. He was hammered for nine earned runs in 10 innings to close the season.
Spence will be built up as a starter with Kansas City, but the club likes that he has experience in both roles, notes Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The Royals currently have Bailey Falter penciled into the swingman spot.
Kansas City took Causey in the fifth round of the 2024 draft out of Tennessee. The 23-year-old right-hander began his pro career at High-A this past season. After 40 1/3 innings of a 1.56 ERA with Quad City, he made the jump to Double-A. Causey maintained a sub-2.00 ERA in 21 games with Northwest Arkansas. He compiled a 1.72 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning in 48 appearances across the two levels. Scouting grades laud Causey’s slider and changeup. His sidearm delivery helps his 90 mph fastball play up.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
A’s Have Two Rotation Spots Up For Grabs In Camp
The A’s added back-end starter Aaron Civale on a $6MM free agent contract this week. He slots behind Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs as experienced arms in an otherwise young rotation. Manager Mark Kotsay suggested on Wednesday that while the three veterans were locked into starting spots, camp battles could decide the final two roles. “It’s definitely an open competition,” the fourth-year skipper told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. “I think we do have some depth this year that we haven’t had in the past.”
Of the A’s returning starters, only Springs and Severino got to 100 MLB innings last season. Jacob Lopez led the way with 92 2/3 frames across 21 appearances (17 starts). He was followed in MLB workload by J.T. Ginn, Luis Morales, Gunnar Hoglund, Mason Barnett and Jack Perkins. Morales and Lopez had the most success and enter camp as the presumptive favorites.
The 23-year-old Morales turned in a 3.14 earned run average over his first 48 2/3 MLB frames. His 21.6% strikeout percentage and 9% walk rate weren’t as impressive, and his fly-ball profile led to some home run trouble. The underlying numbers would suggest he’s a regression candidate, but he could certainly offset that by missing more bats in his first full season. Morales has a 97 mph average fastball and a potential plus breaking ball.
Lopez is a soft-tossing lefty who turns 28 during Spring Training. That points to a lower ceiling than Morales possesses, but he arguably showed more in his rookie season. Lopez punched out 28.3% of opponents behind an above-average 11.8% swinging strike rate. He finished the year with a 4.08 ERA that is skewed by a nine-run drubbing that he took in Seattle just before he went on the injured list with a season-ending flexor strain. He carried a 3.28 earned run average into that appearance.
It was a relatively small sample and it’s easy to see potential downside. Lopez is an extreme fly-ball pitcher who’ll spend the next two seasons in the most hitter-friendly home park outside Colorado. A 90-91 mph average fastball doesn’t give him much margin for error. Home runs are likely to be an issue, but Lopez has always missed more bats than his velocity might suggest thanks to a quality slider and plus command. Gallegos writes that Lopez is slightly behind schedule because of the late-season forearm issue but should have time to log a full Spring Training workload.
Ginn probably has the best chance to push one of Morales or Lopez for a season-opening rotation spot. He fanned a quarter of opponents against an 8% walk rate while getting ground-balls more than half the time. A lot of the fly balls that he did give up cleared the fences. Sutter Health Park did Ginn no favors, as 12 of his 17 home runs allowed came at home. He had a near-7.00 ERA in Sacramento compared to a 3.14 ERA on the road. The cumulative result was a 5.08 mark across 90 1/3 innings.
Barnett was called up late in the season. He was hit hard over five starts, posting a near-7.00 ERA through 22 1/3 innings. He has shown intriguing stuff, headlined by a mid-90s fastball and quality slider, but the command has been inconsistent throughout his minor league career. Hoglund is a former first-round pick whose prospect stock had tumbled after Tommy John surgery. He seemed to put himself back on the map with a strong six-start run in Triple-A, but major league opponents teed off over his first six career outings. He underwent season-ending hip surgery in June.
Perkins started four of 12 appearances after being called up in June. He suffered a season-ending shoulder strain in August. He sat around 96 mph on the fastball and got excellent results on a mid-80s breaking ball. Perkins’ minor league numbers suggest he might be better suited in the bullpen, however. He walked 11.3% of Triple-A opponents and has posted double digit walk rates in three straight seasons.
Luis Medina and Joey Estes have some MLB experience and hold 40-man roster spots. Medina is out of options and missed all of last season rehabbing Tommy John surgery. He’s probably ticketed for long relief to open the season, while Estes could be on the fringe of the 40-man roster. Medina is the only member of this group aside from the three veterans who cannot be optioned.
The highest-upside arms in the organization are still in the minor leagues. Gage Jump and Jamie Arnold are two of the top pitching prospects in the sport. Jump has an outside chance to break camp after posting a 3.64 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents over 20 Double-A appearances. He’s not on the 40-man roster, but each of Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang are. They’re solid prospects (Nett and Baez, in particular) who have Double-A experience and could get some consideration to break camp if they really impress during Spring Training.
A’s Designate Grant Holman, Mitch Spence For Assignment
The Athletics announced they’ve designated right-handers Mitch Spence and Grant Holman for assignment. They needed a pair of 40-man roster spots to finalize their one-year free agent contracts with reliever Scott Barlow and starter Aaron Civale, each of which has been made official.
As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald noted last week, the A’s didn’t have any obvious candidates to begin the season on the 60-day injured list. Infielder Zack Gelof is their only player known to be delayed entering camp after he underwent shoulder surgery in September. Gelof seems likely to open the season on the 10-day injured list, but the A’s would only place him on the 60-day version if they didn’t expect him to be ready for action by the end of May. They evidently don’t want to close that door, leaving them with no choice but to DFA two players to finalize their free agent pickups.
Holman and Spence end up being the roster casualties. The 25-year-old Holman was a sixth-round draft choice in 2021. He’s a Berkeley product who has thrown 38 2/3 MLB innings over the past two seasons. Holman has posted a 4.66 earned run average with a modest 18.8% strikeout rate at the MLB level. He missed the majority of last year with rotator cuff tendinitis.
Spence was a Rule 5 pick out of the Yankees system two years ago. He was reasonably impressive as a rookie, eating 151 1/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA behind an above-average 48.4% ground-ball rate. Spence entered year two as a potential back-end starter but failed to win a rotation spot out of camp. He spent the majority of the season in long relief and was optioned to Triple-A around the All-Star Break. Spence was recalled in September and finished the season with a 5.10 ERA across 84 2/3 big league innings.
The A’s have five days to trade Holman and Spence or place them on waivers. They each have a couple minor league options remaining and stand a decent chance of getting claimed, especially now that many other teams have a roster spot or two with which to play now that the 60-day IL has reopened.
Athletics Sign Aaron Civale
The A’s announced the signing of right-hander Aaron Civale to a one-year contract. It’s reportedly a $6MM guarantee and includes an additional $1.5MM in incentives. Civale is represented by agent Jack Toffey.
This is the second free agent agreement in the past five days for the A’s, who also came to terms with reliever Scott Barlow last Friday. The Athletics designated pitchers Mitch Spence and Grant Holman for assignment to create roster space.
Civale has been a solid fourth or fifth starter for the bulk of his big league tenure. The 30-year-old righty sports a 4.24 ERA with a 21.8% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate and 39.4% ground-ball rate in 680 2/3 innings dating back to the 2020 season. He had a knack for working deeper into games early in his career but has typically been a five-inning starter in recent seasons as he’s posted progressively worse splits when turning a lineup over for a third time in a game.
Civale split the 2025 campaign between the Brewers, White Sox and Cubs. He logged a total of 102 innings (18 starts, five relief appearances) and turned in a 4.85 ERA that stands as the second-worst mark of his career. Civale’s strikeout and walk rates weren’t drastically different than in prior seasons, but he was more susceptible to home runs and experienced some atypical struggles with men on base; his 67.8% strand rate was the second-worst mark of his career, sitting nearly six percentage points shy of his lifetime mark.
From 2023-24, Civale notched a solid 3.97 earned run average in 54 starts between the Guardians, Brewers and Rays. He fanned a roughly average 22.2% of opponents against a 7.1% walk rate that was comfortably better than league-average. Civale doesn’t throw particularly hard, sitting 91-92 mph with his four-seamer, 92-93 mph with his sinker and 89-90 mph with a cutter. He also features a curveball around 77 mph and mixes in the occasional slider or splitter. It’s something of a kitchen-sink arsenal full of average-ish offerings that, at his best, play up a bit thanks to plus command.
With the A’s, Civale will step onto a staff that also include Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, Jacob Lopez and Luis Morales. Severino and Springs led the A’s in starts and innings pitched last season, both posting ERA marks in the low-4.00s. Lopez logged similar run-prevention numbers in 17 starts (3.96 ERA, 84 innings) but did so with superior rate stats (27.7 K%, 9.2 BB%), likely punching a ticket to the 2026 rotation in the process. The 23-year-old Morales, one of the organization’s top prospects, debuted with a 3.09 ERA in his first nine starts, whiffing 22.6% of batters and issuing walks at an 8.9% clip.
Civale should round out the starting rotation and ensure that the A’s don’t need to place too much pressure on flamethrowing Luis Medina (returning from 2024 Tommy John surgery) or top prospects Gage Jump and Jamie Arnold, either of whom could debut at some point in 2026 (with Jump being the likelier of the two). Depth options on the 40-man roster beyond the current group include Gunnar Hoglund, Jack Perkins, J.T. Ginn, Joey Estes and yet-to-debut prospects Henry Baez and Braden Nett. Some of those depth pieces who’ve already struggled at the MLB level could shift to relief roles.
Civale’s $6MM base salary should take the Athletics’ Opening Day payroll to around $95MM, though thanks to their spate of contract extensions for their core hitters, the team’s luxury tax/CBT payroll clocks in around a much heftier $146MM. They’ve still been active in the bullpen market and have been poking around the third base market as well, so other additions could still be on the horizon.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported the agreement and salary terms.