Outside attention on the A's will center on their temporary move to Sacramento. The front office's focus will be on supplementing a burgeoning offensive core. A decent second half offers hope the A's could push close to .500 with a few additions to the pitching staff. With a completely blank payroll slate, they'll need to spend some money.
Guaranteed Contracts
- None
2025 financial commitments: $0
Total future commitments: $0
Option Decisions
- None
Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via Matt Swartz)
- Austin Adams (5.150): $1.7MM
- Miguel Andujar (5.053): $2.8MM
- Seth Brown (4.096): $3.8MM
- Brent Rooker (3.059): $5.1MM
- Dany Jiménez (2.162): $1MM
Non-tender candidates: Adams, Andujar, Brown, Jiménez
Free Agents
- Ross Stripling, T.J. McFarland, Alex Wood, Scott Alexander, Trevor Gott, Abraham Toro, Aaron Brooks, Brandon Bielak, Gerardo Reyes
The Oakland A's era ended last month after 57 years. The Las Vegas era won't begin for three more. The A's will call Sacramento's Sutter Health Park their temporary home from 2025-27. A's ownership will put the finishing touches on securing $380MM in public funds from Clark County and Nevada to begin construction on their Vegas ballpark. General manager David Forst and his front office get the unenviable task of trying to sell a few veteran players on joining a team that'll call a Triple-A park home.
By default, Forst and his staff will have money to spend. The A's incredibly have zero dollars committed to the 2025 player payroll. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects the entire arbitration class to cost $14.4MM. The actual outlay will be a lot less, as only Brent Rooker (projected just north of $5MM) is guaranteed to be brought back.
Each of the A's commitments last winter were one-year deals. The last player they've signed (free agent or extension) for more than two seasons: Ryan Madson in 2015. It's fair to presume the aversion to long-term spending isn't changing in Sacramento, yet the A's will need to add a couple players on short-term pacts. The A's opened the 2024 season with a player payroll around $61MM, as calculated by Cot's Baseball Contracts. Even by John Fisher ownership standards, the A's should add $25-30MM to next season's payroll.
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For sure, A’s do need to sign Kotsay – and staff – to extension. Ownership and stadium affaire aside, no rebuilt is usually going to easy transition… It does need continuity on as many fronts for sure…
Here we go, Sacramento As. Sacramento fans are excited and what the ballpark may be lacking will be made up for with enthusiasm and excitement. It’s not a small park, it’s an intimate venue!
My bold prediction: the Sacramento As will make the playoffs at least once during the next three years.
Would be quite an accomplishment for their front office, even the Rays are allowed to spend some money. The fire sale trades haven’t gone particularly well but they have a great track record of dumpster diving for hidden gems.
They’re not going to be called the Sacramento A’s. It’s just Athletics.
Also if they do make the playoffs the games will be played at a neutral site, not in Sacramento.
Sacramento season ticket holders will get priority for tickets at wherever the neutral “home” site is.
Officially, sure, but you can bet Sacramento locals will call them the Sacramento As and will wear unlicensed merchandise stating the same. Three years is a long time- get ready for Sacramento As baseball!
The playoffs thing is dumb. Why not let them play in the Sacramento ballpark if they make the playoffs?
Actually b9 city next to them is weird too.
I wish I could drive still. I would seriously consider going to opening day in Sacramento as they will host the Cubs.
Just calling them “Athletics” sounds so minor league. Like the ABA with “The Floridians”. Would tacking on the name of the city really kill them?
I think they will be officially known as the Sacrament As for the purpose of selling official merch. That’s millions of dollars they would leave on the table if they didn’t make it official. Plus it would be cool to own an official MLB Sacramento As jersey.
They will not have Sacramento A’s merch officially. But I’m sure there will be designs sold in the parking lot.
Sure they will, Stairs. They won’t pass up millions of dollars in merch sales.
I would expect that Andujar is brought back and they make every effort to trade Brown as his solid last 2 months may have saved his career. Adams is depending on health as he was effective over stretches but some young arms that will likely be in the pen this year so his return is very suspect. Jiménez is almost certainly non tendered
You do realize the talent equal to brown would be one Dominic Smith, who almost certainly will end up in ST (somewhere) on a MILB make good offer?
Brown isn’t getting 4m from any team next season that I can see, much less someone give up anything to pay him that. my 2c is he’s a non tender, then goes to ST/the winter looking first for some kind of guaranteed mlb deal period.
It is pretty incredible for a team have $0 dedicated to an upcoming season
“Pretty incredible”…I’ve seen many rebuilding teams before, but I don’t remember ever seeing any team with “zero dollars” committed to the upcoming season.
Isn’t there some amount they have to spend to keep their revenue sharing?
Incompetent nepo baby, corrupt Nevada politicians, owners installing their pet lawyer as commissioner, dim witted union heads bargaining to get Fisher back into revenue sharing… it’s been a long trip to $0.
Ah yes, anyone with more money than you is evil in your eyes. You have zero evidence to support any of your allegations so please stop. No one cares.
Except for that one Fisher simp.
Not really. It’s measured by the remaining part of multi-year contracts. Arbs and pre arb players, plus pending options, don’t count. The Orioles have two players that count toward “dedicated” (Eflin for the year picked up in the deadline trade and Felix Bautista who they paid 2 years at $4m while he recovered).
The As are only a bit unique in having nothing committed and a small arb class.
Oakland strong
That is what Philadelphia and Kansas City said
Damn you’re old. You got to see the A’s in Philly and KC?
I am a fan of these Offseason Outlook columns, as evidenced by the fact that I just read the outlook piece for these A’s. Well, I also read the White Sox outlook, which was certainly more bleak than for the A’s.
I sympathized enough with Tim’s explanation as to why he moved these behind the paywall that I finally sprang for the Front Office package this year. It was something I had resisted doing since it was offerred years back, as I have felt for years that the extra content was just not worth the extra fee, as reasonable as that fee was/is.
Honestly, I felt like the ONLY real benefit of the package was deleting the annoying popup ads, which constantly block content while reading, especially on my phone. But at this point, I think that MLBTR has finally reached the tipping point that the paywall-protected content AND the ad deletions make subscribing worthwhile.
Tim, I am sure that you and MLBTR are in a tough position moving forward, as the demographic of MLB fans just keeps getting older. And the younger demographic seems to prefer instant, brief, and FREE content above all else. I do value the content and analysis more than the sound bite pieces that come out via Twitter/X. And I’ve come to really enjoy the weekly podcasts that Darragh and y’all put out.
I’m sure y’all will keep tweaking the paywall-blocked content moving forward, and I honestly hope it works out financially for MLBTR. But I have watched too many other news and entertainment entities struggle with the paywall question to be optimistic for you.
Best of Luck, MLBTR! I’ll be reading – especially in the offseason.
$2.50 per month. The greatest value on the Internet. Thanks for the great content mlbtr.
@10,000 Bees : Considering that the quality of American media in aggregate is in the toilet, people pay for what they believe is quality.’
You seem to have some anger issues, you might want to seek therapy to treat that..
Thanks for your input Tim’s dad.
Gotta be the first time I’ve seen a team with an empty payroll like that
@andrewc62
This is still a little rich for Fisher’s thin gruel.
And the king of moneyball Billy Beane has been as quiet as Fisher.
God alone knows what we’ll see in Sacramento, I’m intrigued to see if fellow Oakland fans turn out to continue the “Sell the team” chants.
Thanks Manfred & thank you the other 29 owners who are equally execrable, brainless kitty litter lickers.
I had to look up the word “execrable”.
What are they even going to be called next year?
Just “the Athletics” without a city prefix, I guess?
@King Floch
Apparently so. I was hoping the Homeless Athetics, but Fisher seems to want to save on lettering costs.
No names on the back of the player jerseys, just the numbers.
That’s pretty good, but I also kind of like the “Parts Unknown Athletics.”
(It’s a pro wrestling joke, don’t sweat it if it doesn’t make any sense to you)
Las Vegas Warriors
I don’t hate it……
Any team with no city prefix is lame. The Sacramento A’s sounds good to me.
If the team does not sell Sacramento As jerseys, you can bet fans will wear lots of “aftermarket” Sacramento As shirts rather than the official stuff.
TJ McFarland is going to start a bidding war !
Athletics have a bright future as far as the product on the field, but then again they’ve torn it down and built back up so many times with continued success, it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Over .500 after June, and some good young players.
I can’t see them not entertaining a Rooker trade despite what they’re saying about not trading for prospects. Not saying they trade him if the return isn’t there, but no way they don’t listen to offers. I think there’s a good chance he gets traded, if not this offseason, then by the trade deadline (assuming they don’t miraculously contend) or next offseason when he’s older, more expensive and loses another year of control.
I’m sure they will be looking for guys to plug in right away or top prospects who project to be good players sooner than later, so not for long term projects, and I’m sure they’d be looking for more than one player unless it was for someone really good, but I just can’t seem them not entertaining it, and feel it’s a a better chance of happening than might seem based on the statement Forst made.
$2.50 a month is a good deal for what you get. Thanks MLBTR
Why does everything have to be a conspiracy with you people? There’s probably 200,000,000 people in this country that could spend $30 a year and not even know it.
I think the bad contract dump route is the easiest way for the A’s to add payroll. Yanks might want to dump Stroman. Take the whole damn contract and get a prospect. Something like that seems most likely.
Guaranteed Contracts: None
2025 financial commitments: $0
Total future commitments: $0
In 2024, the Oakland Athletics had an estimated value of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. The Major League Baseball franchise is owned by John Fisher, who bought the franchise for 180 million U.S. dollars in 2005.
John Fisher a multi billionaire doing what all billionaires do… f’ing the rest of us!
John Fisher a multi billionaire doing what all billionaires do… f’ing the rest of us!
======================
I’m curious what Fished did to you. He purchased the team and got a good return. So what?
they need to build around Rooker. obviously their best player.
Thank you for this breakdown, Anthony!
Those Sacramento city connects will be fire yo