The Athletics and right-hander Scott Barlow have agreed to a deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s a one-year pact with a $2MM guarantee for the Warner Sports Management client and performance bonuses worth $1.3MM. The A’s have a full 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to make this official.
Barlow, 33, has a fairly established profile at this point in his career. He walks too many guys but is still a somewhat effective setup guy thanks to his ability to strike guys out, induce ground balls and limit damage. He’s also quite durable, having never appeared on the major league injured list in his career.
Over the past three years, Barlow has thrown 191 1/3 innings for the Royals, Padres, Guardians and Reds. He has allowed 4.28 earned runs per nine. He gave free passes to a huge 13% of batters faced but also punched out opponents at a 26.3% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a 44.1% pace. Statcast has considered his average exit velocity and hard hit rate to be 90th percentile or better in each of those three seasons. He earned 16 saves and 42 holds in that time. He throws his sweeper more than any other pitch but also features a four-seamer, slider, curveball and sinker.
The A’s have been rebuilding recently and while they have seen a lot of success when it comes to graduating position players, the pitching lags behind. The club had a collective 4.71 ERA last year, putting them ahead of just the Angels, Nationals and Rockies. Playing in a hitter-friendly minor league park is certainly playing a role there but there’s clearly room for improvement.
The club hasn’t been super active in adding to the pitching staff this offseason. Perhaps that’s due to pitchers not wanting to play in Sutter Health Park or maybe it’s because the A’s have been focusing their resources on extending their young core. Whatever the reason, their only other addition of note so far was to sign Mark Leiter Jr. to a one-year deal worth $2.85MM, so the A’s have invested less than $5MM in upgrading the pitching staff so far.
Perhaps more investments will be forthcoming. For now, Barlow and Leiter project to be the two most experienced arms in the bullpen. Younger guys like Hogan Harris, Justin Sterner, Elvis Alvarado, Brady Basso, Mitch Spence, Grant Holman and others will also be in the mix.
Photo courtesy of Frank Bowen IV, Imagn Images
Low risk high reward. Can’t beat deals like this.
Sure you can.
Low risk, good value, Barlow needs to reduce walks but still adds some value at that salary.
That Sacramento/Bay Area market money helping Fisher avoid a grievance. Maybe it’s best staying over there.
Athletics spending. Avoiding greivance. Might as well sign Nick Martinez to a 2 year, 22 million deal or something.
A’s make the playoffs in 2026…
No way! There are the Mariners, Blue Jays, Yankees, Astros, Red Sox, Orioles, Tigers. The Guardians, Rangers, Rays, are other teams that could be surprisers. A’s are one of the surprisers but I believe Cleveland is still better.
I think “no way” is harsh. A’s are just as easy to make a WC then Orioles, Rays and Rangers. The rest of the field you named i agree the A’s are behind….for now.
Oh way…waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay….2026 A’s vs Pirates WS will leave everyone aghast I tell ya!!!
Mariners, jays and tigers pretty much locks ( as much as possible for baseball)
Sox, Yanks, Astros, rangers, orioles, and Guards are all better and fighting for last 3 spots
at Showy, no one is a lock IMO
“having never appeared on the major league injured list in his career..”
Cue the jinx…
Well, I guess they couldn’t get Diaz, Williams or Suarez, so next best thing.
Start diggin’ Trout.
“He has allowed 4.28 earned runs per nine. He gave free passes to a huge 13% of batters faced but also punched out opponents at a 26.3% clip and kept the ball on the ground at a 44.1% pace. ”
That’s a lot of words to say 95 FIP- and 100 xFIP-