The Athletics began their first day of camp Wednesday in Mesa, Ariz., feeling good about the nearing 2025 MLB season, which, for a team that has won 119 games over the last two years, subtly is monumental.
“The initial feelings are of excitement, obviously,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay told reporters. “This offseason, we’ve done some things that most would say are different for us, in going out and targeting some free agents, especially here with the pitchers, bringing in [Luis] Severino, [Jeffrey] Springs, [José] Leclerc – three guys that can have impact – there’s definitely a level of excitement in that room right now.”
Kotsay didn’t lie.
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When infielder Max Schuemann struck out against Mariners righty Troy Taylor to end the Green and Gold’s final season as Oakland residents on Sep. 29 in Seattle, most didn’t expect the Athletics to be aggressive during the ensuing offseason.
However, after general manager David Forst on Oct. 4 said, “We do expect our payroll to increase,” heading into the club’s first of three campaigns in West Sacramento, the youth-heavy team followed through, primarily addressing its fifth-worst 4.37 team ERA in 2024 by acquiring the aforementioned veteran trio headlined by Severino, the biggest free-agent signing in franchise history.
“I think any time you can add experience; you can add guys that have a track record or the back of a baseball card, it helps in depth, right?” Kotsay said, eager about additions such as Severino. “It pushes the younger players maybe into roles or situations that gives them time to develop, gives them time to gain more experience. And that helps in terms of injury related stuff. We’re not a club that can go out and continue to spin in a way to provide depth; we have to build that depth through our younger players, and that’s kind of our focus.
“You look at guys who have come up and contributed last year from our minor-league system – like [right-handed pitcher] J.T. Ginn or [right-handed pitcher] Joey Estes – that came up and got their feet wet … allowing them more time to develop and giving them a chance to have more experience by bringing in Jeffrey Springs and Severino; it helps.”
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The Athletics also signed Brent Rooker to a massive contract extension to keep the slugger as a building block through at least the 2029 season, while adding a depth piece in seasoned infielder Gio Urshela to ideally bring stability to third base, which was a lackluster carousel in 2024.
Factoring in all of the Athletics’ moves thus far has given Kotsay good reason to believe his team will surpass its 69-win mark of 2024 and be threatening in the AL West. For him and the franchise, that’s enough causality for eagerness.
“I think it’s great,” Kotsay said about the Athletics’ higher expectations. “I mean, everyone in this game wants expectations. I think, for us as a club, we haven’t had those necessarily over the last two seasons. We’ve had our challenges. We’re still going to have challenges.
“Our improvement of 19 games [from 2023 to 2024] was still only 69 wins. We recognize that, and we understand that it’s going to take another great season to make improvements on 69 to get to the playoffs. We’re preparing ourselves for that, and those are the expectations we want to have.”
The Athletics haven’t made the MLB playoffs since the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season and haven’t reached an ALCS since 2006. But Sutter Health Park’s new inhabitants found something in the second half of the 2024 season – something that potentially can carry over into the upcoming 162-game slate.
Behind Rooker and outfielder Lawrence Butler’s synchronized, ridiculous summer eruption, the Athletics finished 2024 a relatively strong 35-35 across the final 70 games after beginning 34-58. Kotsay got to witness his young players – such as No. 1 prospect and shortstop Jacob Wilson – stack repetitions and, for the first time in his three years at the helm, experience some winning.
“There’s definitely a higher level of expectation,” Kotsay reiterated. “You know, you can look at the progress we made in the second half and the group that came together, that nucleus of guys … I think they’ve built a culture in there that they believe in each other, that they know they belong, and that started kind of in that July-August run.
“In coming to camp, when we talk about being different, it’s probably less opportunity. The word I used in ‘22, ‘23 [and] even ‘24 was there was ‘opportunity’ here. That’s somewhat changed in terms of roster spots and guys that have solidified themselves through [performances] of last year or the last two years. So that’s definitely different.”
There aren’t too many blatant holes for the Athletics to fill.
Kotsay did mention that the competition to be catcher Shea Langeliers’ backup is underway between, at least, non-roster invitee and incumbent option Kyle McCann, who recently was outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, and Jhonny Pereda, who was acquired via trade with the Miami Marlins.
Kotsay also said left-handed pitcher Ken Waldichuk is expected to play in 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last May, while righty Luis Medina’s return, if it were to happen, would be closer to the end of the season after he had the same procedure in August.
A long road lies ahead for the Athletics, at a new diamond, in a new city, in front of new fans. But as Kotsay hammered in, the franchise has plenty of on-the-field positives that rightfully have elicited optimism at the start of the team’s camp in Mesa.
And the work is just getting started.
“Overall, there’s areas for improvement that we can challenge ourselves to be better at and make those games up that we need to get to the playoffs,” Kotsay said.