A's Trade Chips: Who to Watch as the Deadline Looms

The Athletics find themselves in an unenviable position, coming into the season with hopes of contending for a postseason berth, only to sit in a familiar 41-55 hole at the All-Star break. That record comes with the worst run differential in MLB at -106 and with the team currently riding a nine-game losing streak.

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Last season, even with a 1-20 stretch, they were 39-57 in that same 96-game stretch and showed more promise than the current team. 

It certainly doesn't help that the team is banged up, with Zack Gelof and Nick Kurtz both on the IL, while Brent Rooker is out for the year. That's three pretty important bats for the club. Veteran starter Luis Severino has been on the IL since May 30, and since that point the club's ERA has gone from 4.41 (23rd in MLB) to 6.48 (30th). 

The A's should absolutely see how the team is performing immediately after the break, taking on the Washington Nationals (48-49) at home, followed by road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (49-47) and Minnesota Twins (48-49). All three clubs are hovering around .500, and will provide tests for this roster. 

If the A's want to be kept together and afforded a shot to reach October baseball, those three series will be critical. 

A's Biggest Trade Piece

The A's don't have another player they could move that would fetch a return like Mason Miller last summer. Their biggest trade piece could very well be another bullpen arm, however. 

Mark Leiter Jr. is a free agent at the end of the season and is only signed for $2.85 million this year, so an acquiring team wouldn't be adding much to their books. 

While he struggled initially, giving up four earned against the Yankees in New York to blow a late lead early in the season, he's actually been really good for most of the year — especially of late.

Since April 10 he has racked up a 3.49 ERA. Since May 10, he has given up all of one run on eight hits and four walks across 17 innings, good for a 0.53 ERA.

Teams would certainly be interested in a thriving bullpen arm. The A's would also have every reason to trade him, given that he's an impending free agent. 

He's not likely to fetch a big return, but he could land a top-30 prospect or two in a contending team's farm system. 

Other Expiring Contracts

The only two other expiring contracts the A's have are Aaron Civale and Jonah Heim. Both have their selling points, and their warts. 

Civale has struggled since returning from the IL, making five starts and racking up just 19 innings to the tune of a 9.00 ERA. Among the 254 pitchers that have accumulated at least 10 innings since June 17 (when Civale returned from the IL), he ranks 245th in ERA.

It also doesn't help the team that in that same span, Jack Perkins (8.64 ERA) and Jeffrey Springs (10.13 ERA) rank 243rd and 249th among players with at least ten innings. 

Civale may be more of a DFA candidate than a trade piece this summer. 

As for Jonah Heim, he's been in the middle of plenty of key moments for the A's since his acquisition from Atlanta, launching game-tying home runs seemingly every week. 

Even so, he has been a league-average bat for the A's. Across 135 plate appearances back in green and gold, Heim is hitting .232 with a .281 OBP, eight home runs and a 101 wRC+. 

That said, his trade value could come from his ability to mash left-handers this season. He's gone 23-for-78 (.295) with a 158 wRC+ versus southpaws, and some of his overall dip may be attributable to the A's leaning on him more often amid their rash of injuries.

A Harris-Sized Decision

The biggest decision the A's will have to make in the coming weeks is when they truly feel like their window will open. Can they be a winning team while in Sacramento? They hold a 19-28 record at home this season, but those six games in Las Vegas were also home contests in which they went 4-2. So their Sacramento record is just 15-26.

Across the 2025 campaign and the first-half of 2026, the A's are 51-71 at home in Sacramento, good for a .418 winning percentage, which works out to about a 68-win pace. 

With that being the case, the question becomes whether the team could look to trade someone like left-hander Hogan Harris, who has been an integral part of the bullpen and a big development success story.

He holds a 3.43 ERA this season, can pitch constantly, and has four years of team control remaining. Harris is also in his age-29 season, and relief pitchers are volatile. He's been fairly steady for three seasons on these rebuilding clubs. Is now the time that they look to get a return?

A couple of years ago in a different part of the rebuilding cycle, the team traded away Lucas Erceg, who was in his age-29 season with years of team control remaining. That move netted the A's right-handers Mason Barnett (current member of the bullpen), Will Klein and outfielder Jared Dickey. Klein went on to be a postseason hero with the Dodgers. 

The year before that they moved lefty Sam Moll to the Cincinnati Reds for Joe Boyle. 

If the A's aren't contenders this season, and next season is a big question mark with the lockout, would it be worth exploring a trade of Harris? Right now the A's need pieces to surround the core they've assembled, and new faces could provide different outcomes. 

The next three series will play a role in the direction of the club for the rest of 2026, and potentially into the beginning of the Vegas years. 

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