Elephant Rumblings: Ready to ring in the New Year

MLB news roundup

Good morning A’s fans! Rise and shine and welcome the last day of the year with a smile.

The Athletics have had a tough couple of seasons and none were tougher than the 2024 season. We lost 93 games as we in the East Bay said goodbye to our Green & Gold, losing our team to Sacramento (and eventually Las Vegas) in an unceremonious way.

But it’s about to be a whole new year and it’s no help to look back on the road you’ve been. It’s time to look ahead to what the team has in store for the 2025 season. The baseball season is quickly approaching with just 52 days until the first spring training game. And if you’re really desperate then you can count on pitchers and catchers reporting earlier, likely a couple weeks before that first game. It’s going to catch up on you really quick this year.

Before we get there though we have just less than two months left of winter to get through, and for a rebuilding team the club could still use some tweaking here and there. They’ve already added two starting pitchers and the rotation depth looks a lot stronger than it did last year. That depth can get tested really quickly though so the club may elect to add some more depth pieces behind Severino, Springs, Sears, and Spence. The bullpen has lost a few arms out of last year’s group (Austin Adams, Scott Alexander, Lucas Erceg) so the team could look to add to that group before the season ends.

Or the team could try to add one final position player to the current group, but that seems less likely than adding more pitching. Either way the team’s payroll currently sits around $85MM and if the team wants to avoid a greivance from the MLBPA then they still have some money to spend. Keep an eye out for any final additions to the club. You can also never count out any trades but it seems that more be more in the addition department than subtracting from the roster a la trading DH Brent Rooker.

It’s time to turn the page on this awful year and look forward to a more positive 2025. We’ve had the band-aid of losing the team from Oakland ripped off and next season promises to be a lot more exciting. How many bombs will the team hit in that minor league ballpark in Sacramento?

That’s it from us at Athletics Nation for the 2024 season. We will see each and every one of you in the new year. Have fun tonight everyone, and if you are going out please find a designated driver. Other than that, Happy New Year AN!

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics president Dave Kaval officially resigns
• Athletics 2024 Season In Review: Tyler Ferguson
• Athletics 2024 Season In Review: Easton Lucas
• Best of 2024: Last A’s Last Game at The Coliseum
• Oakland Roots and Soul Sports Club unveil development proposal for Howard Terminal site

MLB News & Interest:

• Patient Sasaki to begin narrowing field of potential teams
• Tigers reportedly ‘all in’ on third baseman Alex Bregman
• Josh Bell signs with Washington Nationals on 1-year deal
• Red Sox considering 6-man rotation with revamped pitching staff
• Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito expects to be ready for Opening Day
• Starting pitcher Trevor Williams returns to Washington Nationals on 1-year deal
• Veteran lefty Wade Miley plans to continue pitching in 2025; would prefer to remain with Brewers
• FBI warns leagues about targeting of athletes in home burglaries
• One prospect for every team to watch in 2025
• The on-field prank that got a catcher released
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Super cool:

All I want for 2025 is a new owner!