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The Case For the A's to Trade Shea Langeliers
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- The Case For the A's to Trade Shea Langeliers
(David Dermer-Imagn Images)
With a new head of baseball operations coming this offseason, we know that the direction the Athletics will be hoping to head immediately is up. The question is whether the new person in charge will take some big swings immediately to acquire the pitching that the team needs.
Shea Langeliers is the team's biggest potential trade piece, and they reportedly spoke with him about a potential extension last winter, which he declined. According to Jon Heyman, the extension offer was in the $80 million ballpark .
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That could be seen as a sign by the A's that he's not going to be signing an extension with the club, so they may as well use him to acquire the next wave of talented players for a competitive roster.
The added bonus from the team's perspective is that they have a number of players locked up, including Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, Jacob Wilson, and Tyler Soderstrom, plus young guys like Nick Kurtz, Zack Gelof, and Henry Bolte who complete the majority of the team's position-player core. Even without Langeliers, they would have some firepower offensively.
The Case For Trading Shea Langeliers
If the A's aren't going to be able to sign Langeliers to an extension, it would certainly make sense to see what kind of offers are out there for one of the best offensive catchers in the game. The backstop hit .262 with a .328 OBP this season, belting 23 home runs in an injury-plagued 106-game season. He also held a 115 wRC+ (100 is league average), ranking 7th among catchers.
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The trade value is there.
The A's have Langeliers under team control for two more seasons, and one of those years may be impacted by a lockout, with labor strife on the horizon this offseason. With 2027 being an unknown, that would leave him with the A's in 2028, his final season, and the team's first in Las Vegas. Letting him walk in free agency immediately after arriving in town may not be the best look to a new fan base.
The A's also run the risk of owning his decline years if they extend him. On the offensive side of the ball, Langeliers has mirrored J.T. Realmuto in a number of ways at this point in his career, and that should be used as a word of warning.
Realmuto has declined significantly the past two seasons and has topped out at a 106 wRC+ the past four years before bottoming out at a 68 this past season.
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With just two years of team control remaining for the A's, that would mean an extension would have to go at least three years into his free-agent years to make any sense for him to sign on. Anything less would just be delaying his free agency with a looming drop-off that comes for all catchers around the corner.
So if an extension doesn't necessarily make sense — or at least work for both parties — and one of the two remaining seasons of team control could be impacted by a lockout this offseason, then it would make a decent amount of sense to collect some controllable pitching to help this club have success.
New Direction Behind the Plate?
If the A's were to trade Langeliers, the offense may take a slight step backward, but the front office could also target a more defensive-minded catcher to aid the pitching staff further.
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Langeliers graded out well as a throwing catcher (+2), but his framing (-5) and blocking (-1) were below league average this past season. Only five teams in MLB finished with a league-average or better wRC+ at the catcher position. Three of those teams didn't make the postseason, while the Chicago Cubs were eliminated in the Wild Card round.
Of course the Milwaukee Brewers — led by William Contreras — will be playing in the World Series.
With so much offensive firepower on the roster, the A's could look elsewhere for a more defensive-minded option. Those types of catchers are also a little more widely available.
What a Good Langeliers Trade Would Look Like
The A's would obviously be after pitching in this deal, and likely upper-level arms. In a similar-value trade at the deadline, the Boston Red Sox acquired Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for three prospects that are now ranked No. 2, No. 6, and No. 12 in Baltimore's system.
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Both right-hander Anthony Eyanson (No. 45 in MLB) and outfielder Enddy Azocar (No. 99) are top-100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, so that is the level of return the A's would be seeking here. The third piece, right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, is Baltimore's 12th-ranked prospect.
That's where a team like the New York Yankees could have some trouble landing Langeliers, since they only have one top-100 prospect, and it's a shortstop.
Rutschman is a free agent following the 2027 season, which means that he had about a year and a half of team control remaining, even with a potential lockout. Langeliers will have more time remaining on his deal with a full season in 2028 included as well.
Both Langeliers and Rutschman are the same age, and over the past three seasons, Langeliers has been worth 7.8 fWAR, while Rutschman racked up 7.0 fWAR.
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The pitching talent that the A's would acquire doesn't necessarily have to be in the minor leagues; those arms just represent the most available team control. If New York wanted to move Will Warren and more, then a conversation could certainly be had.
With a new person in the head chair in the A's front office this winter, it would make sense for Langeliers trades to at least be discussed, if only to see what the market for such a deal would be.
Pulling the trigger could be a little tougher with the accelerated pace that this offseason is expected to move due to the shutdown of the sport caused by the expected lockout in December, and things not picking up again at all until spring training, leaving just weeks for a person in this new role to accomplish what they would typically have months to take care of.
