Bold Predictions for the A's 2025 Season

After going 50-112 in 2023, the Athletics rebounded for a 19-win improvement last year at 69-93. That included a stretch in the second half of the year when they plated .500 ball. The goal for this team headed into 2025 will be to sustain that .500 record over the course of a full season.

The players are confident about fulfilling the task at hand, and they should be. There is a lot of talent up and down this roster. It does come with some big question marks, however. Will they have enough pitching? How will big-league ball play at a minor-league facility? What kind of an impact will the heat in Sacramento have on the A's during the summer months?

Yet, if you squint just a little bit, this team could end up surprising plenty of people this season in a less-tough AL West. The Houston Astros may have taken a step back, the Seattle Mariners didn't add a ton to their offense, and the Texas Rangers are good, when healthy. If it takes 85 victories to win the West, is that something the A's can pull off?

Perhaps.

Here are some bold predictions that would help them get there.

Sacramento Works to the A's Advantage

While this is still a bit of a question mark, playing in a Triple-A park could have some perks as well. For starters, the batter's eye in center has been fixed, and hitters seem to be excited about being able to see the ball during the first three innings of the game again. That could lead to a higher run environment than was originally planned for.

While this could certainly hurt the A's, given their starting rotation only having one starter projected for an ERA under 4.00 (Jeffrey Springs), with the other four finishing around 4.50 or higher, the A's have some big bats that can do damage in any environment.

The A's offense could be a top-10 run producer in the league after Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler were two of the top-10 bats in baseball in the second half of the 2024 campaign. Playing in a home park that is more conducive to offensive performance should help elevate their games.

Plus, there's the fact that other teams won't be thrilled to be playing in a minor-league park, so that should provide the Athletics with a bit of a mental edge from time to time. Manager Mark Kotsay will make sure his guys are in the right mindset throughout the season, and they should be a pretty solid team at home.

New All Star Representatives

This one is tricky. Obviously Brent Rooker and Mason Miller are two of the best at what they do at their positions, so they would almost appear to be locks to make it to Atlanta. They've also been All-Stars for the A's in 2023 (Rooker) and 2024 (Miller).

But there are two more players that figure to be in the mix in 2025, and we think both of them make it.

The boldness comes because there's not necessarily a way for the A's to get four All Star reps unless the A's are one of the best teams in baseball, so either Rooker, Miller, or both, would have to be left off the team.

The two players we're talking about are Lawrence Butler and Shea Langeliers. Butler has a reminder on his phone that goes off every day that reminds him that the All Star Game is in his neck of the woods, in Atlanta, Georgia. He is determined to make it there, and after the season he had from July on, it's hard to bet against him.

Langeliers is the interesting one here. While his .224 batting average isn't what you'd like to see, he did crush a career-high 29 homers last season and held a 109 wRC+. He's already in the mix to be one of the best qualified backstops in the AL.

But it was his lack of strikeouts this spring that really made it seem like he's about to put on a show all season. In 44 plate appearances, Langeliers struck out just once, while also hitting five doubles and two homers. He reportedly spent the offseason working on his opposite-field approach, which is what helped JJ Bleday reach new heights last season.

While he's certainly not going to keep up a 2.3% strikeout rate over the course of the regular season, cutting it down from 27% last year to 20% this season should provide more opportunities to do damage.

The A's Make a Big Trade to Acquire Starting Pitching

It's tough to predict exactly whom the A's will target, but if Sacramento is working out well for them and Langeliers is taking a big step forward to being an All Star caliber catcher, then the Athletics should be in contention. That means they'll want to make a move.

The biggest area of need for the club is likely high-caliber starting pitching. They have a lot of guys that could develop into number two or three starters, but they're not there yet.

In looking at the A's roster, Max Muncy is getting a crack at second base with Zack Gelof set to miss the beginning of the season, and last year's first-round pick Nick Kurtz is starting the season in Triple-A. If Muncy performs well, and Kurtz is pushing for a promotion after being pushed aggressively, then some tough decisions may have to be made.

Could the A's actually trade one of Gelof or Soderstrom? For this bold prediction to work out, yes they can. If they move both, the A's could be looking at three seasons of Sandy Alcantara, who is owed $17.3 million this season and next, and comes with a $21 million club option for 2027. A rotation of Severino, Springs, and Alcantara would be a formidable group in a postseason series.

It may not be Alcantara himself, but someone of that caliber will be headed to West Sacramento in 2025.