A Half-Measure Addition Makes Sense For the A's, For Now

The Athletics enter Wednesday at 18-17, just a game over .500, and yet two games above the Seattle Mariners in the AL West. In nearly every other division, they'd be operating at a good-sized deficit of at least four games, but the A's find themselves in the spot they want to be for the whole year.

While it's still considered early and standings hold more weight after Memorial Day, the green and gold need to make sure that they're putting out the best roster possible on a nightly basis.

On Tuesday night in the series opener with the Philadelphia Phillies, Luis Severino kept the game close for five innings, Scott Barlow added a scoreless sixth inning, and then Mark Leiter Jr. and Tyler Ferguson allowed four runs each in the final two frames. The Phillies won by a final of 9-1, despite the game being tight until the seventh.

Leiter holds a 7.98 ERA right now and hasn't gone more than four outings without allowing at least a run to score. Three of his 17 appearances this season have resulted in three or more runs. At the very least, he should not be entering close games.

At the same time, it's tough to blame A's skipper Mark Kotsay here, since the team was down in this game 1-0 already. He wasn't necessarily deploying the "A" bullpen of Joel Kuhnel and Jack Perkins, but rather trying to go with guys he believed could hold the game where it stood. On Tuesday, he chose poorly.

Now the A's have to make a move.

A's need to make a half-measure addition

The A's have a slight cushion in the division, but that lead won't last if the bullpen doesn't get figured out quickly.

We know that Kuhnel and Perkins are the late inning options, with Hogan Harris able to work late in games or in big spots early. Scott Barlow has been a nice addition, and Justin Sterner has pitched well outside of the ninth inning.

Luis Medina hasn't been tested consistently, and perhaps it's time for that to happen. The righty holds a 2.13 ERA across 12 2/3 innings this season, but that also comes with a 4.33 FIP, suggesting some regression could be coming.

There are pieces in this bullpen that make it work. Just last week we wrote about how the A's conglomeration of arms has helped them to the second-best ERA in MLB since trading away Mason Miller. And yet, they just don't feel reliable on a nightly basis.

It's time for the A's to make a half-measure move.

A middle reliever or a backend starter is the logical place to start. This could also be a slight upgrade elsewhere. What we're after here is a spark, because despite their record, they still haven't truly played all three phases of the game consistently all year.

We want to see an addition that helps take some of the pressure off the pitchers carrying the load right now, because the starters need to go deeper into games to give the bullpen a break, but that's not happening consistently, and the current options in the minors just aren't ready yet.

We're in a never-ending cycle of the bullpen being rested, or nearly rested, and then the starter gets pulled early or a reliever gets hit around and it takes two arms to finish one inning.

Make a half-measure addition — a waiver claim, a low-level trade like the one for Jonah Heim but on the pitching side — and see what they bring to this club.

Then, closer to the trade deadline, the A's will have a better understanding of what they have to work with, along with which pieces they may be able to move in a deal, and can take a bigger swing when the time comes. The half-measure approach is meant to address some current needs and collect some wins right now.

Any move at the deadline should be focused on earning wins the rest of the season, and then getting wins in October.

Add us as a preferred source on Google