Could the A's and Chicago White Sox Strike a Deal For an Underrated Closer Option?

The A's could use a closer with upside, but are the White Sox wlling to deal?

Jul 9, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Jordan Leasure (R) celebrates with catcher Edgar Quero (L) team's win against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Earlier this offseason, we took a look at the types of pitchers the A's have added to serve as the club's closer over the past two decades, and there have been stretches of time, including with Mason Miller, that they have gone with a fairly inexperienced option, but one that provided upside.

Assuming the A's are looking outside of the organization for their ninth inning guy, the Chicago White Sox may have an arm for the A's to take a look at in 27-year-old right-hander Jordan Leasure. He was originally a 14th round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021, and was traded to the Sox back in 2023 as part of the Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly deal.

Leasure made his MLB debut with the White Sox in 2024, making 33 appearances and collecting 31 1/3 innings of work while posting a 6.32 ERA with a 1.60 WHIP. He also came with a 12.7% walk rate and just an 18.3% strikeout rate. So what's to like? Well, he made some changes this past season.

Slight tweaks, big results

After a lackluster 2024, Leasure ended up switching up his pitch mix in 2025, dropping his curveball and instead adding in a splitter and a sinker, which he threw sparingly. While he added two new pitches to his pitch mix in 2025, he actually ended up relying on his four-seamer and slider more often, going from a combined 88.6% usage between the two offerings, up to 96%.

The whiff rate on his heater stayed consistent at 25.6%, while that simple change had his slider go from a 28% whiff to a 40.8% whiff rate, which is a big step forward. He also finished with a 3.92 ERA (3.16 xERA) and upped his strikeout rate to 30.1%, while his walk rate also dipped slightly to 11.2%.

Why he's intriguing

The stats are nice, especially the expected numbers, but it's his extension that's really interesting. His seven feet of extension ranks in the 91st percentile in the league. The only A's pitcher above that number is Jacob Lopez, who ranks in the 95th percentile. Grant Holman also ranked in the 94th when he was healthy.

Leasure's extension, coupled with his velocity at 96 miles per hour, makes him a pretty hard thrower. Brent Rooker told us late in the season that those guys with really good extension could be adding a couple of miles per hour to their heaters. While pure velocity doesn't rule the game like it once did, sneaky velocity can still be extremely effective.

On top of the extension, Leasure also held a .192 expected batting average against, which ranked in the 96th percentile, while his whiff% and K% each ranked above the 90th percentile. In a ballpark like Sutter Health, swing-and-miss stuff could lead to good results.

He's also not an established closer just yet, which could keep the cost of acquisition a little lower than a premier late-inning arm. He has saved a total of nine games in his career, and went just 7-of-12 in save opportunities last year.

Of course, the White Sox wouldn't be looking to just give him away, either. Perhaps moving one of their copious depth starters like Joey Estes or Mitch Spence could be a starting point for a deal between the two clubs?

With four guys looking to be in the mix at third base this spring, the A's could also move one of those options in a potential deal as well.

Reason to pump the breaks

Of course, it would take two to tango to make a deal happen, and there is no certainty that Leasure would even be available. Presumably the White Sox would also like to win baseball games in 2026. That said, if they can land a good deal for a former 14th rounder, then they could be incentivized to pounce.

All that said, there are a couple of potential reasons to pump the breaks.

The first is that his ground ball rate was just 28.7% last season, which ranked in the 2nd percentile. Sacramento is home to a very hitter-friendly ballpark, and the more ground balls a pitcher can produce, the better. At the same time, his whiff and strikeout rates should help him counteract the lack of ground balls to a degree.

The other big reason is that his barrel% ranked in the 13th percentile, which isn't great. A barrel is basically "loud contact" off the bat. That said, his average exit velocity was in the 54th percentile, and his hard hit% came in at 71st.

Finally, he did get a little bit of a boost from playing in the AL Central, as the ballparks in that division helped him suppress home runs a little bit. He gave up 12 dingers last season, but would have allowed 11 in both Detroit and Cleveland, 12 in Kansas City, and 14 in Minnesota.

In the AL West, he would have allowed 16 with the A's in Sacramento, 12 in Houston, 14 in Los Angeles with the Angels, 13 in Seattle, and 11 with the Texas Rangers. It's a small difference, but when you're talking about relief pitchers, those extra few runs could be the difference between a solid season and a league average one.

Still, given the upside, he's certainly worth a look to be a key cog in the A's bullpen, if not just the flat-out closer. While he had some blown saves overall, he also held a 2.87 ERA in the ninth inning across 15 2/3 innings, generating 20 strikeouts in the process. The ninth was his best inning of work in 2025.