How an Overlooked Cardinals Castoff Became One of the A’s Best in 2025

One of the trickier parts of a rebuild is knowing which players to set loose to create a new opportunity, and which players to hold onto to see if things click. The A's had Ernie Clement for six games at the tail end of the 2022 season, and now he's a big bat in the Toronto Blue Jays' lineup on the way to the World Series. It happens.

This past winter, it happened to the St. Louis Cardinals, who let go of right-handed relief pitcher Gustavo Rodriguez. While he didn't work his way onto the A's top-30 prospect list or anything, he did turn in an incredible season for the Athletics on the farm, and worked his way up to Triple-A in the process.

The 24-year-old hails from Cumana, Venezuela, and had topped out at Hi-A with the Cardinals in his six seasons with the franchise (seven years including 2020). The A's signed him in November, but didn't protect him in minor league portion last year's Rule 5 Draft, landing him with the Los Angeles Angels during the offseason.

On March 20, the Angels decided to release Rodriguez, and he ended up re-signing with the A's, who proceeded to strap a rocket to his back during the season. Now they have a big question to answer this winter.

Talk About a Breakout

The Athletics started Rodriguez in Hi-A Lansing where he made six scoreless appearances, gave up one hit, walked one and struck out five. On May 14, he was pitching for Double-A Midland. He worked another 6 1/3 scoreless innings for the RockHounds, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out 11.

On June 6, he was promoted again. This time, with Triple-A Las Vegas, he would actually give up a few runs. One of them came at the end of June, his first of the season. He then rattled off another 10 consecutive scoreless appearances for the Aviators, which ran into August.

That also happened to be his toughest month, where he held a 6.10 ERA after giving up seven runs across 10 1/3 innings of work. Six of the eight runs he gave up all season came in a five-day span against Tacoma. He's go on to have another scoreless month in September to close things out.

Overall, he finished the 2025 season with a 1.64 ERA with a .160 batting average against and a 1.09 WHIP across 44 minor league innings. 31 2/3 of those innings were in Vegas. The numbers were flashy, but he also held a 3.82 FIP, which could indicate some regression moving forward.

The Big Decision

Rodriguez was terrific in 2025, and seemed to take a step forward in development with the A's. This winter, they'll have to make a big decision that could impact his future with the club.

The 24-year-old is Rule 5 eligible again this winter, and the A's will have to either add him to the 40-man roster, or risk losing him in the Rule 5 Draft in December. On the surface, this looks like an easy decision for a club that could use more pitching options, but 40-man spots are valuable commodities, and there is also a little concern in his profile.

Rodriguez held a 28.4% strikeout rate overall on the year, which is solid. He also walked 12.6% of the batters he faced between all three levels. However, in just Las Vegas those rates were a bit closer. He ended up striking out 26.3%, which is still great, but he was walking 15.3% of hitters. Where he'd been dominant in the lower minors, he held a 4.69 FIP in Triple-A.

The righty has an interesting two-pitch mix, with a mid-90s four-seamer that can reach 99, which he pairs with a low-to-mid-80s curveball. In his final appearance of the regular season, he tossed two innings against Salt Lake, and the heater had a 57% whiff rate (8-of-14) while the curve sat at 78% (7-of-9). Every big-league bullpen could use more whiffs.

He seems to have the tools to be an effective arm for the A's as early as 2026, but that walk rate may the only factor keeping him from earning a spot on the 40-man next month.

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