Two Big Decisions the A's Have to Make with Addition of Aaron Civale
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Just this morning we released our projected Opening Day roster for the 2026 A's squad, and in the rotation we had listed J.T. Ginn as the likely fifth starter. We also added the caveat that if the club signed a veteran starter, then Ginn would be out.
Well, the A's have signed a veteran starter, Aaron Civale, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal is worth $6 million, and includes an additional $1.5 million in incentives. He will slot into the A's rotation, joining the projected starting four of Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, Luis Morales and Jacob Lopez.
Civale has a career 4.14 ERA (4.25 FIP) and last season he finished with a 4-9 record in 23 games (18 starts) across 102 innings of work. He also held a 4.85 ERA (4.63 FIP). This addition could work for the A's, who have an offense that is looking to be a top-10 group yet again. Adding a league average arm may be enough with the offense the A's boast.
The 30-year-old right-hander is led by his elite cutter, which he used 35% of the time last season and batters hit .252 against it with a 24.9% whiff rate. In terms of "stuff" it rates at a 129 on the Stuff+ scale, which is a very high quality pitch that ups his entire arsenal's score. He also has solid control, walking just 6.6% of hitters over his career and 7.1% last year.
This is a solid addition to the roster, and gives the A's a veteran starter that will provide them innings at the beginning of the year while their younger arms continue to develop for a potential run to the big leagues later in the year.
His signing does leave the A's with a couple of big questions to answer, however.
Two questions for A's to answer
The first question is fairly obvious, and that is who will be the player that is designated for assignment to clear space for Civale on the roster. The club has still not made Scott Barlow's reported deal official yet, meaning that in the coming days (likely Wednesday when pitchers and catchers report), there will have to be two roster moves made.
There are a couple of arms that have had opportunities the past couple of seasons, but may not be at the forefront of the team's plans heading into 2026 that could be the ones on the chopping block here.
The other question, and this one is potentially larger from a roster construction standpoint, is how this signing impacts Jack Perkins' role on the club. In our roster projection, we had him starting in the minors to continue to develop as a starting pitcher so that he'd be ready to eat innings in the rotation when called upon.
Given his injury history and a need for a pitcher like him in the closer role, could the A's make the switch to have him in the bullpen this spring? The timing could make sense.
There is a need, but also, with the addition of Civale the A's are buying time until guys like Gage Jump, Braden Nett, Kade Morris, Henry Baez or Jamie Arnold are ready. All of them are knocking on the door to the big leagues already.
Perkins could also be in that starter mix for the club just as easily, but at some point he could be pushed out do to the plethora of options available and his particularly skill set that could make him a lights out relief pitcher, following in the Mason Miller mold.
It could be time to pull the trigger on Perkins in the bullpen, which would set off its own set of ripple effects to constructing the roster.
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Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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