The Athletics 2026 Season Preview: It's The Hope That Gets You -

What Happened In 2025?

76-86 – 4^th in the American League West

The A’s again gave a respectable account of themselves last season.

And this was again reflected in the stats too, with season-on-season improvements across a number of stats; we ended the regular season in the top half for a number of hitting stats, finishing 2025 seventh in the league for home runs (219), twelfth in runs (733) and RBIs (709) and we had the fifth-highest batting average (.253) and amount of hits (1403).

It has to be said that this was thanks to some fine performances at-bat on an individual level too; Nick Kurtz – who was unanimously voted the AL Rookie of the Year – had 36 home runs and 86 RBIs despite only being called up to the majors part-way through the season, Shea Langeliers had 31 HRs and 72 RBIs despite missing part of the season with an oblique injury and Brent Rooker hit 30 homes runs and had 89 RBIs. That was the first time three different A’s players have had 30 or more homes runs in a season since 2001 although it shouldn’t take anything away from the A’s other batters though – Tyler Soderstrom hit 25 homes runs and had 93 RBIs while Lawrence Butler hit 21 homes runs and had 63 RBIs. Jacob Wilson, meanwhile, finished the season with the third-highest batting average in all of MLB (.311), which played a large part in him finishing second in AL ROTY voting behind Kurtz.

Big Off-Season News

In terms of player acquisitions, the big one was the addition of second baseman Jeff McNeil in a trade with the New York Mets.

Jeff McNeil was traded to the A’s after 13 seasons with the New York Mets (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

For me though, one addition that should not be overlooked is that Bob Melvin has returned to the A’s, now with the title ‘Special Assistant, Baseball Operations’. Melvin was the A’s head coach for ten seasons between 2011-2021, and led the Oakland A’s to six postseason appearances in that time. Giving current head coach Mark Kotsay access to Melvin’s knowledge and experience at a time when the A’s are rebuilding and trying to be more competitive can only be a good thing. Surely?

One to watch

I’m going to say the same thing I said in my 2025 Season Preview article; as much as I’d love to say Shotaro Morii, it’s very unlikely he will see the major leagues at all this season, no matter how good he may be or how much excitement there is around a now-19-year-old two-way Japanese player being signed by an MLB team.

Imagine the headlines if he entered the action for the A’s against the Dodgers though, particularly if that other two-way Japanese player was on the field…

Instead, someone who has been mentioned elsewhere repeatedly is LHP Gage Jump, currently with the A’s Triple A affiliate Las Vegas Aviators, and dear goodness, do the A’s need to do better at pitching this season given the A’s finished the 2025 season twentieth in all of MLB for strikeouts (1323), issued the third-most walks (570) which was helped in no small part by the fact the A’s hit the second-most batters (80) and allowed the eighth-most hits (1387) and the third-most home runs (222).

Jump is only rated as MLB’s #57 prospect though. Shortstop Leo de Vries, meanwhile, who was acquired from the San Diego Padres last season in the Mason Miller trade, is rated as MLB’s #4 prospect. How the A’s would fit both him and fellow SS Jacob Wilson into the same lineup though remains to be seen.

How the 2026 season will unfold

It shouldn’t be ignored that MLB.com rates the A’s as having the fifth-best lineup in all of MLB, and I will gladly agree with them on that if they want to rate the team so highly – Kurtz, Langeliers and Rookers have all shown that they have great power at-bat, and they are supported by the likes of Butler, Soderstrom, Wilson and, now, McNeill. The weakness in our at-bat lineup would probably be Denzel Clarke, but he should be in the lineup as we need his outstanding defensive play.

Instead, the thing standing between the A’s and on-field progression that leads to a better record and possible postseason appearance is our pitching rotation and bullpen. As I’ve already mentioned, the A’s pitching was not good last season, and the team is going to need to see something better from Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs in particular, as well as the likes of Jacob Lopez and Elvis Alvarado taking a step up, if the A’s win-loss record is going to better reflect the increased offensive production we’ve seen from the A’s in the past two seasons.

I’m someone who acknowledges the expertise of others, and Martin Gallegos, who writes about the A’s for MLB.com, summed it up very well when he said the following;

“The A’s lineup is expected to slug with the best of them. But to achieve their goal of making the playoffs in 2026, they will need more from their starting rotation, which combined for a 4.85 ERA last season that ranked fourth-highest in the Majors … better production from the starters will be key.”

Brett Walker is The Athletics contributor for Bat Flips & Nerds, and can be found on Twitter @BrettChatsSport. He can also be found on Bluesky too.