A depth option that filled in admirably during his time with us
Our Season In Review series continues today with a player that made just five appearances for the club, but was funnily enough on his third separate stint with the Athletics. That player is none other than journeyman starter Aaron Brooks. If you’ll remember, we first met Brooks as part of the return package for Ben Zobrist, along with left-handed starter Sean Manaea, and that trade was ten years ago. Crazy how time flies.
How was he acquired?
The club brought back the 34-year-old Brooks on a minor league deal in early February of this year. After electing free agency and leaving the San Diego Padres, the right-hander was on the free agent market for about three months before latching back on with the Athletics so the familiarity must have been a draw, along with joining a rotation competition with tons of question marks. It wasn’t a bad bet, and it’s one that would pay off for Brooks down the line.
What were the expectations?
Considering that he was signed just five days before pitchers and catchers were due to report, Brooks latched on right in time but would need to get familiar with the catchers, along with meeting a new coaching staff compared to his previous two stints. With other younger options and in the middle of a rebuild the club was surely hoping to avoid having to use Brooks this year. After all, he’s never really seen much major league success even though he’s stuck around the game for over a decade. If the club needed him for a spot start here or there, that’s fine because it’s a rebuilding year. But if we had to rely on Brooks for an extended stretch during the season, then something went terribly wrong with the Opening Day staff.
2024 Results
Brooks ultimately did start the year in Triple-A pitching for the Las Vegas Aviators. Granted, he was pitching in a very hitter-friendly ballpark but he got off to a rough start to his year down in Triple-A. In his first eight starts for the Aviators the right-hander went just 1-6 with a 4.57 ERA, racking up just 32 K’s in 43 1⁄3 innings, though his control looked good for the most part as he only walked 10 batters.
Then on May 15th the club decided to bring Brooks back up to the major league roster for his third official stint with the Athletics. Brooks was taking the roster spot of left-hander Alex Wood, who was placed on the IL with left rotator cuff tendonitis, which we now know would ultimately end Wood’s season.
Brooks was tabbed for the start the same evening he was called up, set to face off against the division-rival Houston Astros on the road. While Houston was off to a slow start they still had dangerous bats in that lineup and it wouldn’t have been shocking to see them get to Brooks. Instead the journeyman right-hander came out and fired off seven innings of three-run ball (5/1 K:BB) against the team that would ultimately win the division. That would be more than enough to earn Brooks another start, and with the way the starting rotation was looking the team was prepared to ride Brooks while he was hot.
His next start saw him hold down the Colorado Rockies for three runs in six innings at the Coliseum before a rematch against the Astros on home turf. Brooks was looking solid before a disastrous fourth inning saw his defense behind him fail him. In all Brooks yielded five runs but just one of those was earned because of the shoddy A’s defense. He deserved one more start but that final one put the nail in the coffin for Brooks. In his fourth and final start of the year for the major league team Brooks got shelled for seven runs by the Atlanta Braves, prompting the team to immediately designate Brooks for assignment.
The righty accepted his trip to Triple-A but it would be fairly short-lived. After just two outings for the Aviators the A’s recalled Brooks again to take the place of reliever Dany Jimenez, who had suffered an oblique strain. Brooks made the most of his time with the major league squad, pitching five innings of relief after a short start from Luis Medina. While Brooks saved the bullpen and looked good doing it, he was hurt by the fact that he had just pitched five innings and would now be unavailable for a while. The club thanked Brooks and DFA’d the right-hander for the second time this season. And that’s where he remained the rest of the season, acting as a bulk pitcher for the Aviators.
2025 Outlook
At the end of the season Brooks elected free agency, hitting the open market yet again during his decade-long career. If he joins another organization it’ll be his eighth separate team, along with one year overseas playing in Korea. That said, we can never shut the door on Brooks coming back for a fourth stint because the situation is fairly similar to last year. Uncertainty in the rotation, tons of unproven arms, injuries likely to pop up here and there, and we haven’t even signed one arm to reinforce the starting rotation. Don’t count out a reunion with Brooks just for depth purposes because that depth can and will get tested this upcoming season under the hot sun of Sacramento.