Another addition during an already busy offseason
The spending A’s just keep on adding. General manager David Forst spoke recently about adding one or two more pieces to the team and today we have an addition. The club is in agreement on a 1-year deal with free agent right-handed reliever José Leclerc:
We have signed right-handed pitcher José Leclerc to a one-year contract. pic.twitter.com/N2TcWcmI7X
— Athletics (@Athletics) January 17, 2025
The deal guarantees Leclerc $10 million for his services this coming season, which now pushes the 2025 payroll up to roughly $100 million, though don’t check my math. If that checks out then the club is just barely pushing up against the $105 million they must spend for owner John Fisher to continue receiving revenue sharing from other teams. Kind of obvious why he’s opened his pocket book so much this offseason, and predictable that he’d stop spending at the very bare minimum. I digress.
The 31-year old Leclerc comes over from the division-rival Texas Rangers, with whom he has spent the entirety of his big league career with. Over nine years with the Rangers Leclerc has bounced between a potential closer-in-waiting, to closer, to middle relief, to set up man over the course of his career. Overall in eight* seasons (Leclerc only pitched in two games during 2020 and missed the 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery) the right-hander has 3.27 ERA over 350 games pitched, demonstrating a strong ability to rack up strikeouts but also walking too many batters. He was once the Ranger’s primary closer so he has late-game experience, as well as playoff innings under his belt from their recent World Series run.
His most recent season wasn’t his strongest. His first two seasons back from TJ surgery went exceptionally well for someone recovering from that awful injury, tossing 104 2⁄3 innings with an above-average 2.75 ERA while making it into 96 contests. His 2024 season was less than stellar. While he made it into 64 games and was a consistent option for the Rangers he also nearly matched his worst full-season ERA, posting a 4.32 mark. That doesn’t tell the whole story for him though as he also suffered from bad luck with a .314 BABIP. On the plus side his strikeout and walk rates remained roughly the same and his FIP, which can be a better quantifier of skill, was a much more respectable 3.48 over his final season in Texas. it’s fair to expect that to continue as he joins his second organization.
Adding Leclerc to the bullpen definitely helps. The ‘pen was one of the final spots on the roster that needed tinkering with behind All-Star closer Mason Miller and Leclerc fits that bill. It’s likely he’ll slide right into late-game duties as things are set up right now. Other arms that were in the race for setup duties, namely fellow righties Tyler Ferguson and Michael Otanez, will now slide down the pecking order into middle relief, which they seemed better suited for in the first place. The team was looking for an experienced, late-inning arm and they’ve found it in Leclerc, who they’ve seen plenty of over the past few years. Now he’ll be on the other side pitching for the Green & Gold.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Leclerc the team designated right-handed reliever Will Klein for assignment. The righty only just arrived to the Athletics’ organization, having come over from the Royals as part of the trade package for Lucas Erceg. Klein managed to pitch in a few games for the A’s down the final stretch of the previous season but didn’t look great. Still, the club is surely hoping to sneak the hard-throwing Klein through waivers and keep him in the organization. For now, though, he is on waivers and available to be claimed by another team. Hopefully no one does because Klein is an interesting relief arm that the club literally just acquired.
Welcome aboard José!