How the A's Can Use the Lockout to Build Bullpen Depth

The biggest area of need for the Athletics this winter is going to be building up the organization's big-league caliber bullpen depth .

Relief arms are volatile year over year, and as manager Mark Kotsay pointed out in September, the bullpen the A's had at that point in the season was very different than the one they finished the 2025 campaign with, despite the previous year's group holding a 2.99 ERA from August 1 through the end of the season. That ranked them second in MLB during that stretch.

The point here is that arms that have success one year aren't guaranteed the next season, and that is the problem the A's will be looking to solve this winter.

The CBA is set to expire on December 1, and the expectation of a lockout and a delay to the MLB season is strong, but there is a chance the A's could use a delay to their advantage.

While the MLB regular season is expected to be delayed, the minor-league campaign will proceed as normal, given that their CBA doesn't align with the MLBPA's version. Therein lies the opportunity.

Not every free agent on the market is going to be open to signing a minor-league deal, but for a team like the A's, there are legitimate opportunities to offer players — primarily relief pitchers — and a minor-league deal would keep them off the 40-man roster throughout the winter, which would allow them to play in the MiLB season.

If one of these players were off to a hot start, they could easily find themselves in the A's opening day bullpen after a few hot weeks.

On top of regular additions that the A's may need to make to the bullpen in Triple-A during an offseason, they also have four relievers on the current 40-man roster who will be unable to participate in these games if they remain on the roster when the lockout begins.

That is at least four opportunities the A's could hand out to other pitchers with a real potential of contributing at the big-league level for the club.

It's a win-win for both the player, who will be looking for an opportunity to pitch in the big leagues, and the A's, who certainly wouldn't mind adding some inexpensive relief options.

We've seen this work in the past, with the A's signing guys like Elvis Alvarado and Michel Otañez in recent years. Otañez was called up to the A's roster for his MLB debut in June of 2024, which is right around when the season may begin in 2027. Alvarado was initially called up for his own MLB debut in May of 2025.

This is something the A's have had success with in the past, but this offseason in particular, that quick path to the big leagues could end up being a selling point that differentiates the A's from other teams because they have a legitimate need for arms at the big-league level.

With a new front office shaping the organization , and upgrades expected to be made to the analytics department, minor-league deals could also give the A's a low-risk way to see whether the skills and attributes they're after in relievers hold up against live competition.