The 2025 MLB season is almost upon us! With less than one week to go before the Cubs and Dodgers do battle in Tokyo, each team is gearing up for the long, annual 162-game grind.
Each day this week at Call To The Pen, we'll take a look at every team in every division and analyze their best and worst-case scenarios for the 2025 season. We've already looked at the AL East, NL East, AL Central, and NL Central. Now, we'll head out west to the final division in the American League.
Athletics
Best-case scenario: The A’s got a lot of winter attention for their spending spree, which included signing free agent pitcher Luis Severino and extending 2024 rookie find Lawrence Butler. But their 2025 hopes probably ride with advancement from three lower-profile pitchers.
Left-hander J.P. Sears profiled as the team’s ace until Severino signed. He’s 29 with a lot of potential but he managed just an 11-13 record with a 4.38 ERA in 32 starts last season. Jeffrey Springs missed large chunks of 2024 with Tampa Bay, then came over in a trade.
Osvaldo Bido, also 29, was 5-3 with a 3.41 ERA in nine starts. The A’s can make big waves if and only if Sears, Springs and Bido produce around 90 combined starts in the 3.50 ERA range. They’re capable, but there are no assurances.
There are high expectations for an offensive core — Butler, Brent Rooker, J.J. Bleday, Shane Langeliers, Zack Gelof — that finished 12th in the league in runs per game last season. Butler’s numbers explain why: He slashed .211/.280/.406 over the season’s first half, but .300/.345/.553 in the second half.
Worst-case scenario: The sophomore slump bites Butler, Severino regresses to his 2023 form (6.65 ERA), and the rotation behind Severino fails to develop any reliable performers.
If that happens, the team’s best asset, closer Mason Miller, will be left with nothing to close. The A’s, losers of 307 games the last three seasons, will push 100 losses again.
Most likely scenario: The offense — thanks to All Star seasons from Butler and Brent Rooker — shows real growth. But Sears, Springs and Bido fail to give the rotation the uplift it needs behind Severino. The A’s are fun to watch but inconsistent, and probably doomed to third or fourth place.