With 10 players on the 60-day IL, the A's will have to add them back to the 40-man roster this offseason. Those decisions will have an impact on the team's offseason approach.
Injuries have sunk the A's this season, with many key bats missing large chunks of playing time. Without the pitching to compensate for those offensive losses, the team has struggled since June 20th, going just 23-57.
Brent Rooker (48 games), Jacob Wilson (80 games), Nick Kurtz (99 games), Shea Langeliers (100 games), and Tyler Soderstrom (109 games) were all expected to be the key contributors of an offense with plenty of upside. Now four of those five players are on the 60-day IL — Langeliers being the exception — which sets up a lot of decisions to be made.
When a player goes on the 60-Day IL, they are temporarily removed from the 40-man roster, creating space for other players to be added so that a team can continue to fill out a roster and play its scheduled games.
In addition to those four bats, utility infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer is another bat that is on the 60-day IL, joined by pitchers Luis Severino, Gunnar Hoglund, Brooks Kriske, Mark Leiter Jr., and Justin Sterner.
Figuring Out the 40-Man
Leiter and healthy catcher Jonah Heim are free agents when the season wraps up, so that takes care of two spots. Jeff McNeil and Jeffrey Springs have team options in their contracts that the A's will have to make a decision on. McNeil's is for $15.75 million, while Springs' is valued at $15 million.
Luis Severino has a player option for $22 million for 2027, so he will make his own decision for next season, and there is a chance that his decision and the A's wishes don't align, putting the team in a bind one way or another. Declining the player option would save a roster spot for someone else, but also take away one of the team's more reliable innings eaters in the rotation.
Sterner is certainly getting added back to the roster following knee surgery in August, as are Kurtz, Rooker, Soderstrom, and Wilson. One who could go either way is Kriske, who produced in both the minors and his short stint with the A's.
The other player on the fence is Gunnar Hoglund, 26, who has loads of talent, but injuries have kept him from showcasing it. He could be someone they look to remove from the 40-man but keep around as a depth option.
At the very least, the A's will have to add Kurtz, Rooker, Wilson, and Soderstrom during the offseason, forcing the team to make some cuts from the current roster.
