With the trade deadline looming, Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers was becoming a popular topic of discussion as a trade candidate, even though it never seemed likely he would be moved. 

On Sunday, he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a torn meniscus in his right knee (retroactive to July 25). The timeline for his recovery has not been disclosed just yet, but with the general recovery time being weeks if not months, there is a good chance this could end Langeliers' season, especially if the A's fall further back in the postseason hunt. 

The A's have recalled Brian Serven to serve as the backup catcher to Jonah Heim for now, though Heim is an impending free agent himself and could be a decent trade chip for the club in the coming week. 

This will be Serven's third stint with the A's this season after being optioned on July 15. In 61 games for the Aviators, he has hit .308 with nine home runs and a .939 OPS across 221 at-bats. With the A's, the 31-year-old backstop has gone 1-for-4 in two games played. 

This is yet another big blow to the A's fading hopes of competing in the postseason. In addition to missing Langeliers' bat, the A's are also without DH Brent Rooker in the middle of the lineup for the rest of the season. All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz just returned from the IL on Saturday, while Zack Gelof is nearing his own return. 

At 44-60, the A's playoff odds on FanGraphs currently sit at just 0.5%. 

We've talked about the cons to trading Langeliers the past week, and one of those detrimental factors has been the development time that would be lost for the A's young pitchers without Langeliers behind the dish. 

Guys like Gage Jump, J.T. Ginn, Jacob Lopez, and Jack Perkins are all arms looking to establish themselves in the league. While Langeliers will be around to gameplan before games and serve as a sounding board in pre-and-post work, he won't be behind the dish working through their starts with them.

On top of that, the A's also fired pitching coach Scott Emerson coming out of the All-Star break, so there are new inputs from interim pitching coach Dan Hubbs, plus the loss of their regular backstop in Langeliers. 

For young players finding their way in the big leagues, establishing a consistent routine can lead to a lot of success. Right now the stability of the staff is being challenged, and these final two months of the season could be more about survival rather than development.