Three A's Officially Elect Free Agency

The World Series is in the books, and the offseason is officially underway. A total of 144 players hit the open market Thursday morning, including three A's veterans in backup catcher Jonah Heim and right-handed relief pitchers Mark Leiter Jr. and Brooks Kriske. 

The two big losses for the roster will be Heim and Leiter, while Kriske, 32, totaled 2 ⅔ innings with the A's in 2026. He was injured in mid-May and missed the rest of the season with a right shoulder impingement. 

Heim was acquired on May 4 when Shea Langeliers was on paternity leave and the A's needed a backup catcher. He ended up taking the role over when Langeliers returned, pushing Austin Wynns out. Heim ended up hitting some clutch home runs for the club and creating numerous memories for the fans in his first few weeks with the club. 

When Langeliers went down due to injury, Heim became the starting catcher, but his numbers started to dwindle in the second half with the larger workload. In the first half he hit .232 with a .289 OBP and a 97 wRC+ across 180 plate appearances. In the second half that sank to a .180 average with a .238 OBP and a 39 wRC+ over 210 plate appearances. 

The last game Langeliers caught was on July 24. Up to that point, Heim had hit .233 with a .278 OBP and an 88 wRC+ with the A's. From that point forward, Heim hit .173 with a .235 OBP and a 39 wRC+. Heim was a serviceable backup to Langeliers, who will resume his role behind the plate in 2027. 

One skill he excelled at was ABS challenges, where he finished atop the leaderboard in MLB in runs above average with 4.3. Colorado's Hunter Goodman ranked second in MLB with 3.9. Heim made 100 challenges behind the dish and was successful 65 times. 

Mark Leiter Jr. has an interesting profile that ended up working very well with the A's. The team needed an arm to combat left-handed bats, and Leiter, a righty, ended up being one of their best options. 

Left-handers hit just .237 against him, although they also held a .333 OBP. Still, his FIP against lefties was just 1.93, while it stood at 4.39 against right-handers. 

Leiter had a tough start to the season, holding an ERA of 9.00 through April 15, but from that point forward he was the A's best relief pitcher, holding a 2.81 ERA (2.16 FIP) across 25 ⅔ innings.

He was also one of the rare pitchers who actually pitched better at home in Sacramento than on the road. At Sutter Health Park he notched a 2.25 ERA, while it rose to 6.11 everywhere else. 

Both Heim and Leiter offer some value as potential candidates to return to the A's roster for 2027, if they're open to that possibility. Leiter figured out how to pitch in a hitter's park, while Heim's ABS challenge ability would be a nice skill for the club as they continue to develop the pitching staff.