Why the A's Are Unlikely to Trade Shea Langeliers at the Deadline

Rumors are swirling based off recent reports from Jon Heyman of the New York Post indicating that since the A's extension talks with Shea Langeliers didn't go anywhere previously, that the club is now "open to anything" at the trade deadline. 

Heyman says that the A's offered Langeliers "around $80 million" but the talks went nowhere. What is not provided is how many years that would be covering, which could be the determining factor in any extension talks with Langeliers. 

Of course, if the A's decided to move him, he would become one of the biggest trade chips on the market with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers likely to be two clubs pursuing his services.

The A's would presumably seek right-handers Elmer Rodríguez (No. 73 overall) or Carlos Lagrange (No. 80 overall) from the Yankees, or Christian Zazueta (No. 85) from the Dodgers, as starting points for any potential deal. While Dodger righty River Ryan is ranked more highly at No.67 overall, he's also 27, compared to Zazueta, who is 21. 

Langeliers is following up his breakout 2025, in which he posted a 132 wRC+ (100 is league average), with a 123 wRC+ and 22 home runs this year, making him one of the best offensive catchers in baseball yet again, and he ranks third among catchers in fWAR at 2.4. His 22 homers rank second among catchers behind Hunter Goodman's 30. 

The A's catcher is 28 years old and under team control through the 2028 season, meaning that he would be entering free agency approaching his age-31 campaign. Catchers don't tend to age particularly well, and so a long-term commitment may not be the best idea anyway — especially with the A's expected to land in Las Vegas in 2028. 

Making a decision on Langeliers' future with the club before that season would be worthwhile. But that doesn't mean that he's getting moved in the next two weeks.

Just last week, A's GM David Forst held a press conference to discuss a multitude of topics, including the trade deadline. He said that the team's deadline approach would be determined by how the club plays in the coming weeks. At 42-57, the A's aren't in a great spot, but in an awful American League, they're just eight games back in the AL West.

That is the first major reason that it's unlikely the A's trade Langeliers during the season. While the team is outside of the playoff picture, they still believe they could get back into the mix. It's tough to see going from an on-the-fence approach to trading a franchise cornerstone that quickly. 

This makes the extension decision and any trade return two sides of the same problem: get either wrong and the team enters Vegas either overpaying an aging catcher or thin behind the plate.

The quote from Heyman that the A's are "open to anything" could simply be that they're open to either buying or selling at the deadline, because their path has not been determined.

Playing meaningful games in September would be big for this franchise, as they have been in rebuild mode since Kotsay took over in 2022. Removing a key offensive cog and one of their two All-Stars may not fall under that same umbrella, and would set the franchise back while they should be pushing forward. 

The other big reason that the A's aren't likely to trade Langeliers with any haste is that they have no backup plan behind the plate right now. None of their top-30 prospects are full-time catchers, and all of the backstops they have in Triple-A are veteran options, not long-term solutions.  

Trading him in the next couple of weeks would also mean that the A's would have to acquire another solid catcher either at the deadline, or let Jonah Heim take over full-time duties for the remainder of the season before he hits free agency and then find both a starter and a backup solution in what is expected to be an offseason with a lockout.

Heim has been a solid backup for the A's, but he's still batting just .231 with a .278 OBP and a .726 OPS. He's not the long-term solution, but can work in a pinch. He's also just turned 31. Removing Langeliers midseason would also prove detrimental to the A's developing pitching staff. 

That means less time to work on trades, sign free agents, and just generally improve the roster. That said, it was after the last lockout that the A's traded Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves and landed Langeliers in the first place. The other trades they made in that timeframe didn't pan out quite as well. 

If the A's were to trade Langeliers, the more likely scenario would be that it happens during the offseason. His value will be similar to where it is currently, and teams may even have a better idea of what to expect he'd command in arbitration. Teams love knowing costs. 

Last season, the A's weren't expecting to trade Mason Miller. Then the San Diego Padres offered up MLB's No. 2 prospect, Leo De Vries. With comparably limited team control, Langeliers wouldn't necessarily net a prize that grand, but he would be able to bring back at least a meaningful pitching piece — with nobody to throw to. 

The day before the deadline, Miller knew he was in trade rumors, but wasn't necessarily expecting to be moved.

A few hours later, the Padres had made a huge push and Miller — held out of the game as a trade with the Padres came together — was unavailable to close out an A's win in what turned out to be his final day with the club. Since last year's deadline, the A's have been searching for their next closer, going with a committee approach.

That same tactic isn't applicable behind the plate, where a rotating cast would be unable to build a rapport with a pitching staff that is already struggling.