MESA, Ariz. -- You might have missed it last year, but the Athletics performed as one of the better teams in baseball over the second half, finishing 39-37 after July 1 with series victories over playoff teams such as the Astros (twice), Phillies and Mets.
In case you were not paying close attention to that second-half surge by the A’s, Lawrence Butler is here to remind you this Spring Training that it might be time to start paying attention to what is brewing with the green and gold.
“We still feel slept on,” Butler said. “We’re going to wake the league up. You heard it here first.”
Butler is not alone in his belief that the A’s are ready to break out. Fellow teammate JP Sears is also coming into camp with the expectation that the A’s will compete for the playoffs in 2025, a stage this team has not reached since 2020.
“The goal is to make the playoffs this year, without a doubt,” Sears said. “If you would have said that the last two years, people around us would laugh at it. … But I think everybody that knows ball and knows the type of young guys we have and the type of attitudes we have and the veteran additions we made, [making the playoffs] is very doable. That’s a very realistic goal, and that’s how our mindset is going to be all Spring Training and all season.”
Building off that encouraging finish to the 2024 season, the A’s addressed their need for pitching this offseason by adding Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs to their rotation and signing José Leclerc as an experienced reliever who will join the bullpen as a likely setup man to All-Star closer Mason Miller. Third base was also upgraded with the addition of veteran Gio Urshela, a career .273 hitter over nine big league seasons who helped the Braves down the stretch last season by slashing .304/.328/.554 with a 141 wRC+ over his final 15 games.
Of course, going from 69 wins -- which the A’s did last season to improve upon their 2023 win total by 19 games -- to competing for a playoff spot is going to require another huge step forward. Butler acknowledged that the A’s still have “some things we have to achieve within ourselves” to reach that next level.
While Brent Rooker has developed into an elite hitter over the past two seasons, the majority of the pressure will lie on the young group of talented A’s players like Butler, Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers, JJ Bleday, Zack Gelof, Tyler Soderstrom and Miller -- all of whom have flashed their skills at different times over the last two years -- to perform over a full season.
If the first couple of weeks of A’s Spring Training are any indication, Butler -- who broke out in 2024 by slashing .302/.346/.597 (.943 OPS) with 20 home runs, 18 doubles, two triples, 49 RBIs and 14 stolen bases over his final 73 games -- and the rest of his teammates are fully embracing the pressure that comes with such high expectations.
“We’ve had that feeling in the locker room of keeping the momentum from last season in the second half to this season,” Butler said. “Everybody is really looking forward to it. We’ve made some great additions. I’m excited.”