3 Ways the A's Can Still Increase Payroll for 2025

Jason Burke | Jan 3, 2025

Sep 28, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Oakland Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker (25) hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images / Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

The Athletics are in a bit of a predicament at this point in the offseason. They have made a number of additions to the roster ahead of the 2025 season, and look to have made some progress towards their ultimate goal of playing meaningful games late in September.

However, it was reported last month that the A's will need to run a payroll of about $105 million to avoid a grievance being filed against them from the MLBPA. Teams that receive revenue sharing must spend a certain amount over the money they receive in this program, and $105 million is believed to be that threshold.

As things stand right now, the A's payroll sits at about $90 million, even with the additions of large contracts for Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, and a modest one for Gio Urshela. That still leaves right around $15 million left to add, with not much room to maneuver on the 40-man roster.

Typically a team will DFA a player to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for their new additions, but the A's roster, which sits at 40, doesn't have a ton of excess at the moment. A number of the pitchers slated for the minors are young and on the A's top-30 prospect lists, and that accounts for eight of the 14 options.

The two potential players that could be DFA'd would be CJ Alexander and Brett Harris, both of whom are third base options for the A's, but with Max Muncy presumably getting reps in Las Vegas, along with Urshela and potentially Darell Hernaiz in West Sacramento, there isn't a huge need for five third base options that close to the big leagues.

Signing a new player to join the organization and trying to pass either Alexander or Harris through waivers is one potential route.

The second would be one that we have mentioned in connection to a potential trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jordan Montgomery, and that would be to take on a big portion of the $22.5 million he's owed, while moving a player that is currently on the 40-man roster either in that deal, or in a separate transaction.

Like third base, left field also has a plethora of options for the A's to consider, with Seth Brown and Miguel Andujar likely to form a platoon out there the way the roster is currently constructed, along with Esteury Ruiz also floating around as a bench bat. That's three guys right there, and that doesn't even include the likely MLB debut of Colby Thomas at some point in 2025.

Moving either Brown or Andujar in a deal would open up a roster spot for the A's, and if they were able to add some payroll in a trade, that could be the most likely scenario. That deal doesn't have to be for Montgomery, but that has been one that has been speculated about all offseason.

The final way for the A's to add $15 million to their payroll in the coming weeks would be to come to terms on an extension with Brent Rooker. There have been reports that this is something that both sides seem interested in doing.

Rooker was one of the top-10 hitters in baseball last season, and he is currently entering his first year of arbitration. Giving him a pay bump would not only be deserved, but it would also help the team out by avoiding a greivance.

The one potential flaw here is that Rooker is projected to make about $5 million through arbitration for the 2025 season, so an extension would have to surpass that by $15 million, meaning the A's would owe him $20 million this year.

While most teams wouldn't just quadruple a player's salary for fun, in this case it could still be beneficial for the club. Say they sign Rooker for five years and $88 million, keeping in mind that they'd be buying out three arbitration years which are generally at a lower pay scale, and just two free agent seasons.

The A's could look to front-load the contract, which would get them out of their current payroll pickle, and then have a smaller amount due to their slugger as he reaches his mid-30's. Lopping off $20 million in the first year would make the contract look even better moving forward as he ages and potentially declines. If he doesn't decline and is still fantastic, then it's either a steal of a deal for the A's, or his trade value would still be elevated if they wanted to restock the farm system at any point.

There are a number of reasons this route makes sense. Not only would it signal that things are different since the team has fled Oakland, but it would help the team achieve their payroll mandate, and keep the roster intact without moving pieces around.

Then again, there is the alternate fourth option, which would be a little trickier to pull off. That would be that they leave the payroll space open to begin the season to give themselves some room to add on at the Trade Deadline, knowing that they have to spend some amount of money to hit their payroll target, but also giving them more flexibility to add on--potentially even a big impact player--at the halfway point.

The A's reaching $105 million doesn't have to be one more flashy free agent signing, but that is one of the ways the front office could choose to go in the coming weeks.