A Team in Transition, a Roster With Real Pieces
The Las Vegas Athletics are not the 1973 Oakland A's. They are not the 2002 Moneyball team either. What they are heading into 2026 is a franchise in a familiar position: rebuilding with intent, stockpiling young talent, and trying to figure out which parts of the current roster are the foundation of something real versus placeholder players who will be moved when the right deal comes along.
General manager David Forst has run this organization through multiple cycles of this kind of construction. The methods are familiar. The execution in Las Vegas needs to go further than it has in recent years, because the franchise cannot afford another decade of near-misses and mid-season sell-offs in a new market that is still earning its baseball credibility.
The Starting Rotation
The rotation is the most legitimate reason for optimism. JP Sears has developed into a reliable mid-rotation starter with better swing-and-miss stuff than his early career suggested. He generated solid strikeout numbers in 2025 and improved his command enough to eat innings without giving games away.
Luis Medina remains the rotation wild card. When his stuff is working, he looks like a potential number-two starter with a mid-90s fastball and a devastating slider. When his command goes, he walks batters in clusters and drives pitching coaches to drink. The 2026 season is a make-or-break year for Medina in terms of establishing himself as a legitimate rotation anchor.
Joey Estes fills a back-end rotation role and has shown the ability to give you six innings of three-run ball on a good day. He is not the guy you build around, but a rotation that goes Sears, Medina, Estes, and two additional pieces has a chance to be average, and average starting pitching is often the difference between 70 wins and 82 wins.
The Bullpen
The A's bullpen situation is complicated in the way that low-budget bullpens always are. Mason Miller is the closer and he is legitimately dominant when healthy. His fastball sits at 101 mph and his slider is one of the best in the American League. The problem is availability -- Miller has had arm issues that have limited his effectiveness across multiple seasons, and a reliever who cannot pitch consecutive nights is less valuable than his raw stuff suggests.
Behind Miller, the bullpen is a collection of decent arms with no guarantees. T.J. McFarland provides left-handed depth. Lucas Erceg has closer-caliber stuff when he locates, which is inconsistently. The back end of the bullpen will be determined by spring training performance and waiver wire additions that have not happened yet as this is written.
The Lineup
Brent Rooker is the offensive anchor. He hit 30 home runs in 2024 and proved that his power is legitimate at the major league level. He is not a complete hitter -- there are holes in his swing that quality pitchers attack -- but he gives the lineup a genuine power threat in the middle that the team has not had consistently for years.
Lawrence Butler in the outfield is the player the organization is most excited about among the position players. Butler showed plus athleticism and improving plate discipline in 2025. His ceiling is significant. Getting him to where his ceiling looks like his floor is the development challenge for 2026.
Zack Gelof at second base brings real promise. He can hit, he can run, and his defense at second has improved to average or better. If Gelof takes the next step in 2026 and starts consistently punishing mistakes, the lineup becomes harder to pitch around.
What the Team Needs
Catching is a genuine weakness. The options behind the plate right now are not the kind that make pitchers happy to shake off a sign. A quality catcher who can both call a game and hit above the Mendoza Line would change the team's pitching profile meaningfully.
The lineup also lacks a table-setter. The A's do not have a leadoff hitter who gets on base at a consistent clip and creates run-scoring opportunities for Rooker and Butler. Finding that player -- whether through trade, free agency, or development -- is the priority that the front office needs to solve before the stadium opens.
The upside is real. A healthy rotation, a functional bullpen, and offensive improvement from Butler and Gelof could push this team toward .500 and into wild-card conversation. Las Vegas baseball fans deserve at least that.
Find Las Vegas A's tickets and gear through our affiliate partners. Purchases made through these links support independent coverage at no extra cost to you.