JP Sears Generating Trade Interes

The Athletics are getting plenty of trade interest in left-hander , according to a report from , though Pa san adds that the As are unlikely to move him. Its a similar situation with right-hander , as Pa san relays that the As are willing to listen to offers but dont appear likely to make a trade. That tracks with on Miller, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said about a month ago that the As were willing to listen but had a ma sive asking price. Sears came over to the As as part of the that sent and to the Yankees. Since then, Sears has been the most reliable and consistent pitcher on the Oakland staff as other arms have either been hurt or underperformed Hunter Pence Jersey . He made 32 starts last year and to sed 172 1/3 innings, leading the club in both of those categories by a decent margin. was second in both columns with 22 starts and 141 innings. Here in 2024, hes been the rock of the rotation yet again. The As currently have Waldichuk, , and all on the injured list. Sears is once again leading the staff with 12 starts and 67 1/3 innings pitched. While the As surely appreciate that quantity of work, the quality has been more decent than it has been outstanding. Sears had a 4.54 earned run average last year along with a 21.9% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate, with all those numbers coming in fairly close to average. Sears has dropped his ERA to 4.01 here in 2024 but that may be more due to luck than anything else. His 6.9% walk rate is a slight improvement over last year but his 16.3% strikeout rate is a significant drop. His batting average on balls in play is .239, which is well below the .278 mark he had last year and this seasons league-wide average of .286. His 35.6% ground ball rate is below average as well. His average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate are all in the 32nd percentile or worse among qualified pitchers, according to Statcast. Even if a bit of regre sion is coming, he could still serve as a solid innings eater with good control. His 4.32 FIP and 4.75 SIERA on the year arent as nice as his ERA but arent disastrous either. That can have value to an Oakland club cycling through struggling pitching prospects and injured veterans. Whether it will be valued enough by another club to get Sears away from the As remains to be seen, as they should be in no real rush to move him. He came into this season with one year and 81 days of service time. That means he wont even qualify for arbitration until after 2025 and isnt slated for free agency until after 2028. If they dont find any particularly enticing offers now, they can simply keep him around as part of the rotation core as they gradually try to emerge from this rebuilding proce s, which seems to be the most likely scenario at this point. But the case for making him available could be his age. Sears was sort of a late bloomer, not reaching the big leagues until his age-26 season. Though the As can theoretically control him for years to come, hes now 28 years old and will likely be in his early 30s by the time the club is competitive again. Perhaps that will compel them to consider pulling the trigger on a deal while his value is at its highest. With pitchers liable to suffer significant injuries at any time, theres also a case for the club to proactively strike a deal before that happens to Sears. Whether anything can come together will likely depend on the offers that are coming towards Oakland. Since Sears is cheap and controllable and fairly reliable, they will likely need a decent return to get a deal done. As mentioned, Sears is more a reliable mid- or back-of-rotation guy than an ace, but that could hold appeal to clubs with so many pitching injuries around the league. Blake Taylor Jersey