The A’s are staring at a very different kind of 2027 rotation picture, and two left-handers may not be part of it.
With West Sacramento coming off a disappointing 2026 season, the club has already started reshaping things behind the scenes. Scott Emerson, the longtime pitching coach, was fired during the past season, and Dan Hubbs handled the job for the rest of the year. The A’s are now looking for a new pitching coach, and they’ll also need a new general manager after David Forst and the team mutually agreed to part ways in-season.
That front-office change matters because the next GM will have some major pitching calls to make, especially with club and player options involving Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs.
Springs looks like the likelier of the two to be on the outside looking in. He’s spent a couple of years with the A’s and led the team in innings pitched in 2025, but his 2026 season was rough.
Springs finished with a 6.18 ERA in 142.2 innings for the Green and Gold, and the price tag is a big reason his future feels shaky. If the A’s keep him, they’d have to pay him $15 million.
Since that’s a club option, the decision is theirs. And given the season he just had, it’s hard to see the A’s paying that kind of money for a return that wasn’t close to that level of production. If they turn it down, Springs becomes a free agent.
The other lefty in question is Gage Jump, and his case is different. When the A’s brought up their top-ranked pitching prospect earlier this year, he flashed the kind of upside that can change a staff. He looked like a future ace, showed plenty of confidence, and his stuff stood out right away.
But the shine faded fast. In his last seven outings this season, Jump put up a 7.31 ERA in 32 innings, and he wrapped the year with a 5.47 ERA. If the A’s add veteran arms this offseason, one path would be to send Jump back to the minors and let him rebuild from there.
That could give him a chance to rediscover his confidence against lesser competition, something that has worked for plenty of young pitchers before.
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