AL Manager Admits His Team Wants to Sign Dodgers’ Walker Buehler in Free Agency
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay revealed at the USC Sports Business Association Summit on Thursday that the Athletics had talks with free agent pitcher Walker Buehler. The Athletics were interested in signing Buehler, but Buehler reportedly doesn’t want to play in Sacramento, per Kasey Kazliner.
The Athletics closed out their final season playing at the Oakland Coliseum in 2024. They are moving to Sacramento, California through the 2027 season until their stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada is ready. They will play at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento.
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If Buehler were to join the Athletics, he would be tasked with helping improve a team that finished 69-93 in 2024, and a pitching group that finished No. 25 in MLB with a 4.37 ERA between starters and relievers.
Buehler is coming off of a heroic performance for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the postseason this past October. After allowing six earned runs in the second inning of his first 2024 playoff start, Buehler did not allow a single earned run over his final 13 innings. He pitched shutouts in his next two starts, one against the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series and one against the New York Yankees in the World Series. He then came in during Game 5 of the World Series and struck out two to clinch the Dodgers’ eighth championship in franchise history.
Buehler’s tremendous postseason pitching gave him greater momentum heading into free agency, and leverage to lure a better contract than his regular season play might have warranted.
The question for any team — including the Dodgers — in signing Buehler is whether he will pitch like he did in the postseason or regular season. Buehler returned to pitch in a major league game for the first time in almost two years this season, and struggled significantly by going 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and 64 strikeouts. Had it not been for numerous injuries to the Dodgers’ starting rotation, he might not have even gotten a shot during the postseason.
Regardless of whether he will return to his two-time All-Star form or show the inconsistencies he did during the 2024 season, Buehler is sure to continue seeing interest from MLB franchises this offseason.
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Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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