The Athletics have one of the most dynamic offenses in baseball, led by their young superstars in Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson. However, after trading their superstar closer, Mason Miller, at the deadline, their pitching staff is severely lacking in talent.
This offseason, they need to fix that immediately. Fansided’s Christopher Kline believes the first fix is to acquire Tampa Bay Rays star Pete Fairbanks. Fairbanks is a solid reliever and can be counted on to finish out games.
“The Athletics are quietly building one of the most potent offensive cores in MLB, but the pitching staff lags behind. The bullpen in particular could use a makeover after the Mason Miller trade. Pete Fairbanks has spent his entire career under the radar in Tampa Bay, but he put up a cool 2.83 ERA and 27 saves last season. Jumping from one Minor League ballpark to another probably does not excite him, but this A's team is closer than folks realize, and Fairbanks moves the needle as one of MLB's most dependable high-leverage relievers,” Kline wrote.
This past season, Fairbanks finished with a 2.83 ERA, 59 Ks, a WHIP of 1.044, and 27 saves over 61 games. He would be a definite upgrade to the A’s bullpen and could pretty much become a lock for the closer.
Fairbanks would also be on the cheaper side, as he is coming off a three-year, $12 million deal. If the A’s can lock him down for a while at a low price, they could be inclined to go for him.
Hopefully, the A’s see this as a real possibility and start getting to work on setting up negotiations with Fairbanks’ camp.
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