Just three players left in our Season In Review series! And they’re all relievers. First up is right-hander Michel Otañez, who began the year looking like a possible decent middle relief option. Instead
he followed up his rookie season with a tough sophomore campaign that saw him make just six appearances for the big league team.
How Was He Acquired?
Otañez signed a minor league deal with the Athletics on December 9th, 2023 after spending the previous year in the Diamondbacks’ organization. At that point he had yet to make his major league debut but he soon would. And he pitched well enough that the A’s elected to keep the then-26-year-old around for another season, bringing him back for Round Two the following year.
What Were The Expectations?
In his first 36 games with the Athletics Otañez posted a very respectable 3.44 ERA with encouraging underlying stats to go with that solid number. Entering the 2025 season as a 27-year-old the hope was that Otañez could build off that strong first time in the big leagues and provide the A’s with an above-average middle reliever. And if things continued to go well then the club would have plenty of high-leverage spots available to try him out in. Add in the fact that he was still pre-arbitration and it felt like Otañez could solidify his spot in the bullpen for the remaining years of the rebuild and into contention.
2025 Results
During the course of the winter the A’s added a couple players and shifted around roles in such a way that Otañez was on the outside looking in for an Opening Day roster spot. A less-than-stellar Spring Training coupled with a shoulder injury assured that he’d begin the year on the IL, hoping for a quick return to the A’s.
After about a month on the shelf the team sent him out on his rehab assignment which lasted just six appearances. He allowed runs in three of those outings, which was a sign of things to come for him when he rejoined the big league team.
The Athletics activated him on May 13th, getting him into his first big league game of the year the very next day. His struggles with the Aviators continued though. After a scoreless first outing he proceeded to yield runs in five of his next six appearances, allowing eight runs while pitching four full innings. That prompted the A’s to send him back to Las Vegas to hopefully get himself right and return later in the summer.
Only, that never happened. Otañez pitched a couple more games for the Aviators before getting shut down again with a shoulder issue. A couple of months on the shelf got him healthy enough to return for the final couple of months of the season, even returning to the big league team (but not getting into anymore games with the A’s). His performance just never caught up to where he was in 2024 though as he continued getting knocked around. He finished the season with a 13.50 ERA in six big league games and a 7.27 mark in 18 games for Las Vegas.
2026 Outlook
Otañez is no longer in the A’s organization, having been claimed off waivers at the end of the season by the division-rival Texas Rangers. He remains on their 40-man roster but is again probably on the outside looking in as far as the Opening Day roster is concerned. He’s still likely to get a shot at some point over the marathon of the season though. The Rangers saw what he did just a couple years ago though and felt it worthwhile to take the risk and gamble on Otañez. Now they’ll hope and cross their fingers that they’re getting the 2024 version next year instead of the ‘25 version.
