Happy Monday A’s fans! Our Season In Review series continues this morning, and today’s player is outfielder JJ Bleday. It looked like the onetime top prospect had found his forever home with the Athletics but a tough season at the plate and in the field, plus a younger hot-shot prospect shooting through the system, helped put an end to Bleday’s time in the Green & Gold.
How was he acquired?
The Athletics made a swap of first round picks just before the start of Spring Training in 2023, trading former first rounder AJ
Puk to the Miami Marlins in exchange for the former 4th overall pick in the 2019 Draft. Neither player was hitting their ceiling and a change of scenery for both seemed to be in the cards for everyone involved. But for the rest of their careers they’ll be compared to one another because of this trade and determining who “won”.
What were the expectations?
When Bleday was brought in the outfield was mostly unsettled and the A’s had every incentive to give him a long leash. That’s just what they did as he was on the active roster for the majority of 2023. The club gave Bleday 303 at bats that year in 82 games and though he didn’t look amazing he did swat 10 home runs and there weren’t any other better, higher ceiling options. With his draft pedigree it was worth letting it ride one more time for 2024.
Their faith was rewarded as Bleday got everyday at bats and had his first sustained success in the big leagues. In 159 games the lefty hit a respectable .243/.324/.437 with 20 home runs while playing passable defense at a critical spot up the middle. By the end of the season it felt like Bleday had begun his breakthrough and would continue to get better as he got more experience.
Entering last season there were high hopes that the now-27-year-old could continue his breakout. It’s not everyday you have a young and controllable center fielder who can hit double digit home runs and the A’s were expecting him to hold down center field for at least this past year.
2025 Results
Bleday began the year as the starting center fielder and hitting third, right in the heart of the batting order. His 0-for-4 start to the season would portend a tough season ahead for the 27-year-old. He came out of the gate slow and never got going at the plate, hitting just .205/.291/.365 with six long balls through the first two months of the season. That’d be enough for the A’s to option him back down to Triple-A and turn to a younger option in Denzel Clarke. It was a disappointing development for player and team and the future divorce began to feel inevitable.
A week in the minors and Bleday was swinging the bat like the club knew he could down in Triple-A. So they brought him back up. His playing time wasn’t what it was during the start of the season though. The offensive struggles continued against tougher competition as he hit just .180 in 15 June games before returning to Vegas at the end of the month.
He’d remain with the Aviators for the entirety of July before returning to the big leagues at the start of August after the trade deadline. Thanks to injuries Bleday got a solid amount of playing time and finally began to hit in the month of August. He’d finish the year strong with four home runs in September, though the hot end to the season didn’t help his overall slash line all that much. He’d finish hitting .212/.294/.404 with 14 home runs while being primarily a platoon corner outfielder.
2026 Outlook
Predictably, the Athletics and Bleday seemed to agree that a change of scenery was in order. The club designated their Opening Day center fielder for assignment ahead of the deadline for teams to set their 40-man rosters in anticipation of the Rule 5 Draft, and elected not to tender him a contract thereafter thus making him a free agent for the first time. He’ll be free to sign wherever he wants and there will almost certainly be some interested teams. The A’s have moved on to Clarke though, wrapping up the small trade tree involving two former first round picks.
