Today in our review series we got someone that made it into just ten games for the A’s due to injury. Righty reliever Jose Leclerc barely played for the Athletics this past season and that’s looking like
all we’ll see of the former Rangers closer in the Green & Gold. As a bonus for you all we’ll be posting two Season In Review pieces this morning, with the other coming in a couple hours.
How was he acquired?
On the search for help for their beleaguered relief corps, the A’s decided to open the pocket books to bring in the proven veteran Leclerc, giving the right-hander $10 million on January 17th to be the primary setup arm behind All-Star closer Mason Miller. It seemed like a decent allocation of the recourses the front office had at their disposal at the time with Spring Training fast approaching and the need to spend to keep the MLBPA off the front office’s backs, but it didn’t come without risks. Risks that bore out just a couple of months later.
What were the expectations?
Leclerc was 31-years-old coming into the season and had made 64 appearances the year before for the Rangers. He’d lost his closers role after missing essentially two years due to injury, including getting a Tommy John procedure done in March 2021 so there was already some risk in that arm of his even before his high workload the year before. And he’d only managed a 4.32 ERA across his 66 2/3 frames in 2024, though peripherals liked his work better than that.
The A’s needed bullpen help though and they’d have to overpay to bring in a guy like Leclerc. At the very least the hope was that he could be a common option for manager Mark Kotsay to turn to and possibly help teach some of his younger teammates. And since he was only signed to a one-year deal the writing was on the wall that if he performed like he had in the past then the A’s would likely flip him for prospects around the deadline. No one expected him to last less than a month.
2025 Results
Leclerc made it into the Opening Day game against the Mariners in Seattle and his outing was a perhaps a sign that things were not going to go well. Clinging to a 1-0 lead Leclerc came on in the eighth for his A’s debut and got torched for three runs, ruining the start of the baseball season for the A’s and securing an early loss on his scorecard. The next nine appearances were a mixed bag as he’d allow runs in three of those appearances (including a blown-save in an extra-inning win) and hits in all but his final two outings. Things were not looking good early.
That can probably be attributed to the injury that Leclerc may have been hiding from the Athletics’ training staff in an effort to earn his contract. The club announced his placement on the IL on April 23rd due to a lat strain in his throwing shoulder, and just one week later he’d be transferred to the 60-day IL, shutting him down for at least the next two months. That wouldn’t happen though as the right-handed reliever decided to undergo the knife on July 25th, ending his season and putting next year in question.
2026 Outlook
Leclerc is back on the free agent market but teams aren’t likely lining up to give him a major league contract. He’ll be 32 next season and now has a Tommy John surgery and a shoulder surgery on his resume. It hasn’t been the easiest career for the nine-year veteran thanks to those but he’s shown in the past that he can be borderline dominant if he’s healthy and right. Relief pitching is always valued highly so he’s still likely to land at the very least a minor league contract somewhere but he’s going to have to both prove he’s healthy and can get major league hitters out before he makes another appearances in The Show.
