Elephant Rumblings: So long, Waldichuk

SB Nation

Morning A’s fans and happy Friday!

Yesterday was the arbitration deadline for teams across the league. That meant every club and player had to exchange their preferred salary for the upcoming season. Most

players don’t want to go into Spring Training with their salary still unsettled meaning that tons of contracts are worked out today.

The A’s had a very small arbitration class this year with only three players. The team knocked out two of those early in the offseason, signing backup catcher Austin Wynns and injured starter Luis Medina back in November. That just left starting backstop Shea Langeliers as the lone remaining player whose contract had yet to be figured out.

Well no more. Yesterday the club came to terms with ‘Bangeliers’, signing him to a $5.25 million contract for the upcoming season. That’s a nice and well-deserved raise for the catcher and it’s his first big payday as a big leaguer. And that’s just the start of things for him as he’s likely going to command much more over the next few years. The front office would be wise to get ahead of that now and sign him to a longer-term contract, at least to cover the final arbitration years and more hopefully buy out a couple free agent years. The team is looking to continue extending their young core and he could certainly be next on the list. It was good to get this out of the way though and have this coming year’s salary locked in and avoid a messy arbitration hearing.

That wasn’t the only major news concerning our A’s yesterday. We also officially said goodbye to former top prospect Ken Waldichuk after he was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves. It’s a disappointing outcome for Waldichuk after he spent the past couple of seasons battling injuries. Originally acquired from the New York Yankees for Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino (along with JP Sears, Medina and Cooper Bowman), Waldichuk was considered the prize of the trade. He was a left-hander with strikeout stuff on the cusp of the big leagues, giving A’s hope that he would be leading the top of the rotation soon enough.

The lefty flashed his huge potential at times over his first couple of years with the A’s but never reached the heights that were predicted for him. Then the injury bug reared its ugly head as Waldichuk had elbow problems near the end of the 2023 campaign. He elected to not have surgery to fix his damaged UCL, instead hoping offseason rest would fix the problem. It didn’t, and Tommy John surgery was ultimately required, ending his 2024 season before it even got started. Rehab didn’t go well and when he finally did get back to the mound this past season he did not look anywhere close to the pitcher he was.

It’s a disappointing outcome but not one that is super surprising. The team has continued to acquire other young, high-ceiling starter prospects and his spot within the organization was tenuous at best before the DFA. If the club was able to sneak him through waivers unclaimed, great. But the loss doesn’t change the math for the Athletics this coming season as they get a look at those other younger arms. Hopefully he can rediscover his prior form in a new organization.

Have a great weekend all!

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