WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 01: Shea Langeliers #23 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 01, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Matt Olson’s trade to Atlanta in March signaled the beginning of the end.
A teardown that’s become tradition in Oakland A’s-land had its biggest pillar fall. And every player making more than near-minimum salary knew they’d be next.
Two days later, Matt Chapman was off to Toronto. Chris Bassitt had already been shipped to New York and Sean Manaea was soon to be reunited with Bob Melvin in San Diego. By July’s trade deadline, Frankie Montas was wearing Yankee pinstripes and the core that made three straight postseasons was scattered across the league.
An A’s roster completely stripped to its foundation has lost 85 games this year. Dead years are a necessary evil in a teardown, even if those teardowns are rarely necessary. Olson noticed it all when the A’s visited Atlanta earlier this year.
“It’s a lot of new faces, and I think there are certain parts of the situation like the fans and everything in Oakland that seem like a tough thing,” Olson told The San Francisco Chronicle. “I haven’t necessarily spoken to those guys exactly about it. But you can see from afar that it’s probably not the easiest.
“It’s still a big-league club and they’re doing what they can out there.”
On Tuesday, Olson returns to Oakland with the defending champion Braves to play in the ruins. But things are a little different than the last time the teams played in June.
The premier slugger acquired in the Olson trade is coming into his own at the big league level.
Even before the teardown dust settles, Shea Langeliers look like the A’s next big thing.
Langeliers was the central piece in the transaction that sent Olson to his hometown team. A Baylor prospect known for his agility and skill behind the plate was hitting the skin off the ball with the Double-A Braves last year and was considered by some to be Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect heading into the 2022 season.
Once in the A’s system, Langeilers only got better at the plate, honing the raw power and consistent contact he was touted for. He batted .283 and hit 19 home runs with the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators, earning him a nod to represent the A’s at the 2022 All-Star Futures game, where he was named MVP after hitting a home run and throwing out a runner attempting to steal third.
Langeliers was doing what every team hopes from their prospects: Forcing the issue. The A’s called up Langeliers on Aug. 16 in a roster shuffle that made Oakland release oft-injured and beloved outfielder Stephen Piscotty. In 17 games, he’s hit three home runs with five doubles and a triple and 12 RBI.
Though he’s not displaying the immediate power Olson did out the gate — notably, power is down all across the league, anyway — he’s showing himself to be a strong contact hitter who can find gaps. At age 24, he could be on the fast track to a permanent spot in the middle of the A’s lineup.
And Langeliers isn’t the only new Athletic rising from the ashes — the next generation is livening up what was supposed to be a dead season. The A’s prioritized big-league ready players in most of their biggest trades, which means the youth movement is already on their doorstep.
Outfielder Christian Pache, another part of the return for Olson, is trying to find his place on the big league team and joins Langeliers, JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk as recent acquisitions shaping a young squad with Nick Allen, Jonah Bride and Cody Thomas. Pache has the defensive ability to be an elite center fielder, but how his bat develops will determine if he sticks.
The Olson trade alone also netted the A’s a few longer-term projects. Pitcher Ryan Cusick, the Braves’ 2021 first-round pick who is going through his growing pains with the Double-A Midland RockHounds (7.30 ERA in 11 games) and Joey Estes, who has a 4.76 ERA in 19 starts with High-A Lansing Lugnuts.
If the A’s are the broken-hearted ex proving they’ve moved on, Olson doesn’t have much reason to be jealous. After signing an eight-year, $168 million contract, the largest in Braves history and out of the realm A’s owner John Fisher would ever consider, he began a tall task of filling Freddie Freeman’s large shoes in Atlanta.
He’s done just fine.
He’s cranked 27 home runs (ninth most in the National League) and posted a .814 OPS, well above the league average. A 50-win team in September might yearn for numbers and excitement like that.
Could the A’s use Olson’s Gold Glove at first base, too? No doubt. The A’s are a negative-2 DRS at first base this year compared to plus-6 DRS with Olson manning the corner last season. Olson’s return will serve as a reminder of the success this team pawned off when the bill got too pricey for a cheap owner’s taste.
But A’s ownership dysfunction aside, Langeliers’ rise and other peeks at a new core on the horizon softens the blow of Olson’s return to the Coliseum.
Originally published at Shayna Rubin