Elephant Rumblings: Looking Ahead

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Jul 14, 2024; Ft. Worth, TX, USA; The Oakland Athletics draft Nick Kurtz as the fourth pick during the first round of the MLB Draft at Cowtown Coliseum. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

As the A’s June-Swoon evolves into a deeper July collapse (the Athletics won on July 1 and have not tasted victory since then) it would make sense to think about salvaging the season and looking forward to 2027. Three major MLB events will take place in the next thirty days, two of which will have a strong impact on the A’s future. Of course, next week is All-Star week. American League starters Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz will likely have the experience of a lifetime, rubbing elbows, taking swings with and against the best the league has to offer and spending times with those they admire in the game; past and present.

The two events with the most impact will, of course, be the MLB draft and the trade deadline. The draft begins this Saturday, July 11 and continues through Sunday, July 12. As always, teams will have the ability to build their minor league systems in hopes of honing talent to be major league ready. As we know, for every Mike Trout and Nick Kurtz there are equal numbers of players such as Mark Appel and Brien Taylor; can’t miss prospects that missed badly!

This year’s trade deadline in August 3. With a core of players that should not be touched, the A’s will likely try to clear out some veteran (read: expensive) contracts and open some roster spots for promising minor leaguers to get some MLB playing time.

This could be a fun time for those of us who are addicted to the sport… thinking about what’s next for our team. But this year it’s different. The specter of an ownership lockout remains too strong of a possibility to make the dream of a better season carry us through the tough times. In a recent poll of MLB players, 101 current major leaguers were asked the simple question, “Do you believe there will be a lockout at the end of the season?” Eighty respondents said “yes,” two respondents said “no,” and nineteen said they were “not sure” Many players elaborated to say the bigger question was not whether or not there would be a lockout, but more importantly will games be cancelled.

It’s hard to argue with the players inside knowledge and their understanding of ownership’s motivations, but the best way for me to get through the challenging times that lay ahead is to think about what next year may bring for A’s Nation.

A’s Coverage:​

MLB News and Interest:​

Best of X:​

Three-time Cy Young Award winner, two-time World Series Champion, 2011 American League MVP, and 2006 AL Rookie of the Year Justin Verlander has been named to the AL roster as a “Legend Pick” for the 2026 All-Star Game, Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. announced… pic.twitter.com/WKqU9tCdV4

— MLB (@MLB) July 8, 2026
Our Inaugural Midseason Award Show!

0:00 Intro
14:30 Most Disappointing Team
23:30 Most Predictable Team
38:00 Best Offseason Move
45:40 Comeback Player
52:15 MVP
57:50 Game Of The Year
1:08:25 Game On The Line Award pic.twitter.com/70HXl4wPMU

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 8, 2026
MLB's max-contract proposal would affect Junior Caminero as much as any player. So I asked him about it, and we got into a discussion about labor, the place of Latin American players in it, what salary caps do to players like LeBron James and why at 23 he wants to be involved. pic.twitter.com/PrEr93WauK

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 8, 2026

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