The Athletics are playing for something. That is the part of this story nobody is really talking about.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Sunday that the A’s are showing interest in Kansas City Royals left-hander Kris Bubic on the trade market. The Athletics, sitting at 31-34 and just one game out of an American League Wild Card spot, are looking to add a starter to a rotation that has been a real problem.
That is the first thing worth pausing on. The Athletics are in the playoff race. The team that moved to Sacramento as a placeholder before the eventual Las Vegas relocation, the team most of America wrote off before the season even started, is one game out of October baseball in June. Las Vegas in July would be a punchline. Las Vegas in October would be a story.
Now they want to add to it. That is what good front offices do.
Bubic, 28, is an interesting target for very specific reasons. He made the All-Star team last season for the Royals, posting an 8-7 record with a 2.55 ERA and a career-high 116 strikeouts across 20 starts. That is the breakout fans waited on from the former first-round pick out of Stanford.
The catch is that his 2025 ended in late July with a rotator cuff strain. Then he came back this year and went 3-2 with a 4.11 ERA across nine starts before landing back on the injured list in mid-May with a sore left elbow. Nobody is exactly sure when he comes back.
That is the buy-low part. A healthy 2025 Bubic costs you a top-100 prospect or two. A potentially injured 2026 Bubic might cost you a mid-tier prospect package. The risk is real but the reward, a controllable left-handed starter with All-Star upside on the cheap, fits exactly what the Athletics need.
The other catch: Bubic is a pending free agent after this season. The Royals are not exactly out of the race themselves, sitting at 32-32 in a wide-open AL Central, but they have a reputation for being aggressive sellers when the math gets uncomfortable. If they fall back a few games in the next month, Bubic is one of the most movable pieces on the roster.
The A’s rotation needs the help. They currently own a collective team ERA of 4.54, which is the fifth-worst mark in the American League. Veteran lefty Luis Severino has been their best starter but the rest of the group has been inconsistent. JP Sears has shown flashes but cannot give them quality starts every five days. Joey Estes has had his moments but is not the answer at the top of a contending rotation.
The offense is fine. Shea Langeliers is having a real breakout season behind the plate. Nick Kurtz, the 2024 first-round pick out of Wake Forest, is making the early case for AL Rookie of the Year. Brent Rooker continues to be one of the more underrated bats in the league. The lineup gives them enough.
The Athletics also already showed they are willing to make a move. They added former All-Star catcher Jonah Heim last month, a clear sign that this front office is not just collecting prospects and waiting for Las Vegas. They want to compete now.
Bubic would be the kind of stealth acquisition that turns a fringe Wild Card team into a real October threat. A healthy lefty with swing-and-miss stuff in front of Severino, that is a rotation that can win a playoff game.
The Aug. 3 trade deadline gives both sides time to figure out the medicals and the price. The Royals have to decide whether they want to compete or reset. The Athletics have to decide how aggressive they can be with the farm system.
Either way, the A’s being mentioned as buyers in any trade conversation is the kind of thing the Sacramento phase of this franchise really needed.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
