Oakland Athletics Report Card: Below Average Grades For June

BULLPEN 

The A’s need to move on from Santiago Casilla. I repeat, the A’s need to move on from Santiago Casilla. Yes, they gave him a two-year deal, but there must be a way for the team to find a trade partner willing to take on Casilla’s contract.

Casilla enjoyed his most productive month in June, but the A’s closer continues to bring unwanted drama in the ninth inning. He has blown three saves this season and has given plenty of A’s fans a few grey hairs in the process.

The standout for the bullpen has been Ryan Madson. He is having an impressive season and could ultimately be trade bait at this year’s trade deadline. Perhaps the only roadblock is Madson’s price tag. He’s a bit expensive at $7.5 million per year. He has one year remaining on his three-year contract.

Daniel Coulombe is having himself a rather impressive season as well. Coulombe put together a productive month of June. He went 1-1 with a 0.84 ERA over 10.2 innings of work.

Moving past Madson, Coulombe, and even Sean Doolittle, the A’s did not receive much from John Axford or Liam Hendricks.

Grade: D+

Yes, the A’s got solid production from Casilla this month. Don’t count on his production to continue to trend in the right direction, though. Billy Beane and David Forst would be smart to flip Casilla now rather than later.

Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle and Daniel Coulombe provided some stability in the bullpen, but were weighed down heavily by Axford and Hendricks. Michael Brady hasn’t worked out either. The A’s bullpen has been shaky at best this year.