A's say goodbye to Erceg, hello to Klein

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In trading away Lucas Erceg, the A’s are hoping they may have found ... the next Erceg.

Parting with Erceg was not something the A’s were necessarily looking to do this season. After all, the right-hander is not eligible for free agency until 2030. But as the July 30 Trade Deadline got closer, the calls to general manager David Forst from teams searching for bullpen help increased in frequency, with Erceg often the topic of those conversations.

A few hours before the Deadline, the A’s found a return to their liking for Erceg, dealing him to the Royals in exchange for three prospects – right-handers Mason Barnett (A’s No. 6 prospect) and Will Klein (No. 15) along with outfielder Jared Dickey (No. 28).

While Barnett and Dickey reported to the Minors, Klein was immediately added to Oakland’s Major League roster as a reliever following the trade. In scouting Klein, who brings a 70-grade fastball that has flashed triple digits at times, the A’s saw similarities to what they saw in Erceg before acquiring him from the Brewers for cash in May 2023.

“The Royals have brought him up [to the big leagues] this season, but he never really got a full opportunity to go through that development process,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Klein. “They’re obviously winning a lot of games and had guys in the back end of their bullpen that they believed in and were confident in. This is a chance for Klein to come in here and continue his progression.”

Erceg joined the A’s with no prior Major League experience, and he got a chance to gradually build himself up into a high-leverage role as one of Kotsay’s most trusted relievers. He took a step forward this season, posting a 3.68 ERA in 38 relief appearances with 41 strikeouts, emerging as a quality setup man to All-Star closer Mason Miller.

Throughout that period, Erceg honed his command by lowering his walk rate, making his high-velocity fastball-sinker that much more effective.

Klein finds himself in a similar spot to where Erceg was upon joining the A’s last season as an intriguing power arm in need of refining his command. While he’s made five relief appearances for Kansas City, the majority of Klein’s time in 2024 has come with Triple-A Omaha, where he was walking 6.5 batters per nine innings across his 37 2/3 innings pitched.

“Sometimes, I haven’t thrown a lot of strikes in the past,” Klein said. “It’s a new day and a new step in my career, so I’m going to go out there just attacking. It’s pretty much all your mentality. If you’re afraid and you get tentative with your pitch, you miss bigger and [you're] not as confident in the zone. Here, it’s just, ‘Go get him.’ Throw it right through their bats and get ahead.”

The A’s plan to utilize Klein in low-leverage situations to start out. The hope is that getting an opportunity to develop at the Major League level will allow him to eventually put it all together and earn a late-inning role as a bridge to Miller, whether that be in 2024 or beyond.

“Will Klein is a very similar player that Lucas was last year in terms of where he’s at in his career,” Kotsay said. “We’re hopeful that we can get him to a point where, next season, he’s pitching in that type of role like Lucas was.”

Klein would certainly embrace the chance to pitch in critical situations for the A’s.

“I just kind of enjoy the pressure in those late innings,” Klein said. “Especially on the road when you’ve got fans yelling at you, I’m like, ‘They’re cheering for me.’ You’ve got to be able to turn that pressure into encouragement and adrenaline. … In those situations, your team trusts you and the other team should know the game is already over.”