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.

OAKLAND -- Perhaps more than any team in baseball, the A’s were a bit disappointed to see the All-Star break.

While the first half did not go as well as they would have liked as far as wins and losses at 37-61, the A’s closed it out by taking two of three games from the Phillies, owners of the best record in baseball. The series was capped by an emphatic 18-3 victory over Philadelphia in which Oakland matched a franchise record with eight home runs.

“It made the All-Star break more enjoyable,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “It was nice to get that win on Sunday going into the break. Coming out of the break, a four-day rest period, you always are a little bit uneasy about how guys might show up. But they’re young, and what they should take away from that Phillies is that they do have the talent to be on the same field with the best team in baseball and win games.”

There certainly were no signs of rust after the break. The A’s came out on Friday night and opened a three-game series against the Angels with a 13-3 rout, becoming the first team to score 13 or more runs in their last game before the All-Star break and 13 or more runs in their first game after the All-Star break, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The most prior to this instance was 12-plus runs in each game by the Brewers in 1990.

With a young roster that was recently boosted by the arrival of No. 1 prospect Jacob Wilson and features several of the club’s former top prospects such as Zack Gelof, Lawrence Butler, Shea Langeliers, Brett Harris and Mason Miller, the rebuilding A’s are focused on further developing this group of players over the second half.

One second-half goal: See what you have in the youngsters
The rebuilding A’s have seen several of their top prospects reach the Majors over the past year. Now it’s about getting them reps and letting them develop through the ups and downs of the big leagues. Rookie Lawrence Butler, who earned American League Player of the Week honors heading into the All-Star break, is an example of the growth the A’s hope to see from their young roster in the second half, along with players such as Wilson, who notched his first big league hit in his Major League debut on Friday.

Likely Trade Deadline strategy: Selective about selling
Most observers see the A’s going through a rebuild and automatically assume flame-throwing closer Miller and slugger Brent Rooker are bound to get moved. But the reality is, both players are still under team control for at least the next few years, so there is no pressure within the A’s front office to move either player by the Deadline. Sure, the A’s might be willing to entertain offers, but landing Miller or Rooker is likely going to require a sizable haul of top prospects.

Key player: 2B Zack Gelof
Gelof’s rough start to the season was magnified due to the heavy preseason hype generated as a result of his breakout 2023 rookie campaign. The overall numbers are still not great, though the A’s have seen clear improvement from Gelof as the season goes along. After hitting .188 through his first 52 games, Gelof went into the All-Star break hitting .241 (21-for-87) with seven homers and 20 RBIs over his last 24 games. Among the many second-half goals for the A’s, getting Gelof fully back on track to the player they expect him to be is atop the list.

Prospect to watch: SS Jacob Wilson
Wilson, MLB Pipeline’s No. 50 overall prospect, quickly ascended through the system since getting selected sixth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft. A knee injury in May sidelined him for about a month, but when he returned, he continued to dominate at Triple-A Las Vegas, batting .398 with a 1.083 OPS, four homers and eight doubles in 19 games. Wilson was just called up to the big leagues, giving him a chance to make his mark in the Majors, though he did suffer an injury in his debut on Friday night.