The Active Athletics: Tyler Soderstrom Earns Contract Extension

The Athletics’ Offseason Signals a Real Shift — and Bettors Should Pay Attention

The Athletics gave their fanbase a long-overdue Christmas gift, announcing a seven-year, $86 million extension with Tyler Soderstrom, the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history, with an option for an eighth season.

For a franchise defined for years by teardown cycles and cost-cutting, this wasn’t just a transaction — it was a message.

The A’s followed up the extension shortly after acquiring Jeff McNeil, continuing an offseason trend that started last winter with deals for Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, and extensions for Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler. At the time, those moves felt tentative. This one does not.

You won’t mistake the Athletics for a big-market spender overnight, but this offseason has confirmed something important for bettors: this organization is no longer operating as a perpetual seller.

Why Locking Up Tyler Soderstrom Was the Right Bet

Soderstrom’s extension makes sense on every level.

Drafted in the first round in 2020, he climbed the system quickly and debuted at just 21 years old. The early returns were rough, but the underlying tools never disappeared. Once the organization moved him off catcher and allowed him to focus exclusively on hitting, the progression accelerated.

That arc peaked in 2025:

• 25 home runs

• .276/.346/.474 slash line

• 125 wRC+

• Gold Glove in left field

It’s rare for a player to change positions and immediately become elite defensively, rarer still to do so while taking a meaningful offensive leap. Soderstrom did both.

Just as importantly, the swing-and-miss concerns that followed him as a prospect have steadily diminished:

Those aren’t cosmetic gains — they’re structural improvements. From a betting standpoint, players who reduce swing-and-miss while maintaining power tend to outperform projection floors, not regress toward them.

This Is Not the Same Old A’s Model

For years, Athletics fans watched the same cycle repeat:

• Develop elite talent

• Extract peak value

• Trade before arbitration becomes expensive

Sean Murphy (Atlanta Braves). Matt Chapman (San Francisco Giants). Matt Olson (Braves). The list goes on.

Soderstrom felt destined for that path — until he wasn’t.

This extension, combined with deals for Rooker and Butler, signals that the Athletics old operating model is no longer the default. Whether driven by the eventual move to Las Vegas or a genuine philosophical shift, the A’s are finally acting like a team trying to win, not just survive.

That matters in betting markets, where organizational intent often lags behind roster quality in pricing.

What This Means for the Core — and the Betting Floor

With Soderstrom locked in, the A’s now have a clear offensive nucleus:

• Tyler Soderstrom

• Brent Rooker

• Lawrence Butler

• Nick Kurtz

• Jacob Wilson

Shea Langeliers is the obvious next extension candidate, but even without him, this is the most continuity the Athletics have had in years.

From a betting perspective, continuity raises floors:

• Fewer lineup volatility swings

• More stable run production

• Less early-season mispricing

This doesn’t turn the A’s into contenders overnight, but it narrows the range of outcomes, which is exactly what sportsbooks care about.

Where the Roster Still Falls Short

None of this is to say the job is done.

The A’s have won more than 70 games just once in the past four seasons, and the pitching staff remains a concern. There’s a lack of high-end rotation talent, bullpen roles are fluid, and depth will be tested over a full season.

That’s why this offseason should be viewed as phase one, not the finish line.

But here’s the key betting takeaway: the lineup is no longer a weakness to attack nightly. That alone changes how totals, series prices, and underdog odds should be evaluated.

The Market Is Still Catching Up

Public perception of the Athletics hasn’t shifted yet — and that’s where opportunity lives.

Oddsmakers will continue to lean on historical underperformance until proven otherwise. But teams that combine:

• Young, improving bats

• Long-term cost certainty

• Organizational stability

…tend to outperform conservative preseason expectations before markets fully adjust.

The A’s won’t be trendy. They won’t be popular. And they won’t be priced like a team that’s “turned the corner” — at least not right away.

That’s exactly what creates betting value.

Final Thoughts

The  Soderstrom extension wasn’t just a contract — it was a declaration.

The Athletics are no longer content to be baseball’s farm system for the rest of the league. They’re building something real, something sustainable, and for the first time in years, something worth projecting forward instead of tearing down.

If this offseason becomes the new standard instead of the exception, the A’s won’t just change how fans view the franchise — they’ll change how bettors are forced to price it.

And that’s when things get interesting.

You can read all about what’s going on in Major League Baseball at SportsGrid.com.