Elephant Rumblings: A’s Make “All-Underrated” Team for 2025

MLB News Roundup

Two Oakland Athletics regulars made the MLB’s All-Underrated team, announced on Tuesday. This annual list identifies players who going into the season produce for their team but remain “unheralded” for their actions. The list is compiled by MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince.

Here are the qualifications:

• No All-Star appearances in the last five years.
• No BBWAA Awards (MVP, Cy Young, or Rookie of the Year), ever in the player’s career.
• No Silver Slugger or Gold Glove honors, ever in the player’s career.
• No All-MLB Team honors, ever in the player’s career.
• No prominent inclusion on MLB Network’s current “Top 10 Right Now!” lists this year.
• No nine-figure contracts.
• At least two years of service time.

With the criteria established, let’s unveil who the two A’s starters are on this list. The first member of the Athletics squad to be honored was Shea Langeliers. The A’s catcher nicknamed “Bangeliers,” has shown steady Improvement since his first full season in 2023. Langeliers was the centerpiece of the deal along with Joey Estes in the trade sending fan-favorite Matt Olsen to the Braves. Shea’s 51 homers over the last two seasons are second among catchers only to the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh (64) in that span. He continues to improve defensively and has shown more plate discipline in 2024, which portends well as we head into his third MLB season with the A’s.

The second A’s regular to receive this imaginary hardware is centerfielder JJ Bleday. Bleday has been excellent in the field and improved drastically at the plate. The 27-year-old lefty played in 159 of the A’s 162 games in 2024 and had a .988 fielding percentage with eight assists in 405 outfield chances. His forty-three doubles was fourth in the American League and he was tenth overall in extra-base hits.

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