Elephant Rumblings: A’s close first half with winning home stand

MLB news roundup

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

‘Twas a pretty good weekend for the A’s and their fans. The biggest news comes out of the 2025 MLB Draft, which began yesterday. The A’s caught a break in the first round for a change: they only had the 11th pick, but Florida State lefty Jamie Arnold was still on the board when the A’s turn came up, enabling them to nab the No. 4 rated prospect in the draft per MLB Pipeline.

This pick may represent a nearly best case scenario: Arnold may prove not only to have been a better-than-expected “best player available” to the A’s—he also serves the A’s greatest current need as a left-handed pitcher. Only time will tell if the Arnold pick completes a three year trifecta in terms of draft success, but the mood in the organization and amongst fans should be very good with Arnold coming on the heels of the team’s last two top picks, Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson. You can get all the deets you need on Arnold, second round pick Devin Taylor, and all the rest right here on AN.

On top of their good draft fortunes, the A’s also capped off their first half with a much-needed winning home stand and two consecutive series wins against formidable foes. They lost the first series of the stand to the Giants despite a blowout win in the first game, but in taking both the Braves and Blue Jays two games to one in the second and third series, the A’s notched their first ever winning home stand of over six games at Sutter Health Park, and completed back-to-back series wins in Sacramento for just the second time.

Everyone loves dingers, and the A’s thrilled fans in the stands with 17 of them through the nine game stretch. Today, All-Star DH Brent Rooker will do his best to deliver more thrills in the Home Run Derby. Tomorrow, he’ll join shortstop Wilson in the Midsummer Classic in Atlanta. This is a good occasion to savor some recent successes and enjoy some fun—but low stakes—baseball festivities before the A’s begin their quest to make some second half magic.

Enjoy your All-Star Week, AN.

A’s Coverage

• Athletics Select LHP Jamie Arnold With 11th Overall Pick
• Athletics take down the Blue Jays 6-3
• Draft Day: Brought To You By The Number 11
• A’s Survive, Beat Blue Jays 4-3
• A’s Fall to Jays 7-6
• For A’s Jacob Wilson, a rookie and All-Star Game starter, the swing is the thing ($)
• A’s hope Triple-A stint helps Gelof regain confidence at the plate

MLB News & Interest:

• Draft Day 1: Pick-by-pick rundown, analysis
• Nationals pick Eli Willits with the No. 1 selection of the 2025 MLB Draft ($)
• Mariners Agree To Sign First-Round Pick Kade Anderson
• Blue Jays Interested In Zac Gallen
• Mets Activate Sean Manaea From 60-Day Injured List
• Eight Teams Showing Interest In Luis Robert Jr.
• Brewers Designate Drew Avans For Assignment
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

The new kid, in his own words.

Kurtz is ok.

Urias up, Gelof down.

High drama plus comic irony.