A's Dark Horse Bullpen Candidate: Elvis Alvarado

This past off-season, the A's made some splashes in the market, like adding starters Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs. However, with the bigger moves set aside, the team made some under-the-radar moves that could be impactful to the team's upcoming season.

On January 28th, the Pittsburgh Pirates designated right-hander Elvis Alvarado for assignment after signing with the team exactly one month beforehand. It only took two days for the Sacramento-bound A's club to take a flier on the 26-year-old reliever.

Over the past few years, Alvarado has bounced around to a couple of different organizations, but most recently spent his 2024 campaign in the Miami Marlins organization. In 39 games with their Triple-A affiliate, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Alvarado posted a 2.79 ERA in just over 48 innings.

Following the 2024 minor league season, Alvarado played overseas in the Dominican Winter League with the Estrellas Orientales. He played on the same team with A's prospects Euribiel Angeles and Junior Perez. In 19.1 innings in the DOWL, Alvarado posted an impressive 0.93 ERA.

The 26-year-old is now in Spring Training with the A's on the 40-man roster, which means he's just one simple roster move away from being in the club's major league bullpen.

Alvarado has now made two Spring Training appearances with the team. In his first appearance, he threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. In his second time out, Alvarado showcased his 99 mph fastball, which led him to striking out three batters in his inning of work.

The A's currently have a couple of flamethrowers in their bullpen in Mason Miller and Michel Otañez. Adding a third flamethrower to the team's bullpen could be really key to their success this season. Assuming Alvarado can limit the walks, he could become an elite arm in the A's bullpen. At the very least, he should serve as a depth option with some nice upside in 2025.

With many arms ahead of him, it's a little unlikely that Alvarado makes the Opening Day roster, although it's still possible because of how much Spring Training is still left.

Pitchers ahead of him could still suffer injuries or struggle, and that could open the door for the 26-year-old, Elvis Alvarado, to break camp with the A's. Even if Alvarado doesn't break camp, he'll for sure be a good callup at some point during the season to help with depth for the bullpen when the need arises.