The A’s have a knack for dipping into the Rule 5 Draft more often than not, and with the 40-man deadline behind us, we now know which prospects have been left unprotected by other clubs. One player that has caught our attention is a right-hander from the Milwaukee Brewers who has all the traits the A’s look for.
The player in question is 27-year-old righty Blake Holub, an unranked relief pitcher in the Brewers system. He was originally a 15th round pick by the Detroit Tigers in 2021, and was acquired by Milwaukee in exchange for former A’s Rule 5 draftee Mark Canha. That’s sign number one that Holub and the A’s are destined to find each other.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Brewers have a knack for picking out pitchers in trades that end up turning into studs. Heck, the A’s have fallen victim to their ways a couple of times, sending them both Joel Payamps and Chad Patrick in recent seasons.
So why Holub?
Well, at 6-foot-6, his extension would rank in the 93rd percentile in MLB at seven feet. From MLB.com: “He’s a two-pitch reliever with a 93-95 mph cutter and a 84-86 mph slider, each of which had whiff rates of 29-30 percent in ‘25.
“Holub comes with nearly 7 feet of extension and generates a ton of ground balls (50.5 percent last season), which could interest some Rule 5 clubs, but would need to throw more strikes to fit immediately into an MLB bullpen.” That extension adds another tick or two to his pitches, which makes him more difficult to hit.
The second reason why he could be a fit for the Athletics was also found in what MLB said. The past two off-seasons they’ve had a knack for adding relief pitchers with great stuff but iffy command and turning them into pretty solid relief pitchers in the green and gold. Holub seems like a great option to fit that role this offseason.
The one big difference here would be that the A’s previous additions—Michel Otañez and Elvis Alvarado—were both minor league signings that had some time in Las Vegas to figure things out before being thrust into the A’s bullpen. As a Rule 5 pick, Holub wouldn’t have that same luxury.
Holub has also shown a knack for collecting strikeouts (28.6% in Triple-A in 2025), while also keeping the ball on the ground at a high clip (50.5%). That mixture of skills is something the A’s will certainly be after this winter, especially for options that will be inexpensive to acquire. The A’s ranked last in MLB with a ground-ball rate of just 37.4% this past season.
Now, the other big question at hand would have to be what the A’s would end up doing to create the one spot they need to make a selection in the Rule 5 Draft. The answer would likely be one of the pitchers on the 40-man, though which one could depend. Joey Estes, Mitch Spence and Osvaldo Bido all seem like depth options on this club at this point.
The expectation is that the A’s will be going with their younger pitchers, like Jack Perkins, Luis Morales, Gunnar Hoglund, and anyone else that can make them a better club in 2026.
If they feel like Holub is one of those types of pitchers, then they’re going to have to clear space somewhere, and they have a number of former starters that could be fits in a long relief role, but not quite a traditional bullpen role moving forward. The expectation would be that the cut would come from that group of pitchers.
