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Deals for free agent relievers are expected this week, and the Oakland Athletics are active players in the market, reports ESPN's Jerry Crasnick:
Lots of people expect the free agent relief market to pick up steam this week before winter meetings. Could get very busy.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 29, 2015
#MLB teams that are actively seeking relief pitching: ARI, ATL, BOS, DET, HOU, KC, LAD, NYM, OAK, PIT, TOR and WASH.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 29, 2015
The trade market for relief pitchers has already been quite active with over a dozen relievers on the move this offseason, including deals involving Francisco Rodriguez, Craig Kimbrel, Joaquin Benoit, and Liam Hendriks.
In terms of the top free agent relievers, here is who ranked in the crowdsourced top 82 free agents on FanGraphs:
| FanGraphs crowdsourced Top 82 free agents ($ in millions) | |||||
| Player | Hand | Med Yrs | Med Sal | Total | Known suitors |
| Darren O'Day | RHP | 3 | $7 | $21 | WSH, LAD, ATL, OAK, BOS, DET, CHC |
| Joakim Soria | RHP | 2 | $7 | $14 | MIN, KC, SF, TEX |
| Tommy Hunter | RHP | 2 | $5 | $10 | SD, DET, CLE |
| Bud Norris | RHP | 2 | $6 | $9 | SIGNED: 1 year, $2.5 w/ATL |
| Shawn Kelley | RHP | 2 | $4 | $8 | DET |
| Mark Lowe | RHP | 2 | $4 | $8 | |
| Tim Lincecum | RHP | 1 | $6 | $6 | January showcase after hip surgery |
| Chris Young | RHP | 1 | $6 | $6 | KC, BAL |
| Trevor Cahill | RHP | 1 | $5 | $5 | |
| Ryan Madson | RHP | 1 | $5 | $5 | LAD, DET |
| Jonathan Broxton | RHP | 1 | $4 | $4 | |
| Brandon Morrow | RHP | 1 | $4 | $4 | SD |
| Joe Blanton | RHP | 1 | $4 | $4 | |
| Tony Sipp | LHP | 2 | $5 | $10 | HOU, other AL West teams, KC |
| Antonio Bastardo | LHP | 2 | $4 | $8 | |
The A's previously had been connected to top free agent reliever Darren O'Day in a report by the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser last week. He has been seeking a four-year deal around $28-36MM, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Since that report, however, the A's have not appeared in conversations in terms of who is leading the bidding for his services:
The #Nationals have joined #Dodgers at top of the Darren O'Day pack, source says. Washington due for a bullpen revamp.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 22, 2015
Otherwise, it feels as though the A's are running a very tight ship this offseason aside from the most general of rumors (The A's are looking for relievers? SHOCKING.). Once the top relievers make their decisions, we should start to see teams move down the list as they try to upgrade their bullpens for the 2016 campaign.
