Overview
- MLB.com reported, citing a source, that Oakland agreed to a one-year contract with Scott Barlow, though the club had not confirmed the move as of Friday.
- Barlow, 33, logged a 4.21 ERA with 75 strikeouts and 45 walks over 68 1/3 innings for Cincinnati in 2025, appearing in a career-high 75 games and owning 59 career saves.
- He is expected to join a closer-by-committee with Leiter Jr. and returning finishers Elvis Alvarado, Tyler Ferguson and Michael Kelly.
- His repertoire features a 92–93 mph fastball and a sweeper, and he ranked in the 96th percentile in average exit velocity allowed and the 99th percentile in hard-hit rate last season.
- Barlow fared better at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park (3.47 ERA at home) than on the road, a profile Oakland views as fitting its Sutter Health Park environment after he reached free agency when the Reds declined his option.