The work week has arrived and with it comes the news from this past weekend. Surely Jacob Wilson’s 7 year/ $70 million contract extension was the biggest story to dominate the news cycle. All anyone could talk about was the A’s locking up their prized young short stop, right?

Something else big happened? Something massive that changes the course of what we thought to be true? Oh, you must be referring to the Reds signing Eugenio Suarez to a one year deal worth $15 million! Feels like a bit of a bargain bin type deal if you ask me.

Let’s be real, were the A’s ever really in the running? The past month or so of speculation has been chalk full of free agent predictions, most in which outlined how Suarez was the perfect fit for the green and gold, how his asking price would be bloated, and in result, right up the A’s alley Luis Severino-style. Yet apparently it came down to two teams: The aforementioned Cincinnati Reds and the…(cleans glasses)…Pittsburgh Pirates?

Unless someone comes out and clarifies where everyone stood in the great ‘Geno Suarez sweepstakes of 2026, us A’s fans will have to settle for the fact that the Pirates seemed like a more promising destination. That the Cincinnati Reds are still being regarded as a better club despite the A’s possessing one of the best young cores in all of baseball.

Whatever. Something tells me we dodged a bullet. His Reds reunion will be loved. I hope he retires fat and happy.

I guess my biggest question now is, who do you see manning the hot corner for the A’s in 2026? And no, Brett Harris is not an acceptable answer. The easiest plug-in play I can think of off the top of my dome is Max “The Other Max Muncy” Muncy. But even he comes with his fair share of question marks. If we’re looking to twirl our hair with the remaining free agent market a little bit, I say what the hell? Throw Miguel Andujar a bone, and bring him back on a one year deal. Luis Severino can have his boy back, and hopefully be more of a happy camper. Not to mention, Andujar has literally done nothing but hit as a member of the A’s. I don’t care what the advanced stats say. I know what I saw and what I saw was him putting the ball in play. Plus, think of the fans! All the resident Andujeads in West Sac could froth at the mouth once again as Sweet Dreams (are made of this) by Eurythmics makes its way onto the loud speaker.

Am I living in the not-too-distant past with this one? Or is it another classic move we start to champion when he hits a walk off homer in June to extend an A’s win streak to 5? Just something to think about.

Food for your thoughts while you take a trip around the horn…

Mike Epstein! The most famous New York-born Epstein. Please do yourself a favor and look up his nickname on baseball reference.

Pay the man! Pay the man! Pay the man!

I remember being so convinced that the Cole Irvin trade was going to come back to haunt us. I want to laugh but then again, Will Klein is a World Series hero :/

Seeing him rob that homer, live in Anaheim, was one of my favorite moments of 2025

Not giving these guys a pitching staff would be an all-time whiff! I’m serious! Like one of the biggest in sports history…

Thank you for flipping through my first Elephant Rumblings post! My name is Anthony Hardin Jr., and I’m a diehard A’s fan through and through. You may not always vibe with my opinions or thoughts but one thing we can all agree on is nothing’s better than A’s BASEBALL!