It’s not rocket science to see why the Dodgers and Mariners are on a collision course to face off in the World Series. Not that the Brewers or Blue Jays have thrown in the towel yet, but both find themselves behind the proverbial eight ball going into game 3.

Hitting is important and defense is also an essential component — “A run saved is worth as much as a run scored.” But in order to play with the big boys you need more than just depth in your rotation. You need some dominance.

Boy do the Dodgers have it in spades, with Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamimoto combining stifle the Brewers and then some: 17 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 0 BB, 17 K. And they haven’t even unleashed Shohei Ohtani or Tyler Glasnow (game 3 SP) on Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, Seattle boasts the deepest rotation in the American League and multiple starters could be considered a strong candidate to start Opening Day. Logan Gilbert did, Bryan Woo posted a sub-3.00 ERA for the second straight season, and tonight’s starter, George Kirby earned the ALDS game 1 start over Gilbert.

That’s where the A’s need to get to if they want to be legitimate contenders to go deep into the post-season. Some of the ingredients are there, but on various timelines and probabilities. Can the A’s produce “3 aces” like they did in the early 2000s or are they on track to produce “4 aces” like they promised the world in the early 1990s only to have Todd van Poppel, Kirk Dressendorfer, Steve Zancanaro, and Don Peters turn into a middling reliever and three busts.

Potential “Ace” #1: Luis Morales

So far so good on landing one front line SP whose time is now. Despite being only 22, Morales has already reached the big leagues and shown plenty of flashes of brilliance. With a fastball averaging over 97MPH, a wipeout slider and decent changeup, Morales’ stuff plays. In 10 games, 9 starts, he put together a 3.14 ERA and was worth 0.5 WAR, though his underlying metrics suggest he still has some work to do. But he’s 22 and poised to break out as a front line SP in 2026.

Blogfather Prediction: With his changeup coming along to give him 3 legit pitches, Morales is one front line SP the A’s hit on now, though his youth and inexperience will render him more of a #2 SP than a #1 in 2026.

Potential “Ace” #2: Jack Perkins

This one comes with a bevy of question marks beginning with whether his future will even be as a SP. Perkins has had difficulty staying on the mound and could get the Mason Miller treatment: anointed the team’s closer in the hopes that shorter stints can keep him healthy.

Perkins’ stuff is what makes him a potential front of the rotation arm, while his lack of consistent control probably precludes him becoming a true ace. But the upside of a #2 SP is there, provided he can stay healthy as a starter — which he has not been able to do so far, including being shut down at the end of the 2025 season with a strained right shoulder.

Blogfather Prediction: Perkins lands as the A’s closer, where he is a bit wild but generally effective, leaving the A’s to look elsewhere for front line SPs.

Potential “Ace” #3: Gage Jump

Jump is on a pretty fast track, having made it to AA already and had success — and some failure. Jump was dominant in A-ball and then was dominating AA when he hit a wall in August/September and got torched for 18 ER in his last 24 IP.

It may just have been fatigue and neither injury nor inability, in which case Jump would be expected to pick up where he left off in July and push for a big league call-up by mid-season. Ranked the #60 overall prospect in MLB, Jump has a shot at giving the A’s a lefty front line starter opposite Morales but not out of spring training.

Blogfather Prediction: At only 22, and having proven to be human after all, Jump’s ascent might not be quite as fast as we are hoping. It seems unwise to count on him to be great as soon as 2026 even if he might have front line capability down the road. I see Jump being a contributor in the second half of 2026 but not yet a front of the rotation arm.

Potential “Ace” #4: Jamie Arnold

Drafted in 2025 and yet to throw a pitch in pro ball, Arnold was a steal at #11 overall having once been cited as a potential 1.1 pick by some pundits. With an arm slot that allows his fastball to play up, Arnold’s 94 or so MPH fastball misses a lot of bats and his slider is a true wipeout pitch both to LH and RH batters alike. He also has a changeup that some scouts love and which could elevate his game to yet another level.

The question is, how fast will Arnold rise and when could he be a factor for the A’s? There are some timing issues with the A’s quest to throw “3 aces” at the opposition in that Morales has entrenched himself in the rotation before Arnold has thrown a minor league pitch.

Blogfather Prediction: First of all, I’m probably higher on Arnold than some in that I see the Chris Sale comparisons as being perfectly apt. His delivery/arm slot are indeed reminiscent of Sale’s and the stuff is similar in terms of velocity and break.

If Arnold’s changeup develops to be another wipeout pitch, as some scouts have indicated, I believe Arnold has a shot at being a true #1 SP, the guy no team wants to face in games 1 and 5 of a division series. The rub is that I don’t see this happening in 2026, where best case scenario is probably that he joins the team before September to be eligible for the post-season and fortifies the bullpen as someone dominant against LH batters and capable of pitching multiple innings.

The A’s will surely be managing his innings by season’s end and are unlikely to want him to make more starts under the duress of learning the big leagues. So pencil Arnold in as a possible ace in 2027 but don’t expect him to make any big league starts before then.

Potential “Ace” #5: Wei-En Lin

Still only 19, Lin has nonetheless already risen to AA after a strong season in Lansing and has consistently shown the ability to strike batters out while limiting walks. He hasn’t done it with big time velocity, which is what calls into question his potential to be a front line SP and not more of a mid-rotation piece.

But Lin still has room to grow physically and with a tick or two added to his fastball could be the complete package given his plus changeup and strong “pitchability”. However, like Arnold being on a ‘fast track’ doesn’t mean contributing anytime immediately.

Blogfather Prediction: Lin seems like a legitimate pitching prospect, but I wouldn’t expect to see him as a fixture in the A’s rotation before 2028 and even then I suspect he’ll wind up being more of a #3 SP candidate if everything rolls smoothly — or if he stops missing as many bats as he rises, perhaps a solid #4 SP.

Potential “Ace” #6: Steven Echavarria

He doesn’t have the stats, but he has the arm. The recently turned 20 year old Echavarria has big time stuff that requires he be included in any “high upside” list. But he did sport a 6.55 ERA in his 2024 pro debut and followed it up with an uneven 2025 season in which his 4.59 ERA was accompanied by dwindling K/9 IP rates (from 9.21 to 7.62).

Blogfather Prediction: Hard to project someone that young, still in A-ball, and wildly inconsistent. Maybe a switch flips for him and maybe it doesn’t, but either way it seems unlikely Echavarria will be any sort of a factor any time soon. He might be someone who emerges, somewhat suddenly, in 2028 or 2029, but we have to see him put up a really good minor league season first. Seems like a high “bust risk” with a great arm.

So there are some in-house candidates and their apparent timelines. Will the A’s have 3 of them thriving together sometime in 2026? 2027? Ever? Or do they look outside the organization for one to join two of these? Or do you think Jump or Arnold might be fast-tracked sooner than I am suggesting for a second half and post-season run in 2026?

Watching October baseball, one thing is clear: those “aces” are what separate the good teams from the great ones, at least this month.