Former South Dakota State Pitcher Blake Treinen Likely Headed for Free Agency

While the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals still have some unfinished business in the 2019 Major League Baseball season, the sport's other 28 teams and their players are already thinking ahead to 2020.

One of the players who appear to be on the move next season is former South Dakota State pitcher Blake Treinen.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the 2018 All-Star will likely not be offered a contract by the Oakland Athletics, meaning he would become a free agent shortly after the end of the World Series.

One season after becoming one of the most dominant closers in the game, Treinen took a step back in 2019 in Oakland, appearing in 57 games for the A's, posting a 4.91 earned run average and saving 16 games before being replaced as the closer at the beginning on July.

In 2018, Treinen converted 38 of 43 save chances with a 0.78 ERA, en route to a sixth-place finish in the American League Cy Young voting.

The Osage City, Kansas, native pitched for SDSU in 2010 and 2011. During his senior year, he went 7-3 with an ERA of 3.00. He was selected by the A's in the seventh round of the 2011 amateur draft and has also pitched in Washington before being traded to Oakland in the 2017 season.