The A’s have always gotten bullpen production from unexpected places. Dan Otero was a waiver wire pickup turned late inning stud on a playoff team, turned waiver wire pickup turned late inning stud on the World Series runner up. Fernando Abad was a nobody before he was one of the better LOOGYs in baseball. Sean Doolittle was an injury prone first baseman and totally awesome nerd who found his niche as a dominant late inning pitcher and totally awesome nerd.
Relievers have always been a bit of an afterthought for fans of the A’s and for a long while, for baseball as a whole.