(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
If you remember the 2021 Oakland Athletics, they were going for it at the deadline and in the second half.
They were actually fighting for a postseason spot and even acquired Starling Marte at the deadline.
They didn’t make it into October, but were competitive and people enjoyed that run.
After failing to make the playoffs, ownership and the front office tore things apart, and the silent rebuild started…again.
The A’s traded or let go of most of their quality players because of financial reasons: Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, Marcus Semien, Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Lou Trivino, Liam Hendriks, and many others have left the franchise sometime in the past two years.
Thanks to The Game Day MLB, we have a glimpse of what could have been if the A’s retained most of their talent in recent years.
It’s an impressive lineup.
How many games would this team win? pic.twitter.com/ONWNbzT8a5
— The Game Day MLB (@TheGameDayMLB) April 18, 2023
How many games that team would win?
Well, it entirely depends on the pitching but with a decent staff, that offense is good enough to contend every year.
That graphic includes not just offense: with Bassitt, Montas, Manaea, Trivino, Hendriks, Andrew Chafin and other quality pitchers, it’s reasonable to expect those hypothetical A’s to be good enough to compete for a Wild Card spot.
If only small-market teams had enough money to keep their own players…oh wait, they do!
They just didn’t want to.
Now, the future of baseball in Oakland is murky, at best: fans don’t go to the stadium because there isn’t a quality product for them there.
The team is 3-14 and with no hope of contending this year or next.
Something has got to change.
The post Graphic Shows How Great The A’s Could Be appeared first on The Cold Wire.