Before the season started, many analysts, fans, and even players suspected the Oakland Athletics would be the worst team in baseball.
It took a while, thanks to the Cincinnati Reds’ ugly 3-22 start, but it is already happening: the A’s own the worst record in MLB, at 25-50.
Now, there were definitely reasons to think they would be lousy.
They lost several players over the offseason: Starling Marte, Chris Bassitt, Yan Gomes, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Sean Manaea, Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin, and several others.
That’s a significant talent downgrade, one that resulted in a non-competitive team this year.
It’s really sad to see the A’s, a team that contended for a Wild Card spot until late last season, with the worst record in MLB a year later.
Ownership Just Didn’t Want To Compete (And Pay) This Year
It stems from an ownership decision to tear things apart and start a rebuild.
The team, sadly, has been particularly bad at home.
“The Oakland A’s are 8-28 this year at home. Plenty of time to improve that mark but as is it’d be the lowest home win % ever,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
The Oakland A's are 8-28 this year at home. 🤯 Plenty of time to improve that mark but as is it'd be the lowest home win % ever.
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 28, 2022
No fan likes to go to the stadium with a 75 percent likelihood of seeing the team lose.
Additionally, the A’s stadium is one of the oldest in the league and in need of modernization.
The fan experience, overall, is lousy.
It’s actually not hard to see why fans aren’t going to see the A’s in the Coliseum.
If some of their prospects pan out in the next year or two, perhaps they have a shot to return to respectability.
That point does not seem close, though.
It’s hard for the fan base, because they don’t deserve it.
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