The Oakland Athletics never openly admitted that they would be entering a full teardown of their roster.
That’s understandable, because they couldn’t risk losing some leverage in trade talks: they probably won’t get the same return in a deal if the whole MLB universe knows they will get rid of most expensive players either way.
But, in baseball and in life, actions speak louder than words, and Oakland is indeed rebuilding and tearing down their roster as they seek to cut as much payroll as possible.
After trading third baseman Matt Chapman to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for four prospects, they said goodbye to another star.
MLB on Fox, via Twitter, reminded us of all the players the Athletics have lost in the 2021-22 offseason.
“Oakland A’s notable offseason departures: Mark Canha, Starling Marte, Chris Bassitt, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Josh Harrison, Andrew Chafin,” they posted.
Oakland A's notable offseason departures:
▫️ Mark Canha
▫️ Starling Marte
▫️ Chris Bassitt
▫️ Matt Olson
▫️ Matt Chapman
▫️ Josh Harrison
▫️ Andrew Chafin— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 16, 2022
A New Era In Oakland
With all those players on the roster, the A’s were good (86-76 record in 2021), but not good enough to challenge for a spot in the playoffs.
It didn’t matter that the postseason has been expanded: they thought they are still far from being a playoff-caliber team, so they decided to start over and try another rebuild.
Now, Canha, Marte, and Bassitt are on the New York Mets, Olson is on the Atlanta Braves, Harrison signed with the Chicago White Sox, and Chafin ended up with the Detroit Tigers.
The worst of all, at least for A’s fans, is that the teardown is far from over.
The A’s are talking to the New York Yankees and other teams about starters Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, and center fielder Ramon Laureano and catcher Sean Murphy could also be dealt.
The A’s are in for a long rebuild.
NEXT: 3 Free Agents Athletics Should Target This Offseason
Anonymous says
This ownership never really wanted a sports franchise anyway, they have been taking a slow poison pill ever since they bought the team. They have let the Giants walk all over them. There is no more radio broadcasts. There are now no good players and they have doubled their ticket prices. Crybabies.
Jen says
This has been the case every 3-5 years (give or take) since the late 1990s and that was under previous ownership. Nothing changed when the team was sold in 2005 – but it’s become well, super blatant. As you note, “the A’s are getting rid of everyone.” It’s a continuous cycle. As soon as anyone gets near any kind of “big” raise via arbitration they’re traded for prospects. Guys good enough but still affordable enough to keep through free agency are allowed to walk away. The team will be pretty bad for another 3-4 years until the prospects are called up and form a cohesive team – they compete for usually 3-4 years making the postseason, winning the AL West and then those guys hit arbitration and round and round we go. Until now these teams have been dismantled a bit more slowly – over the course of a couple years but this is obnoxious. It’s ridiculous but it won’t be any different than the other cycles. They’ve built back up what was a poorly ranked farm system over the past couple seasons & they team will finish last in the West using a handful of stopgap guys … I’d say by 25 or 26 they’ll be in contention again but it won’t really matter anyway – with 12 teams in the postseason – Idk. It’s the beginning of the end of the game as we know it. And I doubt that this cycle will stop EVEN IF Fisher ever gets to build his ballpark on the water. I doubt he’ll suddenly start paying players – a lot of people seem to think he will (there have been many empty promises – never directly from Fisher but people who speak for him) but why would he? Apparently he’s somehow making $ doing things this way. You’d think that if you owned a baseball team you’d invest in it. He can’t be making a big profit now – I think he’d make more if he put money on the field and fans in the seats but Idk. Dude is an a**!! Anyway, I’m rambling but I’ve been through this (and been living under the threat of relocation) for a quarter of a century. I think it may be starting to drive me a little crazy (hence the rambling! LOL!)