The Oakland Athletics’ constant budget constraints are very well-documented.
After all, there was a whole movie made about Billy Beane’s annual struggle with putting a contending team on the field.
The organization rarely gets the opportunity to sign superstar players to long-term deals.
Oakland simply doesn’t have the money for that.
Instead, the Athletics often have to resort to signing key players to short-term deals each offseason in an attempt to fill holes in the team’s roster.
Some years, this strategy pays off, and other years, it does not.
Fortunately, the 2021 season has been one of those years where the strategy has paid off.
The Athletics—who currently have a handful of players playing on one-year deals—have a one-game lead over the Seattle Mariners for the final Wild Card spot in the American League at the moment.
AL Postseason Odds:
White Sox 99.4%
Astros 99.1%
Rays 96.1%
Red Sox 95.5%
A's 45.5%
Blue Jays 38.0%
Yankees 13.1%
Mariners 8.7%
Angels 2.6%
Indians 2.0%
Orioles <0.1%
Rangers <0.1%
Royals <0.1%
Tigers <0.1%
Twins <0.1%— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) July 27, 2021
For that reason, Oakland won’t be thinking about selling at the upcoming trade deadline.
But if the circumstances were different (like they sometimes are in other seasons), then the Athletics would be gearing up for a major deadline sell.
Reason being, when you house so many short-term deals, you usually end up with an opportunity to trade those players away as rentals at the deadline.
If The Athletics Weren’t Contending This Season, Who Would Be Traded?
This should be a fun exercise.
As mentioned, Oakland is looking to add—not unload—at this year’s deadline, but if the opposite were true, which players would be on the move?
For starters, Mark Canha likely would be.
He is having another great season and currently has a slash line of .256/.382/.444, giving him an OPS of .826 and an OPS+ of 134.
He has 11 homers, 15 doubles, and four triples on the year and has accumulated a WAR of 2.7 so far.
Next, Jake Diekman would probably be on the move.
He has a 3.26 ERA across 42 relief appearances this season, and contending teams are always looking to add bullpen help.
One caveat: He has a club option for the 2022 season, so he technically wouldn’t fall under the rental category.
Next, Yusmeiro Petit would likely be dealt.
Like Diekman, he is a solid relief option.
He has a 2.98 ERA, 3.97 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP over a whopping 49 outings this season.
Moving on, Jed Lowrie would be another guy who fits the criteria.
He’s having a solid year, too.
He’s batting .258 with a 108 OPS+.
He has 11 homers and 18 doubles on the season.
Surprise, surprise, Jed Lowrie came through with a big hit 🤷 pic.twitter.com/hgi7y7defh
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) July 25, 2021
And let’s wrap up with two more players who would probably be dealt: Mitch Moreland (.706 OPS) and Sergio Romo (3.62 ERA in 41 relief appearances).
Point is, most teams don’t have this many players who meet the specs for potential rental trades.
The Athletics do, and truthfully, this happens every year, because that’s the way the organization has to do business.
It’s a very interesting way of going about things.
Of course, it’s tough to know what any given year is going to be like when the success of the campaign basically lies in the hands of guys playing on one-year deals, but the upside is that the deadline sell option is always an attractive one.
And at the end of the day, the Athletics are doing something right, because they’ve made the playoffs in three straight seasons.
NEXT: 1 Big Reason Athletics Have Surpassed Expectations In 2021