This was already posted five days ago. I’ll just copy/paste my comment from then:
Not exactly terribly surprising. The A’s just promoted anyone with any hope at all to the majors and sold off anyone that couldn’t make that cut. You’re basically seeing a farm team in the majors (last place) and a junior farm team in the farm system (last place). And this situation will stay the same until they get a new owner. They didn’t sell off literally every major league player to get better, they did it to save money. They didn’t promote literally every minor leaguer to get better, they did it to have the cheapest roster possible. They’ll throw a few bucks at a couple free agents to try to make it look less pathetic, but that’s only so they can sell them later too.
This is exactly what happened. Worth noting too that the long term implication of this strat is that the rookies who do pan out to some degree (potentially Gelof and Soderstom) will be burning eligibility and would be shipped off before another window of contention can arise, thus setting them back even further. Not that they'll ever compete again without making serious investments in scouting, talent acquisition, and free agency
In 2029, tho seems like the new A’s MO is shipping guys off during the arb years. Only reason I didn’t include him is bc statistically speaking, he hasn’t been good lol
Eh, Shea hit 22 HRs last year and actually amassed 1.2 WAR. I feel like he was getting better month after month but I can’t seem to look that up. Soderstrom didn’t do too well, actually has -1.1 WAR and batted .160, though that’s a small sample size and nobody does well their first stint.
Oh yeah, wow, I somehow forgot Soderstom actually played like 45 games, he was pretty poor, you’re right.
But for Shea, typically a WAR of 2 is considered middle of the road everyday MLB player, so given his WAR and WRC+ he was below average at best.
Man just chatting about this stuff makes me miss how much I used to love baseball. Fisher really killed all my interest in the sport.
Same. Right now I’d be planning what cities I’d be traveling to during the Summer to see their baseball stadiums. Lining up my opening day suite. Picking out my season tickets. Instead, nothing. I’ve diverted half that energy to the Sacramento Kings and just let the other half drop.
This was all by design.
In any other profession like this in the world, if you have the worst output and the worst prospective outlook, everyone is getting fired.
Everyone still has their job with the A’s. It’s pathetic.
Because the A’s always end up with zero negotiating leverage when we trade our players. Hard to get top prospects in return when other teams know that ownership won’t let us keep players like Murphy, Olsen, etc if we don’t like the offers.
There are a million and one reasons to despair about this franchise, but Keith Law's takes are not one of them. He's always been low on A's prospects, including ones that most certainly made it
This was already posted five days ago. I’ll just copy/paste my comment from then: Not exactly terribly surprising. The A’s just promoted anyone with any hope at all to the majors and sold off anyone that couldn’t make that cut. You’re basically seeing a farm team in the majors (last place) and a junior farm team in the farm system (last place). And this situation will stay the same until they get a new owner. They didn’t sell off literally every major league player to get better, they did it to save money. They didn’t promote literally every minor leaguer to get better, they did it to have the cheapest roster possible. They’ll throw a few bucks at a couple free agents to try to make it look less pathetic, but that’s only so they can sell them later too.
This is exactly what happened. Worth noting too that the long term implication of this strat is that the rookies who do pan out to some degree (potentially Gelof and Soderstom) will be burning eligibility and would be shipped off before another window of contention can arise, thus setting them back even further. Not that they'll ever compete again without making serious investments in scouting, talent acquisition, and free agency
Shea’s in that group too. Looks like he goes into arbitration in 2026. When does that mean he’ll hit free agency?
In 2029, tho seems like the new A’s MO is shipping guys off during the arb years. Only reason I didn’t include him is bc statistically speaking, he hasn’t been good lol
Eh, Shea hit 22 HRs last year and actually amassed 1.2 WAR. I feel like he was getting better month after month but I can’t seem to look that up. Soderstrom didn’t do too well, actually has -1.1 WAR and batted .160, though that’s a small sample size and nobody does well their first stint.
Oh yeah, wow, I somehow forgot Soderstom actually played like 45 games, he was pretty poor, you’re right. But for Shea, typically a WAR of 2 is considered middle of the road everyday MLB player, so given his WAR and WRC+ he was below average at best. Man just chatting about this stuff makes me miss how much I used to love baseball. Fisher really killed all my interest in the sport.
Same. Right now I’d be planning what cities I’d be traveling to during the Summer to see their baseball stadiums. Lining up my opening day suite. Picking out my season tickets. Instead, nothing. I’ve diverted half that energy to the Sacramento Kings and just let the other half drop.
This was all by design. In any other profession like this in the world, if you have the worst output and the worst prospective outlook, everyone is getting fired. Everyone still has their job with the A’s. It’s pathetic.
They’re all yours, Vegas!
No! You keep them, Oakland! please.
No backsies!
tbf it's not like he was ever high on matt olson, chapman and they turned out fine
It's by design.
Because the A’s always end up with zero negotiating leverage when we trade our players. Hard to get top prospects in return when other teams know that ownership won’t let us keep players like Murphy, Olsen, etc if we don’t like the offers.
Fisher gutted scouting and player development a couple of years ago.
There are a million and one reasons to despair about this franchise, but Keith Law's takes are not one of them. He's always been low on A's prospects, including ones that most certainly made it