Check out Matt Pinelli’s 2023 Season Preview Article for the Oakland Athletics here.
Image: Shae Hammond / Bay Area News Group
2023 Record: 50-112 (.309 win%, 5th in AL West)
2023 Payroll: $62,243,227 (30th)
2023 Lineup:
1. C, Shea Langeliers, .205 AVG/.268 OBP/.413 SLG, 0.7 fWAR
2. 1B, Ryan Noda, .229 AVG/.364 OBP/.406 SLG, 2.1 fWAR
3. 2B, Zack Gelof, .267 AVG/.337 OBP/.504 SLG, 2.9 fWAR
4. SS, Nick Allen .221 AVG/.X263 OBP/.287 SLG, -0.1 fWAR
5. 3B, Jace Peterson, .221 AVG/.313 OBP/.324 SLG, 0.8 fWAR
6. LF, Tony Kemp, .209 AVG/.309 OBP/.304 SLG, 0.1 fWAR
7. CF, Esteury Ruiz, .254 AVG/.309 OBP/.345 SLG, 1.2 fWAR
8. RF, Ramón Laureano, .213 AVG/.280 OBP/.364 SLG, 0.3 fWAR
9. DH, Brent Rooker, .246 AVG/.329 OBP/.488 SLG, 2.0 fWAR
10. UTL, Seth Brown, .222 AVG/.286 OBP/.405 SLG, 0.0 fWAR
2023 Rotation:
1. JP Sears, 172.1 IP/4.54 ERA/1.265 WHIP, 0.0 fWAR
2. Ken Waldichuk, 141.0 IP/5.36 ERA/1.560 WHIP, -0.1 fWAR
3. Luis Medina, 109.2 IP/5.42 ERA/1.514 WHIP, 0.0 fWAR
4. Paul Blackburn, 103.2 IP/4.43 ERA/1.543 WHIP, 0.0 fWAR
5. Kyle Muller, 77.0 IP/7.60 ERA/1.961 WHIP, 0.0 fWAR
2023 Top 4 Relievers:
1. Trevor May, 46.2 IP/3.28 ERA/1.371 WHIP, 0.0 fWAR
2. Lucas Erceg, 55.0 IP/3.28 ERA/1.582 WHIP, 0.8 fWAR
3. Austin Pruitt, 48.1 IP/2.98 ERA/1.159 WHIP, 0.4 fWAR
4. Sam Long, 45.0 IP/5.60 ERA/1.556 WHIP, 0.0 fWAR
Regular Season Recap:
The best way to describe the A’s this year is by looking at what they gave Miguel Cabrera as a retirement gift—an $80 bottle of wine. One of the greatest players of our generation, and one of the faces of the league, and all you can give him is a cheap bottle of wine? I understand he is a wine collector, but every other franchise gave him something sentimental or unique – and the A’s gave him a bottle of wine. That sums up the 2023 season for this team. Pure crap.
Not much of this team was expected heading into 2023. There was not very much talent coming in, turmoil between the city and ownership over a new stadium that very much pissed off the fanbase, and by far and away the cheapest payroll in baseball; a recipe for disaster.
Starting out 11-45, at the end of May, Oakland set the MLB record for most losses before June 1st. They were on pace to have a whopping 32 win season and a -771 run differential, which would be by far and away the worst single season in modern era MLB history. June was not much better, as Oakland was the first team in 11 years to have a perfect game pitched against them. Just an abysmal start to the season for this franchise, and any hope they may have had at the beginning of the season was well gone.
Honestly, the most intriguing part of the A’s season before the All-Star break was the rough dynamic between the fans and ownership. As attempts at a deal with the city of Oakland for a new stadium failed, and the move to Las Vegas seemed all but inevitable, the city of Oakland (who would be losing their third and final professional franchise in 5 years) showed up. Multiple “reverse boycotts”, where A’s fans decided to pack the coliseum in protest of ownership. Man did they deliver.
With these games having 40,000+ in the stands, the team had some of their best attendance in years. With chants of “sell the team” being heard on TV broadcasts, the fans hoped their prayer would be answered, and they would get to keep their beloved Athletics.
Unfortunately, that would not be the case with the Vegas stadium proposal moving forward.
In July, Oakland’s top prospect Tyler Soderstrom made his big league debut, and through the final 45 games of the season, hit for a .160 AVG with 3 HR and a -1.1 fWAR. Not great, but he’s young, he’ll have time to (hopefully) get better.
In August, the A’s filed their application to relocate to Las Vegas, as one final middle finger to the Oakland fans that had loved them for so long. While the move isn’t official yet, the team has financial support from the state of Nevada, and all that is remaining is an MLB owners vote that is expected to easily pass.
The club made for an interesting September, as even though they were at one point 41 games behind for the division, the A’s had something to do with the playoffs! No, they weren’t actually competing for the postseason, but a surprising series win against the Astros in mid-September threatened to shake up the AL West three-way race, however it ended up being a moot point, as both Houston and Texas qualified for the dance (sorry Seattle).
Oakland finished the season 50-112, 40.0 games behind the Astros in the AL West, and 39.0 games back of the Wild Card. They never led the division, and they only were above .500 on the year once: after starting 1-0. The A’s finished with a run differential of -339, which is the worst run differential post WWII. Hey, on the plus side, at least they had more wins than the 2003 Tigers and ‘62 Mets.
From the attendance perspective, this season was not much better. Oakland once again finished the season dead last in attendance, coming in at a whopping average of 10,275 per game. This was an improvement from both 2021 and 2022, however the numbers are skewed due to the multiple reverse boycotts over the summer. With over a dozen games under 5,000 in attendance, including a record low (excluding COVID years) of 2,064 on May 15 against Arizona, we see a more realistic measuring stick of how abysmal the attendance was this year in Oakland.
This sad stretch from this once proud franchise continues, and hopefully once they get to Vegas, ownership will care enough to put better than a glorified AAA team on the field (they won’t).
M-SABR Predicted Record (64-98) vs. Actual (50-112):
Matt Pinelli was a lot more optimistic on the A’s than most were going into the year. I have to give him credit, he went out on a limb and did something that not many would do—pick the A’s to not be the worst team in baseball. But he was off. The A’s were the worst team in baseball.
The A’s are the Chicago Bears of baseball. Once great franchises that are now cheap and in the dumps. Poor leadership, poor play on the field, and stadium drama that continuously pisses off the fans. The only difference is that the A’s don’t have Caleb Williams to look forward to.
Surprise of the Season:
We knew the A’s would be bad, but I don’t think anyone thought they’d be one “of the worst teams in modern era baseball” bad. Finishing an awful 62 games under .500, this team wasn’t just bad, they were horrific. To think that not even 3 years ago this team was contending for the division and advancing to the ALDS shows how even more depressing this is.
One of the few bright spots for this team this year was the emergence of prospect Zack Gelof. Gelof was arguably the best player on the A’s this year, hitting .267 AVG/.337 OBP/.504 SLG and a 2.9 fWAR. The second-baseman is definitely a piece for them moving forward, or more likely, will be traded once somebody else wants his potential.
The reverse boycotts were also a bit of a surprise, showing that: “Hey, fans in Oakland still care about the team”. It showed us that the fans in Oakland DO still care about baseball, their awful attendance is due to quarrels with ownership. But it was a nice surprise to see the Coliseum packed full of fans for potentially the final time.
Players We Watched:
OF/1B, Seth Brown
Brown’s 2023 was a considerable step down from 2022, and disappointing considering the upward trend he had had offensively over the previous two seasons. Finishing 2023 with .222 AVG, .405 SLG, and 14 HR, and 0.0 fWAR, Brown was replaced in the lineup and used more as an utility guy. A disappointing result for a guy that we had a lot of hope for heading into the year.
Fujinami ended up being traded to Baltimore at the deadline, and has been a contributor to their run to the postseason and top seed in the AL. In Oakland, Fujinami started the year in the A’s rotation, going 0-4 with a 14.40 ERA.
Following this start, he was moved to the bullpen, where he got his ERA down to 8.57 and finished with a WHIP of 1.662 and 0.0 fWAR. Notably, once he was shipped over to the O’s, Fujumani has become a good piece for their bullpen, posting a 4.85 ERA and 0.1 fWAR.
C, Tyler Soderstrom
The A’s top prospect made his MLB debut on July 14, after dominating AAA with the Las Vegas Aviators, producing a .252 AVG/.308 OBP/.526 SLG, 21 HR and 62 RBI. Once in the majors, Soderstorm struggled to find his footing, and through the final 45 games of the season, hit for a .160 AVG with 3 HR and a -1.1 fWAR. It’s nice to see top prospects promoted to the bigs, but Oakland is going to need more production from him in the near future.
Offseason Outlook:
Is getting rid of the whole roster, coaching staff, front office, and ownership an option?
I’m kidding. Slightly.
Oakland never really has been a major player in free agency, so unless pigs fly and hell freezes over, they won’t be part of the Shohei sweepstakes. Sorry A’s fans. If they do decide to make moves, it would not surprise me if they sign a vet like Jonothan Schoop on the cheap to try and bring in some stability. Schoop had an abysmal 2023 season prior to being run out of town by Tigers fans (.213 AVG/.278 OBP/.272 SLG, -0.2 fWAR), but his 2021-22 seasons in the Motor City were good years.
First round pick in this past 2023 Draft Jacob Wilson (MLB Pipeline prospect rank #81), currently in rookie ball, hit .455 AVG/.500 OBP/.636 SLG, so expect him to quickly work his way up the system. Other youngsters like the previously mentioned Gelof and Soderstrom should continue to improve, and Oakland is tied for the best odds for the No. 1 pick in the 2024 Draft (16.5%), so there could be some bright spots on the horizon.
What to Look Out For:
League owners are expected to vote on the A’s relocation to Las Vegas in November. It should pass without much issue. The real dilemma is where will the team play? Their stadium in Vegas (once it passes all the bureaucratic bells and whistles) is not expected to be ready until 2028, and it would not be surprising to see that pushed back a year or two. Their contract with the Coliseum and city of Oakland is up after 2024. So…what about those 3 seasons in-between?
There’s a few possible scenarios for where the team plays. The least likely scenario is that the team signs a lease to stay in Oakland for three more years. That’s very likely not going to happen, as too many bridges have been burned between the city and A’s ownership.
The more likely scenario is that the team works out a deal with their Las Vegas AAA affiliate, the Aviators, to share their ballpark in Sin City until their new playground is completed. According to the team president of the Aviators, planning is already underway to make that scenario happen for at least 2025 and 2026. There is also a scenario where the A’s play in Sacramento, at the home of the AAA Sacramento River-Cats. Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg has publicly mentioned this as a possibility.
At the end of the day, the A’s will have a temporary home for those three (or more) years before Vegas’ new toy is completed. Whether it be in Sacramento, Oakland, Vegas, or somewhere else is to be determined, but the real story should be about the fans and city of Oakland.
Over the last five years, they have lost the Raiders to Las Vegas, the Warriors across the bay to San Francisco, and soon the Athletics to Las Vegas as well. The people of Oakland deserve better. Oakland fans are some of the most passionate and loyal fans in their respective sports, only to have their beloved teams ripped away from them by greedy ownership.
I’m sorry to the fans of Oakland sports. You didn’t deserve this.
Categories: 2023 Season Review, Articles, Season Analysis
M-SABR 
I’m too depressed about this situation, being a fan since 1968. That’s all.