Oakland Athletics: Where Did They Go Wrong?

The Oakland Athletics made the playoffs three consecutive seasons, from 2012-2014. That’s an impressive feat for a small market team, but over the past two seasons, the A’s have unraveled.

The Oakland Athletics are a far cry from the team they once were, even two years ago. But to start, let’s go back four years. Late in the 2012 season, the A’s came seemingly out of nowhere to sweep the Texas Rangers in the final series of the regular season, and make the playoffs.

Throughout that season, Oakland hadn’t quite established themselves yet. They won 94 games, but Josh Donaldson wasn’t yet the player he is now, Yoenis Cespedes was in his first MLB season and Sonny Gray was still a prospect in the minor leagues.

Over the next two seasons, the A’s became one of the top teams in the American League, at least during the regular season. Oakland won 96 games in 2013, and 88 games after limping to the finish line in 2014. At their height, Oakland had six All-Stars — more than any other team — and a seventh if you count Jeff Samardzija, in 2014.

During that three-year span, Oakland won 278 games. Granted, it didn’t result in postseason success, but for a team that rarely participates in free agency, this was absolutely notable.

However, from 2014 to 2015, Oakland saw their win total decrease by 20. Oakland went from an 88-win team to a 68-win team. This year, as of Friday, they have 64 wins.

As a general rule, the A’s have to be creative in their roster construction. Their payroll is regularly under $100 million, and that will continue until they either get a new ballpark or change ownership. So, to summarize, their payroll habits will for the most part remain the same.

But as a result of their tight budget, the A’s usually don’t pay players once they become too expensive. The only option, then, is one the A’s turn to frequently: Trading their established veterans for prospects who, for the most part, are years away from the major leagues.

After Oakland lost to the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 Wild Card game, the A’s largely tore the roster apart. Josh Donaldson, Jeff Samardzija and others were shipped out of town.

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Occasionally, these types of trades work out for the A’s. It’s worth noting that Donaldson, the 2015 AL MVP, was once acquired by the A’s in a trade for Rich Harden, when Donaldson was a catcher in the Chicago Cubs’ system. But there is absolutely a risk in trading your proven players for unproven prospects, and over the past few years Oakland has been burned.

A’s fans can’t help but picture a lineup today that would have featured both Donaldson and Cespedes. Sure, Oakland never would have had half a season of Jon Lester unless they gave up Cespedes. But Oakland, with Cespedes in the lineup, was a different team.

With Cespedes in their lineup during his tenure, Oakland had a staggering .635 winning percentage. Without Cespedes after the July 2014 trade, Oakland finished with a .384 winning percentage. The following year, they won just 68 games and are likely approaching another 90-loss season this year.

So how did the A’s go from a team with three straight playoff appearances to a team with two cringe-worthy seasons and perhaps more on the horizon?

The A’s didn’t change their formula. If you go back through their history, you will see they have at one point had, and then traded, multiple All-Stars. Matt Holliday. Carlos Gonzalez. Yoenis Cespedes. Josh Donaldson. Addison Russell. Ben Zobrist. There are others, but those are a few that come to mind.

It’s not new for Oakland to trade established players in an effort to retool in a more team-friendly manner. The problem is, this time it hasn’t worked. At least not yet.

It’s slowly becoming a new day in A’s baseball. The A’s have turned to a youth movement. Players who were once top prospects in the organization are now getting a shot in the major leagues. Ryon Healy, Renato Nunez, Joey Wendle, Matt Olson and others have been given a chance in Oakland this September.

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Will it lead to a playoff appearance in 2017? Probably not. The Athletics are in the midst of finding a new core of players who will ideally lead them back to the playoffs in the future. However, with a roster that has been depleted of many veterans, Oakland will have to wait patiently as their young core develops.