Oakland Athletics: Clubhouse Chemistry a Persistent Problem

The Oakland Athletics have had their share of struggles on the field this season, but the team’s clubhouse issues cannot be ignored.

With Wednesday’s loss to the Houston Astros, the Oakland Athletics dropped to 57-76 on the 2016 season. Needless to say, things have been tough on the field for the A’s. But off the field, the Athletics have had problems that arguably can be traced back to 2014, and seemingly have not been remedied.

The latest notion that the A’s are having clubhouse issues came Wednesday, when Oakland officially traded their longest tenured player, Coco Crisp, to the Cleveland Indians. The move sends Crisp back to Cleveland where his career began, and gives him a chance to return to the postseason, but it also foreshadows the state of the A’s.

Crisp, when healthy, was a staple with the A’s dating back six years. Now, he’s gone. The divorce is not surprising, given the comments that Crisp made earlier in August, but it’s another reminder that Oakland’s chemistry needs an overhaul.

The more surprising incident came when Danny Valencia punched Billy Butler over comments Butler made about Valencia’s shoe deal. That incident resulted in Butler showing concussion-like symptoms and also gave Oakland’s clubhouse reputation a proverbial black eye as well.

There has been speculation since that Valencia, Butler or both could see their time with the organization come to an end after this season. Ultimately, neither move would be too surprising. Valencia has proven to be replaceable as the A’s consider younger options, and Butler’s production in Oakland has never quite lived up to his salary.

After the Butler-Valencia incident, Athletics general manager David Forst went on the record to Jane Lee of MLB.com, and noted that the team’s chemistry is, “not great.”

Oakland’s lack of chemistry is not necessarily new. The Athletics have seen so much roster turnover over the past two seasons, that it’s arguably difficult to get so many new players to mesh quickly. Brett Lawrie, acquired from Toronto in exchange for Josh Donaldson, was reportedly part of Oakland’s chemistry problem during the 2015 season. It proved to be Lawrie’s only season with the Athletics, as he was swiftly traded to the Chicago White Sox.

For some context, the Athletics had a Major League-high seven All Stars in 2014 — six of which began the season with the team, and the seventh was Jeff Samardzija, who had just been acquired from the Chicago Cubs. Of those seven players — Samardzija, Donaldson, Yoenis Cespedes, Scott Kazmir, Derek Norris, Brandon Moss, and Sean Doolittle — only Doolittle remains with the A’s this season. That is certainly a large turnover over just a two-year period.

Now that Josh Reddick and Coco Crisp, two of the Athletics’ core players dating back to their last playoff run, are gone as well, the roster bears no resemblance to what it has in the recent past.

Depending on who you ask, Oakland’s clubhouse issues began at various times. But the most logical time to point to — when Oakland’s struggles began in earnest — was when Yoenis Cespedes was traded for Jon Lester. Certainly, Lester was worth a large haul, but giving up Cespedes proved to be a move that Oakland’s offense could not overcome. 

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After the Cespedes trade, A’s vice president Billy Beane spoke out and said the team wouldn’t have even made the playoffs in 2014 if not for Lester trade. That’s debatable. But the more eye-opening excerpt from Beane’s comments were related to the team’s chemistry. When asked about chemistry, Beane said, “I would rather have production, I think production ultimately creates chemistry.”

Beane’s comments are justifiable in the sense that you can blame a lack of chemistry on a lack of production. The 2014 A’s were, all things considered, a disappointment. But Beane’s comments (which notably were from 2014) cannot apply to 2015 or 2016. Some players just don’t fit. Brett Lawrie didn’t fit. Perhaps Billy Butler and Danny Valencia don’t fit. Crisp is a separate issue, as his contract played a major role in his situation.

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When a team like the A’s trades players away and acquires new players so frequently, chemistry is bound to be a problem. Eventually, the A’s need to establish a core and stick with it. Not just for the sake of their play on the field, but for the sate of their clubhouse as well.