A few years ago, the last MLB player to have suited up for the Montreal Expos retired. I know there was some other well-publicized Big 4 guy who was drafted by the Expos who retired earlier this year, I just meant the longest-lasting baseball player. Bartolo Colon. Tom Brady wishes he was Bartolo Colon. 16 years, that's as far back as you could reach to find someone from 2018 who remembered the fall of the Expos.
I wonder who's gonna be the last A's player left standing who remembers playing in Oakland. Cause that's really how things are looking.
It's not gonna be as drastic of a rebrand, as I imagine the Vegas guys are gonna keep 'Athletics', not only to keep the legacy of the original ballclub [I chuckled a little, thinking that the owners of the A's give a damn about legacy], but because 'Athletics' isn't Oakland-specific, as it wasn't Kansas City specific or Philly specific. They may change uniform colors a bit, even though the green has suited them, and they may go through more of a modernization to match the silver or gold that other Vegas Big 4 teams have adopted. But these last few Oakland A's teams are gonna be very similar to the last Expos teams. Just a bunch of people hanging on at the end of the journey, as everyone, especially the fans, had abandoned them.
Like the 2003 and 2004 Expos, I can see some pieces of this team actually affecting future MLB progress. Unless something goes terribly wrong, I can honestly Esteury Ruiz being the flagship star of the first Vegas A's team, star of all the rebranding artwork, all of that. There is a chance that somebody like J.P. Sears could also be like that if he stays on the team long enough. Sears is the best starter in Oakland right now, he's got a 1.061 WHIP and 76 Ks despite only going 1-4 just from how pitiful the team's run support and bullpen have been. Sears had the support of the Yankee offense last year, and now he's just hoping for Tony Kemp or Seth Brown to perhaps do something. And maybe Mason Miller, who is currently injured but has been fantastic when healthy, will be one of the homegrown arms that gets this team back on the right track.
Honestly, the first few years of Vegas A's ball might not look too different from how the A's are right now. A bunch of low-market free agents trying to find a chance to play and give them something, some decent prospects that can't lead a team by themselves. Like the post-division-swap Astros teams. And then eventually somebody huge will come along and make this team a contender again, that's at least how baseball is supposed to work, I guess.
The Oakland A's were able to win 7 straight this year. Since then, they've lost six straight. They were able to take games away from the Tampa Bay Rays, which not everybody can do. There are fleeting moments where this team can actually do something right, and give the fans some hope that something will eventual happen. But I don't think anything's gonna happen while they're still in Oakland.
Coming Tomorrow- The fact that one of the coolest comeback stories of the decade so far has remained in the league, and GOOD, is pretty awesome.
It would be a travesty to change the color scheme. It's a great look and it's utterly unique in MLB. Way too many red/blue teams.
ReplyDelete