It may have been a novel concept heading into the year, but the Athletics will be heading to 2025, and to Sacramento, with two solidified, trusted stars. Brent Rooker, who hit .300 this year and is chasing 40 homers, and Lawrence Butler, who got extremely hot midyear and sprung into the role of a multi-tool outfield bat. Those two guys, if they stick around, which...they probably will, will define the beginning of the next stage of Athletics baseball, as maligned as the circumstances of said era are.
And that's one of the great takeaways from the A's 2024, which, even if it's not ending at .500, is still an improvement on 2023. You can see actual perennial role players on this team now, people who can be trusted. J.P. Sears, J.J. Bleday, Shea Langeliers, Max Schuemann, Zach Gelof. All people who can be counted on to be around next year, and come through. Like...Langeliers had 2 different 3-homer games this year. I saw a replay of one of them on an MLB.tv commercial break, and can I just say...if the A's had people who were in any way qualified to call baseball games, it'd have been even better.
There's also people who might be in the mix for next year's rotation. Joey Estes, though not the late 2023 rookie I was most excited about heading into this year, had the more satisfying season of him and Joe Boyle. The 22-year old Estes held a 1.130 WHIP this year in 22 starts [lower than Sears'], with 88 strikeouts and 7 wins. Obviously the A's not being, like, the Dodgers held him back somewhat, but he showed serious promise in a full year of work, and given a better team he could really impress people. Both Mitch Spence and Hogan Harris also did solid work split between starts and long relief appearances, and I'd be fine with both in a 2024 rotation. For this to work, you'd really need a better year out of Boyle, and I'm pretty sure he's capable of MLB stability but he really needs to prove it. The A's spent all year giving him chances to start for them, and he responded with a 6 ERA, and I know he's better than that.
But you're seeing some promising signs of coming growth for this A's team. Recently the team brought up their 2023 first rounder, Jacob Wilson, and he's been a decent enough infield bat so far. Tyler Soderstrom's back on the roster and trying to get himself going again. J.T. Ginn is looking like a decent depth starter. It may not be evident in a league where the eyes are fixated on the Mets and Royals and whatnot, but the A's are beginning to sprout the tiniest legs and mature into a better, though still middling team. I don't know if the Sacramento era will feature a moneyball run, or if that's reserved for Vegas. But I know it'll at least be less dire, and less completely unwatchable.
It has to be better than the low point of last year, right? The White Sox are the new awfulness. The A's...they're doing their best at this point.
Coming Tomorrow- Y'figure if the offensive production stays the same people will stop saying there was a post-injury drop-off. Right?
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