On the Oakland Futility Watch, we like to be honest, even if it hurts: this is another chance to do so. The Oakland Athletics started off last week with two wins to push their winning streak to seven games overall, which was impressive, considering they were playing the best team in the American League to begin. Alas, after two wins at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, the A’s then lost five straight winnable games, really.

And therein lies the rub, as the saying goes: Oakland could have won every one of those games, really. We’re going to focus on two specific ones to illustrate just how close this team is doing a little bit better than terrible. Three of the five consecutive losses came by one run each, and focusing in on Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay and Saturday’s game against Philadelphia is going to illustrate the big point here.

We’ve said it before, but the A’s suck at fundamental baseball, and that falls on the shoulders of Manager Mark Kotsay. By the time a player reaches the major leagues, they should be well versed in baseball fundamentals, and if they’re not, it’s up to manager to close those gaps and make sure a team is playing to the best of its ability, day in and day out. No one expects these guys, players or managers, to be perfect …

Yet, we sort of do—irrational as it may seem. Realistically, maybe only half the time should a group of players this bad be expected to do the right thing, fundamentally. So, that’s why we have reduced this week’s examination to the two games—both of which the A’s lost by one run when they could have won at least one of them by executing basic fundamentals with the bat at the plate in key moments that would have helped.

First, Thursday (a game we attended in person, actually—see the picture above): the A’s lost, 4-3, despite having so many chances to score runs. In the bottom of the third, Oakland had runners on the corners with one out and failed to score as center fielder Esteury Ruiz, probably the team’s only All-Star player, struck out instead of making contact with the ball and forcing the defense to make a play to stop a run scoring.

Esteury leads MLB in stolen bases, and his defense has potential as a result. But striking out here is literally the worst thing he could have done. The fact the third strike was a called on was even more painful. Yes, he’s a rookie in his age-24 season, yet this is still a fundamental moment … and failure. However, it’s not even the worst moment from the game. That came later in the bottom of the seventh inning. This one hurt, too.

The game was tied at 3, and the A’s loaded the bases with no one out—and they did not score, as Oakland’s No. 3 hitter, in the slot saved for the best hitter on the team, usually, grounded into a double play, and then the next hitter struck out to end the inning. The Rays scored in the top of the eighth to take the lead and win the game. Both times the A’s failed to score, by the way, their pitcher proceeded to give up a run right away.

A few thoughts more here, before moving to the next example: Ruiz is a young player, but if your No. 3 hitter is that bad, it’s a reflection of the minimal talent on the roster. Seth Brown is garbage: he’s an age-30 hack who is making only $730,000 this year, thanks to his lifetime .736 OPS and 3.6 WAR. And that’s the best the A’s have to offer up in a key moment? Well, this was also on Kotsay, as you will see right now.

Brown is a lefty, and he was facing a lefty—former teammate Jake Diekman, who played for the A’s from 2019-2021. Diekman is just as bad as Brown, generally speaking, but why wouldn’t Kotsay pinch-hit for Brown with a right-handed hitter off his bench, like the young and talented Shea Langeliers? This is not the first time we’ve seen Kotsay not make a move when he should have, and it’s getting annoying to watch.

Don’t think for a second that Diekman didn’t know exactly how to get Brown out after watching him scuffle as a teammate. Did that not cross Kotsay’s ming at all? Meanwhile, Langeliers was new to the team last year, when Diekman was gone; plus, he’s a right-handed hitter. Langeliers is not the best hitter right now at all (he’s trying too hard), but he has a lot of potential and was a better option in this situation by far to win it,.

Kotsay played 17 seasons in MLB, and he should know better as manager. The fact he doesn’t says even more about how bottom line the A’s have decided to go this season. He’s a barely mediocre manager, even with his current even-zero PPP mark. He is costing Oakland wins in a season the team can’t afford to be losing a lot. Sometimes it’s via his inability to teach fundamentals; other times it’s his piss-poor game management.

Now, to Saturday’s game, which is a bit simpler—albeit just as painful for A’s fans to endure and watch: in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, Oakland once again had first and third with one out … and a chance to win the game. But to do so, you have to put the ball in play and force the defense to make the play to prevent that run on third from scoring. But journeyman infielder Jace Peterson struck out; the A’s lost.

Peterson is 33 years old, in his tenth MLB season. Does he still not understand fundamentals? Even if Philly had fireballer Craig Kimbrel on the mound, he is 35 years old with a 4.50 ERA this year, currently. He’s not the same feared pitcher he was a decade ago. Kimbrel walks a guy every other inning, for example, but Peterson got up there and struck out on three pitches with a chance to win the game. Just a brutal reminder.

Oakland eventually lost in the 12th inning in a game it could have won in regulation; we barely will discuss the bottom of the tenth inning, where the A’s had first and second with no outs and failed at a sacrifice bunt (really?) before watching two straight batters strike out. Or the next inning, where Oakland had two chances to get a hit to win the game with a guy on second and one out. This team just stinks, of course.

We sort of knew that, but it’s worse when the team cannot execute at least half the time in fundamental run-scoring situations. What that does is put more pressure on the pitchers to be perfect, and you know they won’t be. Again, this blame falls on the manager for not making this team better. However, we know that the A’s are improving; they already have seven wins this month, which is one more than last month.

Remember when we projected improvement upon them? Well, the team is showing signs of at least getting into the position to possibly win more. Maybe Kotsay is doing his job, and we are too impatient? Check back with us later, of course, to see what’s what … it’s never a dull moment here on Mondays as we continue to keep watch on the team that will be in Las Vegas by 2025. Too bad, because the Coliseum is looking good.