We have reached the final week of the 2023 MLB regular season, and the Oakland Futility Watch is winding down. Remember, a little more than a month ago, we projected the Oakland Athletics to win 47 games overall. Well, with two wins over the Detroit Tigers at the Coliseum in the final home stand of the year, the A’s have now reach 48 wins. We were wrong! We totally underestimated the Athletics!! Shame on us!!!

What we really want to point out today is that we have a nagging suspicion these were the last games for the A’s in Oakland. We suspect the team will be playing in Las Vegas next year, filling the minor-league stadium while sending the Triple-A Aviators to Oakland to fulfill the lease on the Coliseum through 2024. At that point, the Aviators may stay in the East Bay for awhile, because it’s a perfect minor-league city. Truth.

We went to both Wednesday’s day game and Sunday’s home finale in Oakland, and there was a strange feeling in the air. The A’s lost both on Wednesday and Sunday, even though they won two games on Friday and Saturday, respectively, to push their record to 48-108 overall. Assuming the Athletics lose one more game this season, this group will set an Oakland A’s record for losses—but not a franchise record.

Nope, that will belong to Philadelphia still. The Athletics play three games in Minnesota starting tomorrow, and the Twins are locked into the No. 3 seed in the American League playoffs, so they will be resting and lining up their rotation for the postseason series against the No. 6 seed. Then, the A’s come back to the Best Coast and close out the year with three games against the sad-sack Los Angeles Angels, who have given up.

Could the A’s win all six games? Sure! Will they? Probably not, but that would be a fun finish to the season. Oakland is playing for pride, of course—but also the players are invested in making sure they can secure spots on the 2024 roster. We looked at the lineup yesterday against the Tigers, one that lost 2-0 despite many scoring chances, and we see six players who should be in the regular lineup next year. Maybe seven?

Left fielder Esteury Ruiz had two hits and two steals yesterday, although he also got caught stealing once and thrown out at home with no outs. Second baseman Zack Gelof and right fielder Brent Rooker combined for two hits and a walk, too, so they look secure for next season. Catcher Shea Langeliers (two hits) was the designated hitter yesterday, but he will be the top option behind the plate next year, for sure.

First baseman Ryan Noda displayed great glove work once again, and if he can improve his hitting, he should be starting again in 2024. Center fielder Lawrence Butler has displayed enough at age 23 to perhaps be the starter next year, and even though Tyler Soderstrom hasn’t shown much yet, he should fit into a nice catcher/DH partnership with Langeliers for the near future. That’s a decent core to build around.

Pitching wise, yesterday’s starter J.P. Sears lost his 13th game of the year, but with a 1.259 WHIP and 157 strikeouts, he’s a better pitcher than that. Paul Blackburn and Mason Miller have good enough stuff to make the rotation, and if Ken Waldichuk can rediscover his prior form, the A’s rotation might not be too bad. The future looks bright for the A’s in Vegas, which we knew would happen. They just need a manager.

That being said, we went to our first game at the Coliseum in 1974, and we will miss it—we also went to a lot of music concerts there over the years, and it holds a lot of memories for us. We were glad to get a few last glances in at the grand ol’ girl before saying goodbye yesterday. Long live the Oakland Coliseum!